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LekkeSlaap, the South African holiday-booking platform bought last month by a group of investors that includes the family offices of FirstRand Ltd. co-founders GT Ferreira and Laurie Dippenaar, said hackers accessed some guests' personal details in a cyberattack.
The Cape Town-based company told customers this week that its systems detected "unauthorised activity" on its calendar-syncing system and that some booking details were then accessed. The exposed data includes the names, surnames, email addresses, phone numbers and booking reference numbers of some guests. LekkeSlaap said no payment information, identity numbers or passwords were taken, that the incident has been contained and that existing bookings remain confirmed.
The company did not say how many guests were affected. It warned that criminals "can use the exposed information to send fraudulent messages posing as LekkeSlaap or accommodation hosts," and told guests to treat unexpected requests for payments, one-time PINs or card details with suspicion, even when a message carries a valid booking reference. It asked guests to pay only through the platform.
The breach came days after NightsBridge, another South African accommodation technology provider, reported a separate attack. There is no indication the two incidents are linked.
A new set of owners
The attack hit LekkeSlaap less than a month after its founders sold the business. On Oct. 8, the company said a consortium co-led by Bellair Road Investment Partners and Janic Capital, the Dippenaar family's investment company run by Adriaan Dippenaar, had agreed to buy it. The Ferreira Family Office, the Moolman Family Office and Investec also joined the group. The price was not disclosed.
Co-founders Jonathan Womersley and Marcel van de Ghinste and other long-standing shareholders sold out. Chief Executive Officer Frans Joubert and his executive team stayed on and invested alongside the buyers. Herman Bosman, chairman of OUTsurance Group Ltd. and Fortress Real Estate Investments Ltd. and a former chief executive of RMB Holdings and RMI Holdings, became chairman.
LekkeSlaap started as a garage project in 2009 and launched in 2013 as South Africa's first Afrikaans-language holiday accommodation booking site, later adding English. It lists more than 40,000 properties across Southern Africa and says it has served more than 9 million guests. It has competed with Airbnb Inc. in South Africa since the U.S. company entered the market in 2015.
Ferreira and Dippenaar built the business that became FirstRand, now Africa's largest bank by market value, starting with Rand Consolidated Investments in 1977 alongside Paul Harris. Both men have since stepped back from the bank and invest through their family offices.
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