Johannesburg — THE Johannesburg High Court has ordered that a civil judgment that found the Sheriff of Midrand, Theodorus Cornelius Siebert, had withheld more than R2,7m in fees from a security company, be sent to Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla.

Judge IW Schwartzman has ordered Siebert to repay more than R5m -- an amount that includes six years' worth of interest -- and the defendant's legal costs to Wozani Security, from whom he had withheld and delayed payment.

The money was owed for a relocation exercise the company had carried out for the Johannesburg City Council in 2001.

Siebert was found to have used the interest accrued on the money paid to him on the R28m contract for his own account.

Wozani relocated 6000 people from below the flood line on the east bank of the Jukskei River in Alexandra to Diepsloot and Bramfischerville.

Yet instead of the sheriff paying the company in weekly instalments from funds that had been paid to him as administrator of the exercise by the Johannesburg City Council, he did not meet the terms of his contract and took money that was not due to him.

Wozani director Johan Coetzer said Siebert had been slow to pay his company and then on top of that had withheld money not due to him, which "had caused considerable cash flow problems for the company".

"We had spoken to the council's facilitator, Mike Morkel of Settlement Dynamics, who confirmed the sheriff had indeed been paid," Coetzer said.

According to the judgment, Siebert's reluctance to pay Wozani for work already carried out caused a "great deal of tension" between Siebert, Wozani and the city's council and on more than one occasion the council had to pay Wozani directly so that the relocations could continue.

Schwartzman said in his judgment that Siebert had been unwilling to confirm the correctness of his annual income recorded in documents that had been signed by him.

Yet Coetzee said yesterday that Wozani had discovered that the money withheld had allegedly been invested by Siebert as if it "was his own -- earning interest for his own account".

Schwartzman also said in his judgment that Siebert's conduct, "in attempting to exact a payment to which he is not entitled, is inconsistent with his status as an officer of the court".

A former employee of Siebert's whose testimony was presented at court, said that he had witnessed Siebert drawing, in cash, from the now-defunct Santam Bank, the interest that had accrued on the money withheld from Wozani.

He also alleged that more than R2m worth of jewellery that had been attached by Siebert by court order, had "disappeared from his custody".

All attempts to contact Siebert for comment were unsuccessful. A source close to the case said Siebert, who lives on Waterkloof Ridge in Pretoria, could be a flight risk.

Yesterday a writ of execution was being prepared to recover the money owed by him.

The chairman of the Sheriffs' Board, Cheslan America, said yesterday he had not yet had time to study the judgment. In principle, however, Siebert could be dismissed, should it be found he had abused his position.

Attempts to contact justice department spokesman Zolile Nqayi for comment were unsuccessful.