Widow scorned developer’s ‘blood money’

GRIEVING widow Sharene Marshall believes Wessel Witthühn, former president of IFA Hotels & Resorts (African & Indian Ocean), has blood on his hands.

Witthühn was responsible for hiring and paying contractors to build the world-class Fairmont Zimbali Hotel.

The Tribune learned this week that he had “retired” from IFA at the end of January and would no longer be involved in the hotel or surrounding resort.

There are rumours of death threats against the man many blame for ruining them.

IFA Hotels & Resorts (African & Indian Ocean) former vice-president Philip da Silva told the Tribune he would replace the former president.

“Witthühn will not be employed by IFA in any capacity in the future,” he said. “However, we have ensured that he will be available in a consultancy capacity.”

He said rumours Witthühn had been fired were false. “He is still living at Zimbali. There is no dispute,” he said.

Sharene Marshall said she blamed Witthühn for her husband Gavin’s suicide on November 23 last year, the day he had a meeting with Witthühn to “launch a desperate last plea for payment outstanding on work he had done at the hotel”.

Her reaction to Witthühn’s resignation was measured.

“I don’t know if this is just another smokescreen. He must be held accountable, whether or not he is still in the employ of IFA. This is not a vendetta against IFA or their contractors, Liviero and Stefcon.

“Witthühn made promises to my husband that he had no intention of keeping.

“Gavin took his life because he could not bear the shame of defaulting on payments to his suppliers, and relying on me to try to save our home.”

Keith Meyner, an international interior design architect based in Cape Town, was involved in much of the design of the sumptuous interior at Fairmont Zimbali.

“I would say good riddance,” he said when told of Witthühn’s stepping down.

Marshall, 53, was the owner of Master Sundecks. According to his widow, he was at first thrilled to have won a R2 million contract on the R600m Fairmont Zimbali Hotel and Resort project.

But as he and the other subcontractors raced to finish before the 2010 World Cup, they were caught up in a bitter and protracted legal battle between one of the main contractors, Liviero and Sons, and IFA.

At the time of his death Marshall was still owed hundreds of thousands of rand and his business was going under. He had exhausted every line of credit and his good reputation with his suppliers lay in tatters.

A series of desperate calls to Witthühn reportedly went unanswered, as did e-mails. In an e-mail sent on July 14, 2010, Marshall wrote: “There is R400 000 outstanding to me. I am losing my house, I am behind on my vehicle payments and my office phone has been cut off. There is also R21 000 due to me for an illegal deduction by IFA and a further R800 000 for July/August 2009.”

On November 12, 2010, he again appealed to Witthühn: “An agreement was made (with Witthühn on behalf of IFA) that I would receive a weekly payment of R50 000 for outstanding money owed to me. To date I have received only one R50 000 payment and R42 000 for balustrade work done on the hotel. I am using money from other contracts to finance this installation. Please make the approved payment as soon as possible.”

On May 6, 2011, nearing the end of his endurance, he wrote: “I cannot believe that you do not even have the decency to reply to my e-mail.” By December, it was all over for the father and grandfather.

“Gavin was destroyed. He had been stripped of his dignity and reduced to grovelling for what was owed to him,” said Sharene.

“When our four-year-old granddaughter asks where he is, I have to tell her he is working. ‘Grandpa mustn’t work so hard, he will get sick,’ she said.

“When Witthühn heard of Gavin’s death, he suddenly paid R244 000 to our lawyer, a fraction of the total debt. I didn’t want it; it is blood money, but an adviser said to me: ‘You must take it. This is what Gavin died for’.”

According to a source known to the Tribune, another subcontractor was placed on suicide watch and is now in intensive psychotherapy to prevent him taking the same route as Marshall. The owners of a number of firms that subcontracted for jobs worth millions on the development are facing bankruptcy and liquidation.

Les Sydney, owner of Isidingo Plumbers, told the Tribune he couldn’t hold out much longer before he closed his doors, leaving 130 employees jobless.

“I am owed a total of R5m by IFA and their contractors… I did every bit of plumbing at the hotel,” he said. “I had built up a strong reputation in the industry and a very healthy bank balance, but I am about to be liquidated. I will soon be walking the streets.”

Sydney said that after the collapse of negotiations between Witthühn and his main contractors, he had called subcontractors in one by one and made them promises which he later reneged on.

“There are no industry bodies or any legislation to protect us. Subcontractors are at the mercy of unscrupulous people. If the government is serious about boosting employment, they should clamp down on rogues.”

Meyner, whose design firm has won prestigious contracts involving millions of rand in developments around the globe, also got his fingers badly burned.

“Fairmont was the worst and most difficult job I have ever worked on,’’ he said.

“Witthühn threatened that if I made a fuss about the high six-figure amount that is still outstanding for my work, I would never work for IFA again. The way I feel now I hardly care.”

A resident of Brittlewood, on the Zimbali estate, said that there was a lot of ill-feeling towards Witthühn, who has a property reportedly valued at R10m nearby.

“When we heard there was going to be a huge foreign investment in Zimbali we were all excited, but the dream has turned to dust,” he said.

Repeated attempts to get comment from Witthühn were unsuccessful.

“I was not involved to any great degree in dealing with the Fairmont development, but I can tell you that resolving the disputes (from Witthühn’s tenure) is an ongoing process that is well advanced,” Da Silva said. “We are awaiting a court date for the hearing and will take it from there.”

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