Shauwn ‘MaMkhize’ Mkhize’s R4.5m Maybach on auction block as SARS tightens grip over R40m tax fight
Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize’s opulent lifestyle is facing fresh pressure as her 2021 Mercedes‑Maybach GLS 600 – a flagship luxury SUV with a price tag estimated at around R4.5 million when new – goes under the hammer this week as part of a concerted SARS clampdown on her alleged R40-million tax bill.
This latest auction unfolds against a striking backdrop: while the state scrambles to recover money from her assets, taxpayers are currently footing a monthly R188 261.90 security bill for a portfolio of crumbling properties linked to the flamboyant businesswoman and Royal AM boss.
Shauwn ‘MaMkhize’ Mkhize's Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600, estimated at around R4.5 million, goes under the hammer this week.
MaMkhize’s R4.5-million Maybach SUV up for auction as SARS targets R40 million tax debt
The luxury vehicle features a cathedral-like interior, while taxpayers fund R188 000 monthly security for her crumbling properties
The auction stems from a preservation order granted in November 2024 as part of systematic asset seizures by a court-appointed curator.
The Maybach sale flows directly from a preservation order granted by the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in November 2024, which froze a swathe of Mkhize’s assets amid allegations of large-scale tax evasion and “criminal activity that undermines the country’s economy”.
While taxpayers foot a R188 261.90 monthly security bill for Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize’s deteriorating properties, her 2021 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 is set to go under the hammer on Thursday.
The sale marks an escalation in her legal battle with SARS, which claims she owes R40 million. In November 2024, the KwaZulu-Natal High Court granted a preservation order freezing her assets, citing alleged tax evasion and “criminal activity that undermines the country’s economy”.
The court-appointed curator is now systematically selling off luxury assets to recover the R40-million debt, with the revenue service securing search-and-seizure warrants as part of its aggressive enforcement strategy.
The court‑appointed curator, acting under the preservation order, has been tasked with identifying and selling off high‑value assets to build a recovery fund while the underlying tax dispute and ownership challenges play out. The Maybach, with its bespoke finishes and ultra‑luxury positioning, is one of the most eye‑catching items on that list.
On the new vehicle market, a Mercedes‑Maybach GLS 600 is pitched firmly at the top end of the SUV segment. A Mercedes sales representative told News24 that prices can climb well beyond the already lofty base.
A Mercedes sales representative told News24 that the base price of the ultra-luxury SUV starts at around R4.5 million when new, with the final figure varying significantly depending on specifications and optional extras. On the second-hand market, it could fetch up to R3 million at auction.
“It’s difficult to give an overall price because with all of our cars, you can spec them with certain things,” the Mercedes sales representative said, noting that buyers can customise everything from rims to interior colours through the configurator. Options include wood trim and various luxury add-ons that “could drastically change the price”, he said.
The representative noted that buyers “could go base spec, or you could add everything”, with the extensive customisation options typical of the Maybach brand’s bespoke approach to luxury vehicles.
Based on pictures of the car, its white Nappa leather seats could add R315 000 to the base price, and its 23-inch multi-spoke rims could go up to R105 600 for a set.
Auction photographs showcase what one observer described as a “cathedral-like” interior – an ultra‑plush space where white Nappa leather, polished wood and brushed metal finishes wrap around rear passengers cocooned in executive‑class comfort.
Auction photos reveal cathedral-like interiors where hand-crafted leather meets polished wood and brushed metal.
A representative from SLS Auto Mercedes-Benz Repairs, a specialist based in Durban, said the Maybach GLS sits above even the standard S‑Class in the Mercedes hierarchy.
“A Maybach is similar to the normal Mercedes-Benz S-Class; the Maybach is an extended version,” said a representative from SLS Auto Mercedes-Benz Repairs, a specialist based in Durban.
A representative from Merc King Auto, a Mercedes specialist, said rim specifications vary widely by model and are typically customised to the owner’s preferences.
Merely servicing or maintaining the vehicle remains out of reach for most South Africans.
Merely maintaining the luxury SUV comes at a steep cost, out of reach for most South Africans. A representative from SLS Auto said minor services start at around R2 800, with costs increasing depending on the work required.
The online auction, run by curator‑appointed auctioneers, opened on Tuesday and drew keen interest from prospective buyers seeking a trophy vehicle at a potential discount, even as legal battles swirl around its former owner.
The auction opened on Tuesday and closed on Thursday at 11:00, requiring a R50 000 registration fee to bid.
The auction opened on Tuesday and closes on Thursday at 11:00, and requires a R50 000 registration fee.
Bidder’s Choice/Supplied
An insider with knowledge of the auction said there had been a lot of interest in the auction.
The Maybach’s appearance on the block is just the latest chapter in SARS’s determined effort to strip down what it has described, in court filings, as a flashy but increasingly hollow empire built on unpaid tax.
Not the first time for Mkhize
This auction continues SARS’s systematic dismantling of Mkhize’s flashy empire, following last year’s Royal AM fleet that fetched R8.2 million under the hammer.
More than R5.6 million was raised in the October auction of her luxury designer bags and a Lamborghini Urus, while December’s premium alcohol auction brought in more than R528 000.
Last week, urgent court action targeted five properties costing taxpayers R188 261.90 monthly in security, plus R97 922.30 biannual insurance and R1.79 million in outstanding municipal charges.
SARS had brought an urgent application in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban to force the immediate sale of the properties, some of which make up a palatial compound dubbed the “Royal AM Palace” in Sandton.
SARS plans to sell these previously preserved properties, now managed by a SARS-appointed curator, claiming they are deteriorating from neglect and burdening taxpayers.
Court papers describe how some of the properties, including elements of the so‑called “Royal AM Palace” in Sandton, are falling into disrepair, even as public money is used to secure and insure them.
At the heart of SARS’s argument is that keeping the preserved properties in limbo is both costly and counter‑productive, and that an accelerated sale is now necessary to prevent further loss of value.
Mkhize’s legal team has raised questions around ownership of some of the properties, arguing against the sale.
However, SARS maintained that the proceeds from the sale would be retained and not applied to the debt owed by Mkhize, pending ownership disputes.
The court reserved judgment in this matter.
That distinction is critical: SARS has told the court that selling the properties does not pre‑judge who ultimately owns them. Instead, the proceeds will be ring‑fenced while disputes over beneficial ownership and corporate structures are ironed out.
In parallel, the curator continues to chip away at movable assets – from football club fleets and designer wardrobes to high‑end alcohol collections and now a Maybach – in an attempt to build a war chest that can, in time, be used to satisfy whatever tax liability is eventually confirmed.
For Mkhize, whose public persona has long been built on displays of wealth, glamour and football clout, the optics are stark: one after another, the symbols of that status are being catalogued, photographed and sold to the highest bidder under the authority of the very state she is accused of short‑changing.
For taxpayers, the case underscores both the scale of SARS’s renewed enforcement drive at the top end and the paradox of having to underwrite the safety of dilapidating mansions and compounds while the revenue service fights to claw back what it says is owed.
As the auctioneer’s hammer falls on the Maybach GLS 600, it will mark not only the disposal of a single luxury SUV, but another visible step in the slow unravelling of an empire now firmly in the taxman’s sights.
