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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.
The estate, established in 1996 by Rupert, spans 360 hectares and includes 251 residential plots with prime riverfront and Kruger National Park views. It also features an 18-hole golf course designed by Gary Player, a 3,600-square-meter clubhouse, tennis and squash courts, a swimming pool and a gym, and plays host to the annual Alfred Dunhill Cup.
The dispute traces back to 2018, when Nkomazi Municipality moved to sharply increase the estate's official valuation from $33 million.
Leopard Creek pushed back aggressively, arguing through expert witnesses including property developer David Nagle, chartered accountant Sam Hackner and valuer Norman Griffiths that the property should be pegged at around $20 million.
The municipality's own expert, professional valuer Derrick Griffiths, countered that the only correct approach was to assess what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller on the open market.
The board sided with the municipality. "Because the original general valuation value from 2018 and the value determined during the objection process fall within the defined range as indicated by market indicators, the Valuation Appeal Board reinstates the property's value at R1.3-billion," the ruling states.
The long-running dispute dates back even further in its origins. In 2008, the municipal valuation roll valued the estate at just over $2 million, a figure the municipality later flagged as grossly undervalued. Supplementary valuations drove the number sharply upward, prompting objections and appeals from Leopard Creek at each stage.
The parties at one point negotiated a settlement fixing the value at $33 million from 2012 to 2014 and $44.5 million from 2014 to 2018, before the 2018 general roll reignited the fight.
The matter eventually reached the Supreme Court of Appeal, which in November 2024 ruled that an earlier decision by the valuation appeal board had been flawed and ordered the matter to be reconsidered by a differently constituted board. That reconstituted board has now issued its ruling, and the outcome goes against Rupert.
Nkomazi Municipality spokesperson Cyril Ripinga welcomed the decision, saying it demonstrates that property valuation law was correctly applied. He also noted that the ruling would not translate into a windfall of new revenue for the municipality, since the estate had continued paying rates throughout the litigation. "It must be remembered that they did not boycott the prescribed property rates of the estate. They continued paying as billed by the municipality," Ripinga said.
Rupert had previously told local media that Leopard Creek sources its own electricity, water, and roads and accused the municipality of attempting to scam the estate's members while threatening investment in a region where he and others have ambitions to build hotels.
The matter is unlikely to end here. Ripinga confirmed the municipality has been notified that Leopard Creek intends to challenge aspects of the latest decision. Leopard Creek director David Roodt did not respond to a request for comment, though his office confirmed the inquiry had been received.
Rupert, whose wealth is derived primarily from his stake in luxury goods group Richemont, has a net worth estimated at over $13 billion. His legal team's next move will determine whether one of South Africa's most protracted property rate disputes is finally drawing to a close or is headed back to court for yet another chapter.
