PRETORIA – The high court in Pretoria has dismissed an urgent legal bid by the MHR Maumela Family Trust to stop the court-ordered sale of a luxury Ferrari SF90 Stradale valued at over R9.5 million. The vehicle was preserved by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) as part of an investigation into the massive R2 billion looting scheme at Tembisa Hospital.

In a judgment handed down on 2 October, acting judge S.G. Maritz dismissed the trust’s application with costs, ruling that the order authorising the curator bonis to sell the supercar remains fully enforceable despite pending appeals.

The legal battle follows an order by the Special Tribunal on 13 August 2026 authorising curator bonis Jacobus Gideon Louw van Wyk to sell the Ferrari for no less than R9.5 million and place the proceeds into an interest-bearing trust account pending the finalisation of civil recovery proceedings.

In response, Hangwani Morgan Maumela and the trustees brought an urgent High Court interdict to halt the sale pending appeal.

However, judge Maritz held that the Tribunal’s sale authorisation is an interlocutory order regulating the administration of preserved property rather than a final judgment. Under Section 18(2) of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013, interlocutory orders are not automatically suspended by an application for leave to appeal.

The court found that the trust failed to establish a prima facie right or reasonable prospects of success on appeal.

Judge Maritz pointed out that ownership claims surrounding the Ferrari were fraught with contradictory versions involving the trust, Morgan Maumela, Drive Time Auto CC, and More Concerts (Pty) Ltd, which had paid R11.12 million to Scuderia South Africa. Furthermore, registering the vehicle under the trust’s name on eNaTIS was previously identified by the Tribunal as a stratagem executed in breach of the court restraint.

The court further ruled that the trust failed to demonstrate irreparable harm because the proceeds from the sale would remain preserved in an interest-bearing account. In contrast, retaining the vehicle imposed significant holding costs on the preserved estate, including approximately R100,000 per year in insurance, R5,000 per month in storage, and a R408,000

Welcoming the ruling in a media statement SIU Spokesperson Selby Makgotho affirmed that the decision validates practical asset management that prevents value erosion during lengthy litigation.

The Ferrari is among several luxury vehicles restrained under a September 2025 Special Tribunal preservation order what was termed the “Maumela Syndicate”. The SIU confirmed it has also referred uncovered evidence pointing to criminal conduct to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

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Judge Maritz ordered the trustees of the MHR Maumela Family Trust to pay the legal costs of application on a party-and-party scale