If there’s one thing we can count on in South Africa, it’s death, taxes, and Shauwn Mkhize getting herself into a financial scandal. 

The flamboyant businesswoman, reality TV star, and owner of Royal AM soccer club is now at the centre of a multi-million rand row with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), which is trying to recoup almost R40 million from her. The drama has everything: assassination attempts, shoddy business practices and a European trip. 

But who is Shauwn Mkhize, and why is the taxman after her?

Known affectionately as “MaMkhize,” Mkhize rose to fame (or infamy, depending on who you ask) through her construction company, Zikhulise. She secured lucrative government tenders for low-cost housing projects in KwaZulu-Natal, amassing a fortune that allowed her to indulge in a lavish lifestyle of luxury cars, designer clothes, and two mansions. However, her success has been followed by allegations of dodgy dealings and tender irregularities, particularly in the eThekwini municipality, where her company was accused of inflating prices and delivering substandard housing.👀 

Mkhize was allegedly convicted of fraud in 2005, a claim she denied in April this year on the news programme Carte Blanche. In an earlier investigation, the show called Mkhize a “convicted fraudster”, and she did not take kindly to that, filing court papers, saying the label was false and defamatory and insisting her record was clean. She allegedly withdrew her case after Carte Blanche filed their own papers in the matter. What followed was a laughable, confusing interview in which she denied she had ever been convicted, despite the show having evidence of her admitting that she had been.

City Press reported in May that the SARS was after the reality TV star for almost R40 million in back taxes and that she could potentially lose her fleet of luxury cars. SARS also has a concurrent R12 million claim against Mkhize in her personal capacity. 

An inquiry into Mkhize’s tax shenanigans (or lack thereof) is making the news for all the wrong reasons after an assassination attempt on SARS advocate Coreth Naude last Thursday, moments after she left the Inquiry. Naude was shot three times in an attempted hit while driving to her hotel in uMhlanga, Durban. She’s stable in hospital and under a heavy police guard. SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter condemned the shooting, saying that the institution would not be “intimidated by such acts of crime and cowardice.”

The City Press also reported that Mkhize’s son, “soccer player” Andile Mpisane, had defied a SARS summons to attend the Inquiry. Mkhize herself has yet to comment on the allegations. KayaFM reported that she was allegedly in Paris for the Olympics and in her “Don’t Care” era.🤭

Her foray into reality TV and purchase of Royal AM, formerly Bloemfontein Celtics, can be seen as her trying to reinvent herself as a benevolent businesswoman and devoted mother. Her reality show, “KwaMaMkhize,” offers a curated glimpse into her opulent lifestyle, family dynamics, and charity endeavours.

It remains to be seen whether MaMkhize will be able to salvage her reputation or ultimately face the consequences of her actions. Will she get away with it? We’ll have to wait for the next season of her show to see!