Taxman demands R17m from Lungile Radu & Co's production company

Assets of the actors' company in danger

- By Ngwako Malatji

A television production company owned by actors Lungile Radu, Thomas Gumede, Siyabonga Ngwekazi and Thomas Mhlongo has been hit with a bloodcurdling R17.8-million tax bill.

Sunday World can exclusively reveal that the South African Revenue Service (Sars) applied for a default judgment in court last week against the four popular actors' company, Parental Advisory Productions, after it failed to settle the debilitating bill.

According to the application for the default judgment, which we have seen, the four thespians' entity, which produced the e.tv telenovela Nikiwe, among other shows, owed Sars more than R7.5-million in unpaid value-added tax. Sars added over R1.5-million in interest and more than R340000 in penalties, increasing the total owed to just over R9.4-million.

The four actors' entity also owed Sars more than R3.2-million in unpaid pay-as-you-earn. But the debt ballooned to more than R4.1-million after the taxman imposed more than R660000 in interest and over R178000 in penalties.