South African billionaire Johann Rupert has lost the latest round in a years-long legal fight over the value of his Leopard Creek estate in Mpumalanga, after a statutory appeals tribunal confirmed a 77 million municipal valuation of the luxury golf property near the Kruger National Park.
The Valuations Appeal Board for the Ehlanzeni district handed Nkomazi Municipality a sweeping victory in a Feb. 13 ruling, dismissing the appeal filed by Leopard Creek Share Block Limited and confirming the municipality's figure as recorded in its general valuation roll.
The decision gives legal force to the 77 million valuation of the property as of July 1, 2017, a number that Leopard Creek's management had fought hard to tear down.
