Shimmy Beach Club and mafia-man Mark Lifman

Shimmy Beach Club likes to present itself as the posh venue where the high society goes to party. At last we are certain, that Shimmy is the place where Underworld King Mark Lifman goes to collect his share of the profits.

After Mark Lifman added Shimmy to his business portfolio and articles made this fact public Shimmy Beach Club released an official "response to negative Press allegations" where they carefully worded "Shimmy wishes to state categorically that Mr. Lifman is not, and has never been a stakeholder in Shimmy. Shimmy has no relationship whatsoever with Mr. Lifman." which might be true in a legal sense. But factually we were able to confirm from various current and ex employees, that Mark Lifman is indeed regularly working at Shimmy Beach Club and managing security there. It appears, that his shareholding is kept by Seelan Sundoo as the front person but Mark Lifman is reaping all the profits from it.

As Shimmy staff is reporting strategies of fear and violence working there, you might not be surprised to read these reviews of Shimmy Beach Club on HelloPeter:

Bouncer brutally assaulted "He next pushed me back & grabbed me in a choke grip & started hauling me to the door. Once I reached the exit, my head was pushed into the tar, this created a severe cut above my right eye & broke a front tooth, to the extent the tooth was knocked out & all my other teeth are chipped & damaged from hitting the ground. Subsequently the bouncer pushed my head along the tarred floor which tore my lower earlobe to the extent I had to be rushed to ICU. When I returned to lay charges, the attitude hadn't changed. Shimmey Beach Club is the drug den that everyone knows it to me & it's security are disgusting savage pigs. I will lay charges, talk to reporters & do everything I can to show this club for what it really is."

or

Assault "... I was warned by the security who put a AK47 gun pointed at me that my band would be taken off I and I wouldn't be allowed inside again because I was in and out. Yesterday I walked out once to go put my sunglasses in the car because it was getting dark and I did not want to keep it with me all night. As I was walking out the same security threatened to smack me if I walked out again and will not be allowed back in. At round about 8pm my friends came and I had their tickets. So I walked out to give them their tickets but was pulled to the side and choked by that same security. I pay to be at this party. I am not doing anything wrong or illegal, is this place a prison that you not allowed to go to your car even?"

As we expect Shimmy to pursue legal actions against us publishing these facts, we ask all people with specific knowledge of the operations and/or shareholding at Shimmy to contact us with evidence!

And here is a copy of the article from the Sunday Times from 29 June 2014 by Pearlie Joubert

The story Hennig and partners don’t want you to read

SOUTH African business tycoon Walter Hennig holds the “ultimate beneficial ownership” of Cape Town’s trendiest restaurant and nightclub, Shimmy Beach Club — linking him to one of Cape Town’s most notorious gangster-businessmen, Mark Lifman.

Lifman, who is under investigation by the directorate of priority crimes (the Hawks) for running his security company, Specialised Protection Services (SPS), illegally, is also understood to be the subject of scrutiny by the South African Revenue Services for tax evasion.

The Shimmy Beach Club, built on the south arm of the Waterfront on the water’s edge, is a firm favourite among Cape Town’s elite.

Since its opening in December 2012 — which was attended by the likes of mobster boss and alleged murderer Radovan Krejcir — celebrity guests have included Oscar Pistorius, Olympic swimmer Ryk Neethling, and Danny K and his wife, Lisa Gundelfinger.

The Sunday Times can reveal that:

Hennig, the owner of Palladino, among numerous other companies and trusts, has invested “vast amounts of money” in Shimmy Beach Club, listed as “offshore funding” in company records;

According to two sources, Lifman also sank a cash “loan” into Shimmy and provided security and restaurant equipment to it with Hennig’s knowledge. “Shimmy obtain [ed] certain restaurant supplies and security services from two entities that our clients understand are linked to Lifman . . . by September 2013 all agreements with these entities had been terminated,” said Werksmans attorneys in an e-mail to the Sunday Times; and

A lease agreement between the Waterfront and a company registered as 138081 trading as East Pier Beach Club, signed in December 2011, links Lifman’s Lifmar Trust and a former employee of Shimmy directly to what is now known as Shimmy.

Hennig denies that Lifman has links with Shimmy, although Lifman boasts on his website of his association with the upmarket club. This, despite Hennig claiming that he has instituted legal action to get Lifman to retract the link.

Lifman, a property mogul who allegedly owns more than 60 properties, including clothing stores, clubs and restaurants in Cape Town, has also had a long business association with Jerome “Donkey” Booysen, leader of the Sexy Boys gang.

Recently, the Sunday Times published a photograph of Lifman — sporting an ANC VIP tag — at President Jacob Zuma’s birthday rally in Athlone in the company of former deputy

Interviews with people close to Shimmy paint a different picture

minister and current provincial ANC leader Marius Fransman.

According to documents, Lifman and Shimmy’s former chef, Seelan Sundoo, signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2011, two days after signing the heads of agreement with the Waterfront.

The memorandum states that a shelf company — then called K2011138081 and trading as The East Pier Beach Club — was bought “with a view to establishing a beach bar and restaurant”.

Sundoo, on behalf of the company, signed a five-year lease agreement with the Waterfront’s chief executive, David Green, in December 2011.

According to the memorandum, Lifman’s trust would hold 49% of the shares in the company and Sundoo 51% and the company would “contract” with the Waterfront “for the establishment of a beach bar and restaurant”.

The Waterfront denies it ever signed a lease agreement involving Lifman, insisting it only signed one lease agreement with the club from December 2012 for seven-and-a-half years.

As proof, the V&A produced a letter dated May 13 2014, confirming “that the V&A have en- tered a lease agreement with Shimmy Beach Club for a period of 7.5 years from the commencement date of 10 December 2012”. But, according to Hennig, the construction of Shimmy started in August 2012 — five months before the lease date.

East Pier’s lease agreement required it to pay R500 000 towards “planning and development consents and approvals”.

Hennig conceded in a letter from his lawyer that Sundoo conceived the idea of Shimmy and that Lifman and Sundoo identified the site and applied for the lease.

However, Hennig’s trust declined to invest in the project “for a number of reasons, including that it did not wish to be associated with Lifman”.

But interviews with people close to Shimmy paint a different picture to the one presented by Hennig — sources say Lifman did indeed invest money in Shimmy “in the form of a loan that was paid back”.

“He [Lifman] made a cash loan . . . The lease from the Waterfront was in place to build and develop this funky beach restaurant . . . His loan was paid back. At the beginning, Lifman also provided security to Shimmy. It was no secret,” a source close to Shimmy said.

This person asked not to be named “fearing these guys”.

One of the unsolicited Werksmans e-mails to the Sunday Times said: “Shawn Mace, a well-known and experienced restaurateur . . . and Sundoo established a joint venture that Lifman was not involved in.”

This newspaper was unable to obtain this new company’s lease agreement with the Waterfront.

“The Waterfront was specifically told that Lifman was not involved in the new venture, which was a joint venture between Mace and Sundoo . . .

“On the basis that the barrier [Lifman’s involvement] was no longer an issue, Mace approached the Trust [Hennig’s] to invest in Shimmy. The trust agreed to invest in Shimmy,” said Hennig through Werksmans.

“Lifman has never held any shares, or claim for any shares, or had any stake whatsoever, in Shimmy,” said Hennig.

His lawyer said that the investment amount in Shimmy was “sensitive competitive in- formation”, adding that “the structure of the company is of no concern to you save that Mark Lifman is not involved at all.

“There are no proxy shareholders in Shimmy,” said the lawyer.