Louis Liebenberg. (Rasaad Adams/Netwerk24)
A sheriff has swooped on Louis Liebenberg’s house in Cape Town to attach assets including chairs and a fridge, just days after the diamond dealer launched his bid for Parliament.
A separate raid was also carried out at offices linked to Liebenberg in Kempton Park, Gauteng.
A legal representative for the liquidators of Liebenberg’s company Tariomix, better known by its trading name Forever Diamonds and Gold, said it was behind the raid.
They said they were searching for “movable and immovable assets” funded by Tariomix investors.
Tariomix, which financed the buying and selling of diamonds, was placed into final liquidation in the second week of April by the Mahikeng High Court in the North West.
This means its liquidators could search out and sell off its assets to raise funds to distribute to creditors.
Wednesday’s raids come just six days after Liebenberg launched his new political party, Herbou [Rebuild], in Johannesburg. He is running as an independent candidate in the upcoming elections.
“He is a staunch supporter of economic reform and is campaigning for the mineral wealth of the country to be placed in the hands of ordinary people,” Liebenberg’s election team said in a statement earlier in the month.
The 59-year-old has said he would work closely with former president Jacob Zuma’s MK party if elected to Parliament. He had previously given the former president R3.2 million to help him cover his legal costs.
Liebenberg’s attorney, Walter Niedinger, previously told News24 the funds helped Zuma pay for his private prosecution bids against News24 journalist Karyn Maughan and senior state advocate Billy Downer, as well as a separate case against President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Both Zuma’s bids have fizzled out, with the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg last week removing his case against Maughan and Downer from the court roll.
Liebenberg has been approached for comment about the raids.