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- Of the hundreds of luxury designer bags seized from Shauwn Mkhize, only 23 were authenticated and cleared for auction.
- The designer bags included brands like Gucci, Goyard, Louis Vuitton, and Yves Saint Laurent. Also in the mix was her Lamborghini Urus.
- The businesswoman and reality star’s assets are being auctioned again under SARS’ instruction to recover outstanding debts.
Only 23 of the hundreds of luxury designer bags seized from businesswoman and reality TV star Shauwn Mkhize, better known as MaMkhize, will go under the hammer this week. This was after they were independently authenticated by a third-party expert, according to Bidders Choice managing director Pieter Geldenhuys, who spoke to News24.
The authenticated handbags form part of Mkhize’s latest assets being auctioned off as the South African Revenue Service seeks to recover unpaid debt.
Earlier in the year, at least 10 luxury vehicles tied to Mkhize and the Royal AM Football Club, which she previously owned, were also sold at an auction for a total of R8.2 million.
“There are a lot of other bags and suitcases as well, but we’ve gone through all of them, and these are the only ones that we were able to authenticate. The authentication was done by an external party that is completely into this business, so they know what they’re doing,” Geldenhuys said.
READ | MaMkhize’s Royal AM cars fetch R8.2m at auction; rare car pulled from sale
“We did a lot of investigation and research to see what you can authenticate and what you can’t authenticate. A simple example is that a lot of the handbags do have the names, but there’s not even a serial number or anything in the handbag, and there are certain places where the designers hide the serial numbers, but our people are trained to look for them. For the ones that we couldn’t find the serial number, we know we couldn’t send them through for authentication, so we left them aside.”
Additionally, he estimated that the total number of bags seized was approximately 200, but could not provide an estimate of the total value of the bags.
A Balenciaga bag also up for auction.
Ditiro Selepe /News24
Among the bags on auction are an Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) quilted leather bag, which had been bid up to R19 000 at the time of going to press. Other bags in the lot include hot-stamped Louis Vuitton suitcases, ranging between R10 500 and R11 500 and a Louis Vuitton chain messenger bag, valued at R12 000.
A Gucci designer bag seized from Shauwn Mkhize.
Ditiro Selepe/News24
Some of the luxury handbags belonging to Shauwn Mkhize up for auction.
Ditiro Selepe /News24
Multiple other Gucci, Balenciaga, Goyard and Christian Dior bags were also listed. The prices for these bags have thus far ranged between R1 500 and R6 000.
A Lamborghini in the mix
The handbags are not the only assets linked to Mkhize that have been scheduled for auction. Her Lamborghini Urus, with only 43 080 kilometres on the clock, was also up for auction at R3.1 million.
Lamborghini Urus
Ditiro Selepe /News24
Lamborghini Urus
Ditiro Selepe /News24
The sales form part of a broader process overseen by the curator bonis, under instruction from SARS, to recover what the tax authority claims are unpaid debts.
The interior of the Lamborghini Urus up for auction.
Ditiro Selepe /News24
“The auction had already started, so the bidding was in process,” Geldenhuys explained. “Once the auction closes, we compile a summary of the auction prices and submit it to the curator, who then presents it to the creditors. Only once they are happy, can the prices be accepted.”
