Andre de Ruyter’s warning about criminals using rogue dealers to hide luxury cars proven true

A recent statement from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) substantiated former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter’s claim that criminals use rogue dealers to hide luxury cars.

In his book, Truth to Power: My Three Years Inside Eskom, De Ruyter described a car dealership in Mpumalanga that housed luxury vehicles for corrupt individuals.

This arrangement helped the corrupt individuals to hide their assets and ensure they were not flagged in lifestyle audits.

“A certain car dealership in the coal belt specialised in housing fancy vehicles on behalf of their owners so that they didn’t show up in lifestyle audits,” he wrote.

“The vehicles, always held in the name of the dealership, would be available on demand, should the actual owner wish to take his Lamborghini for a spin.”

Investigative journalist Jeff Wicks also shared details on corrupt tenderpreneurs’ liking for the trappings of wealth, specifically sports cars.

These corrupt people deal in cash. Millions in cash are handed over to the dealership, and the car is delivered, but ownership is never changed.

“That car will then sit in dealer stock for all its life. There is no paper link to the beneficial owner,” Wicks explained.

“Some dubious dealerships will hand over a wad of pre-signed temp plates. When one expires, put on a new one, and then there are no fines.”

The corrupt officials and politicians are typically tipped off before the lifestyle auditors come to visit their homes.

“The dealership employees will collect them in the dead of night. That way, having to explain this low-slung sports car in your garage is scotched,” he said.

“This way, our elected leaders never have to explain how they own cars worth several times their annual salaries, and they get to flex for the ‘slay queens’ at rockets.”

Special Investigating Unit cracking down on car dealerships

Last week, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) announced that Yusuf Omar, the owner of Omar’s Motor Den in Emalahleni, has been arrested.

The SIU said that this arrest was necessary because Omar refused to cooperate with them and the South African Police Service.

The case focused on a Bentley Continental GT linked to Hangwani Maumela in the SIU’s Tembisa Hospital investigation.

The SIU’s investigation found that the car, a restrained asset under a preservation order, has been transferred multiple times over the years.

• 2018/2019: LSM Distributors moved it to the MHR Maumela Family Trust
• September 2022: DriveTime Auto bought the car
• October 2025: Omar’s Motor Den acquired it
• February 2026: It was transferred to Khonile Trading Enterprise

This showed how the Bentley Continental GT was transferred from one company to another to hide its true owner.

Despite these transfers mentioned above, evidence suggests that the Bentley remains in Omar’s possession, raising concerns of concealment and dissipation.

According to the SIU, Omar’s Motor Den failed to disclose that the car was in its possession when it was served with the preservation order.

In a recent Newzroom Africa interview, forensic investigator Dorothy Mmushi also confirmed that the practice is widespread.

She said that some car dealerships scheme with ‘tenderpreneurs’ to buy vehicles for government officials, but the cars are never registered in those officials’ names.

“In many cases, the car never leaves the dealership. In some cases, the system is used to launder money, while the cars are sent to a third party,” she said.

This is exactly what De Ruyter described in his book, where corrupt people use dealerships to hide their luxury vehicles.