Fraud charges can be brought against all Aurora directors except President Jacob Zuma‘s nephew Khulubuse Zuma, the High Court in Pretoria ruled on Thursday.

Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann found all the directors were reckless in managing the Pamodzi Gold mine it took over, and were liable for all costs.

Zuma however was only held liable for costs after December 2009.

In 2009, Aurora was appointed by liquidators to manage the mines in Springs and Orkney. However, the company instead stripped the mines of R1.7bn worth of infrastructure and also left thousands of employees without pay and surviving on handouts. ertelsmann found that the late former president Nelson Mandela‘s grandson Zondwa Mandela, SheshileThulani Ngubane and Sulliman and Fazel Bhana were guilty of wilful deception by presenting documents containing false assertions to liquidators.

“The applicants are therefore entitled to the order they seek against them both on the basis of fraudulent misrepresentations in the bid documents and on the grounds of the reckless conduct of the insolvent companies’ business.”

The judge said Zuma was in a slightly different position from the other respondents.

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