Rags to over the top riches: how the Mpisane family funds their lavish lifestyle.

Rags to over the top riches: how the Mpisane family funds their lavish lifestyle.

- The media have dubbed S’bu and Shauwn Mpisane the mystery millionaires

- The family own 128 luxury cars and 10 properties including their La Lucia mansion

- The couple have made billions from government tenders to build low-cost housing

The controversial Durban-based Mpisane family’s love of luxury cars and extravagant living standards is well documented. Their La Lucia mansion has become the stuff of entertainment legends.

Rags to over the top riches: how the Mpisane family funds their lavish lifestyle.
Mpisane family house in La Lucia. Photo: IOL

The couple has over the years hosted lavish parties at their La Lucia mansion, those events are often attended by political, business and social elites and each party costs upwards of half a million rand.

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Less obvious is exactly how the S’bu and his wife Shauwn have managed to fund their love of luxury and where does their wealth come from. S’bu was a traffic officer in the early 2000’s earning around R15 000 per month. Shauwn was a marketing executive.

Rags to over the top riches: how the Mpisane family funds their lavish lifestyle.
S'bu and Shauwn at an exclusive car unveiling. Photo: IOL

Fast Forward 10-years and the couple are living like Hollywood royalty. Briefly.co.za discovered that the family own 128 luxury cars and at least 10 properties.

Turns out the couple made their wealth from the government through securing tenders to construct mostly low-income housing. Court papers indicate that the tenderpreneurs have earned in excess of R1 billion through government contracts.

The couple owns the following businesses: Zikhulise Group, Zikhulise Cleaning Maintenance and Transport, Zikhulise Auto Restorers, Inyanga Trading 559, Royal Eagles Football Club and Zikhulise Auto Recoveries.

Rags to over the top riches: how the Mpisane family funds their lavish lifestyle.
Shauwn Mpisane and her Rolls-Royce Photo: TimesLive

Unfortunately for the “mystery millionaires” the South African Revenue Service took note of their lavish lives and noticed they were not as forthcoming in paying business or personal tax and has on numerous occasions issued attachment orders on their assets.

Judging by the lavish party the family held for 16-year old Andile in April this year along with a Mercedes worth R2.3 million we shouldn’t feel too sorry for them.

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Is it fair that one family can benefit so much from government tenders while so many ordinary South Africans still live in poverty? Please visit our Facebook page to comment on this and other stories.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Kelly Lippke avatar

Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.