Rossmund Golf Course at Swakopmund was sold for N$41 million during a judicial auction yesterday, after an attempt to stop the sale from taking place failed in the Windhoek High Court.
The golf course was sold for N$41 million, with the winning bid made by businessman Bokkie Thorburn.
This was confirmed by the deputy sheriff of the High Court for the district of Swakopmund, Andre Visser, yesterday.
The auction at which the golf course was sold followed a default judgement obtained by the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) in April 2022 in the Windhoek High Court.
The judgement was against Rossmund Golf Course CC, the owner of the golf course, for N$19.9 million, plus interest at 12.75% per year from September 2021.
An urgent application in which Rossmund Golf Course CC tried to have the sale of the golf course halted failed yesterday when judge Gabriel Komboni found that the close corporation did not meet the requirements to have its case heard on an urgent basis.
The property sold during the auction comprises an area of 53.6 hectares and includes 16 greens of the 18-hole golf course at Rossmund, a clubhouse, offices and a conference hall.
It does not include any of the houses that are part of the Rossmund residential estate.
The court was informed that Bank Windhoek has in the meantime filed an application to have Rossmund Golf Course CC wound up. The bank is alleging that the close corporation, as surety for the close corporation Premier Construction CC, owes it N$101.5 million and is unable to pay its debts.
Bank Windhoek’s application to have Rossmund Golf Course CC wound up is scheduled to be heard in the Windhoek High Court on 10 April.
The close corporation’s sole member, Wim van der Plas, said in an affidavit filed at the court that the filing of the bank’s application on 10 February started the winding-up of Rossmund Golf Course CC. Van der Plas argued that in terms of the Companies Act, any attachment or judicial sale of assets of the close corporation after the commencement of winding-up proceedings would be void if a winding-up order is granted.
According to Van der Plas, the close corporation is running the sewerage system at Rossmund, and the sale of the property could result in the sewerage system of the entire estate grinding to a halt.
According to the DBN, though, there was nothing that prevented it from selling the close corporations’ immovable property in execution.
“The fact that there is a pending winding-up application is immaterial,” the DBN’s acting chief lending and client support officer, Johannes Mbango, said in an affidavit also filed at the court.
Rossmund Golf Course CC borrowed N$15 million from the DBN in February 2019.
The loan was to be repaid over a period of three years, but the DBN subsequently sued the close corporation for N$19.9 million plus interest after it failed to pay back the money it had borrowed.
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