Frans Whelpton, a former law
professor in South Africa, who worked
closely with the Swaziland / eSwatini government on projects said to be worth
billions of emalangeni that never came to anything is being accused of being a
conman in a high court action.
Whelpton, once of the University
of South Africa, touted projects in Swaziland, including the construction of a
coal-fired power station, a social upliftment project, and creation of a free
trade zone.
The Sunday Times newspaper
in Johannesburg reported (9 June 2019) that a Pretoria doctor
Francois Olivier is suing Whelpton in the Pretoria High Court for R6m
(US$400,000), saying the former professor’s ‘grand promises were no more than a
con’.
It added, ‘He says his case
is just the tip of the iceberg and that over the years Whelpton has pocketed
about R100m from up to 40 people.’
Whelpton denied the claim
and in turn issued a defamation action against Olivier, demanding R1m in
damages.
Whelpton was widely known
in Swaziland for many years and was said to be close to King Mswati III, who
rules the kingdom as an absolute monarch.
The Sunday Times
reported that Olivier said in his court papers, there were a series of ‘fraudulent
misrepresentations’ by Whelpton, which included that he had acquired rights to
the:
- Development of a free trade zone in eSwatini;
- Construction of a coal-fired power station and associated infrastructure; and
- Establishment of a ‘social upliftment programme’.
The Sunday Times
reported, ‘[O]ne of Whelpton’s central claims - that the UN is providing
millions of dollars for his work on recording customary law in eSwatini - could
not be confirmed this week. A spokesperson for the UN in SA, Zeenat Abdool,
told the Sunday Times none of the UN agencies operating in SA had any
record of dealing with Whelpton.’
The newspaper added, ‘Seven
years ago, in a separate case,
a Pretoria court ordered Whelpton to pay R10m each to two doctors, Reynhardt
van Rooyen and Johannes Kok, after an alleged eSwatini health-care project in
which Whelpton promised them a leading role failed to materialise.’
See also
Mystery man in King’s jet saga found
$5bn Swazi power plant was a con
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