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Peet Viljoen denied bail over R27.6 million housing fraud
Disbarred attorney and reality television personality Peet Viljoen will remain behind bars after the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court denied him bail and found that he poses a flight risk.
Viljoen appeared before Magistrate Nicca Setshogoe on Monday, 17 August, for judgment on his bail application. He faces about 400 charges, including fraud, theft, corruption and forgery, arising from allegations linked to the sale of 46 properties belonging to the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) in 2010. The properties were valued at about R27.6 million.
Setshogoe found that Viljoen had failed to satisfy the court that his release would be in the interests of justice. The magistrate also raised concerns about his residential circumstances, his recent deportation from the United States, alleged threats against witnesses and the possibility that he could interfere with the investigation.
Why the court found him a flight risk
A central issue in the bail judgment was Viljoen’s lack of a fixed address and the circumstances surrounding his return to South Africa.
The court heard that Viljoen had been deported from the US after spending time in immigration detention following his arrest there with his wife, Melany Viljoen. Setshogoe rejected the defence’s contention that Viljoen had voluntarily chosen to return to South Africa, noting that, according to the evidence before her, his request for voluntary deportation had been denied.
The magistrate also found that the addresses supplied by Viljoen as possible places where he would live if released were not sufficient to guarantee his stability in South Africa. The court further noted that there was no evidence before it establishing what assets he had in the country.
The court heard Viljoen had claimed an address in Brits, North West, had been verified, but evidence presented during the proceedings indicated otherwise.
Setshogoe also considered social media posts attributed to Viljoen while he was in the US in which he had indicated that he did not intend returning to South Africa.
Alleged threats against witnesses
The court was also concerned about allegations that Viljoen had threatened the investigating officer and a former co-accused who has since pleaded guilty.
According to the State’s case, two former co-accused implicated Viljoen in criminality and later pleaded guilty as part of plea and sentence agreements. Both had been employed by Viljoen’s law firm.
The court also considered the State’s evidence concerning an employee of the South African Revenue Service who was convicted and sentenced for accepting bribes from one of Viljoen’s employees to issue clearance certificates.
Setshogoe found that there were no measures the court could put in place that would adequately guarantee that Viljoen would not interfere with witnesses if released.
The magistrate also considered allegations that Viljoen had previously been involved in paying bribes to government officials and questioned whether there would be any guarantee that he would not attempt to use similar means to obtain travel documents if released.
The court ultimately found that his release could undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system.
The alleged Johannesburg housing property scheme
The criminal case against Viljoen dates back to allegations surrounding 46 properties belonging to the Johannesburg Property Company, an entity associated with the City of Johannesburg.
The State alleges that the properties were unlawfully sold to unsuspecting purchasers in 2010 without the municipality’s knowledge or consent. The charges include allegations involving fraudulent documents used to facilitate the transfers.
The alleged conduct involved sale agreements, purported resolutions of the City of Johannesburg and JPC, powers of attorney and other documentation allegedly used to facilitate the transfers.
The matter later went through a lengthy legal process. Viljoen was previously arrested in connection with the case and was granted R50,000 bail in August 2018 without conditions.
In 2024, the criminal proceedings were set aside following a review application in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. The High Court ordered that the matter be reinstated and start afresh before a new magistrate. During the latest bail proceedings, Viljoen’s defence argued that his original bail remained valid because it had never been formally cancelled.
Setshogoe rejected that argument, finding that the High Court order had effectively brought the previous proceedings to an end and that the original bail order was no longer active when the matter was ordered to start afresh.
The US shoplifting case
Viljoen’s latest legal troubles followed his arrest in Florida earlier this year with his wife, Melany Viljoen.
The couple were arrested in Boca Raton in March and charged with aggravated grand retail theft following allegations of shoplifting from a Publix supermarket.
According to court-related reports, investigators alleged that the pair were involved in a scheme in which lower-priced items were scanned while more expensive merchandise was allegedly placed in their bags, a practice described as ticket-switching. The alleged activity was said to have taken place between August 2025 and March 2026.
Viljoen was subsequently deported from the US and arrested by the Hawks at OR Tambo International Airport on 16 June when he arrived in South Africa. His arrest was linked to the long-running Johannesburg property fraud investigation.
The US shoplifting allegations have not been determined by a South African court and should not be confused with the separate Johannesburg fraud, theft, corruption and forgery case.
Bail denied and next court date
Viljoen’s legal team had proposed bail and conditions including house arrest and reporting to police, while arguing that his return to South Africa showed that he was not a flight risk.
The court was not persuaded.
Setshogoe ruled that Viljoen should remain in custody, and he was returned to Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre.
His attorney, André Steenkamp, indicated that the defence intended to appeal the bail refusal.
Viljoen is expected back in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court on 4 September. The matter is scheduled to continue with the criminal proceedings and further discussions around the case.
The National Prosecuting Authority welcomed the bail decision. NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the State had opposed Viljoen’s release because it believed he was a flight risk.
“The magistrate said his release on bail might undermine public confidence,” Mahanjana said.
Viljoen remains an accused person and has not been convicted of the charges against him. The allegations relating to the Johannesburg properties will still have to be tested in court.
Economy
Vegetables disappear from South African plates when winter hits
As temperatures drop, breakfasts become toast instead of tomatoes, lunches lean towards bread and soup, and hearty dinners replace lighter meals. It’s an entirely human response to winter, but one that can leave vegetables falling further down the shopping list.
Every winter, South Africans naturally gravitate towards warm, comforting meals, but in the process, vegetables are often the first thing to disappear from the plate. Tenderstem® broccoli believes the solution isn’t convincing people to abandon comfort food but making it easier to build vegetables into the meals they’re already cooking. Convenience is the real fix: making the healthy choice the easy one. It is the thinking behind an approach that encourages South Africans to include quick-cooking vegetables such as Tenderstem® broccoli, which needs only a few minutes to prepare and can be added straight into meals already on the stove, rather than requiring a separate dish of their own.
Cold weather tends to draw us towards warm, filling foods, with bread, pasta and other carbohydrate-heavy favourites often becoming the easiest choice. The problem is not the comfort food. It is what gets pushed aside to make room for it.
The nutritional data reflects this pattern. According to South Africa’s National Nutrition Week, adults in this country already consume an average of around 230g of fruit and vegetables daily, which is just 58% of the internationally recommended 400g intake. That is the baseline in any season. In winter, when lighter meals feel less appealing and hot, filling food becomes the natural choice, vegetables can become even easier to overlook.
Diets low in fruit and vegetables are associated with a greater risk of non-communicable diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Winter also coincides with South Africa’s flu season, making a varied diet especially relevant. Vitamin C and folate both contribute to normal immune function and can be found in a range of fresh vegetables.
The answer does not require complicated dietary changes or extra time in the kitchen. It starts with building greens into the meals people are already eating.
Start the week differently
One practical way to improve winter nutrition is to remove the daily decision. A vegetable egg bake or frittata, prepared on a Sunday evening and portioned into the fridge, provides a filling breakfast containing protein, vegetables and fibre for several days. On a cold weekday morning, having something ready to reheat makes the nutritious choice the convenient one.
Brassica greens work particularly well in this format because they hold their texture when baked and release less water than softer vegetables such as courgette or spinach. Tenderstem® broccoli can be added whole, requires no trimming and is edible from floret to stem. Fold a generous handful into whisked eggs, add cheese if desired and bake at 180°C for 20 to 25 minutes. Once portioned, it can be reheated in minutes.
It also answers a familiar winter problem. Breakfast often defaults to buttered toast, cereal or a rusk when the weather is cold and time is short. Preparing a vegetable-based protein option in advance changes that routine without adding pressure to the morning.
Add to what you already cook
Quick-cooking green vegetables can be added to soups, curries and lentil dishes in the final few minutes of cooking, making them an easy part of familiar winter meals.
The key is to choose a vegetable that holds its texture, works with robust flavours and requires little preparation. Tenderstem® broccoli cooks in three to five minutes and can be used from floret to stem. Add it to a butter chicken or lamb curry shortly before serving, stir it through soup or place it in a roasting tray with the roast for the final ten minutes of cooking. Even a grilled cheese sandwich can make room for a few green stems.
Each option fits into a meal that is already being prepared, without requiring a separate dish or additional washing up. An 80g serving counts as one of your five-a-day and is high in vitamin C and folate, which contribute to normal immune function. It also provides fibre, potassium and vitamin B6. “People do not stop caring about nutrition in winter. They choose food that feels warm, filling and manageable. The easiest way to keep vegetables on the menu is to build them into those familiar meals rather than treating them as a separate side dish,” explains Elise Ruddle, Chef and Nutritionist, South African brand representative for Tenderstem®.
Winter eating does not need to become a contest between comfort and nutrition. The more realistic answer is to make vegetables part of the comfort food itself. When greens belong in the curry, soup, breakfast bake or toasted sandwich, eating them no longer depends on anyone feeling virtuous.
