Shock as one DiData NTT exec settles over sale of The Campus

Jason Goodall, former CEO of the then Dimension Data and latterly NTT Limited, has reportedly admitted that he had been part of a scheme to secretly be involved in both the selling and buying side of the sale of The Campus, the group’s head office in Bryanston until 2019.

In the statement, originally reported by TechCentral, Goodall admits that he was on “both sides of the transaction … together with Jeremy Ord, Steven Nathan, Saki Missaikos and Grant Bodley”.

“At the time we all held senior positions in NTT and did not disclose our participation [in the deal] to NTT as we ought to have done and I accept we were obliged to do. Nor did I disclose their participation to NTT when it was my duty to do so.”

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Goodall reportedly said the group’s “undisclosed interests were held through nominees in a structure designed to keep our names hidden”.

“Our participation and non disclosure [sic] was a very serious breach of fiduciary duty and misled NTT. It was not excused by any potential management buyout, which we knew would be a separate transaction. We continued successfully to hide our participation until it was discovered following a whistleblower report made in May 2021.”

In his settlement, he agreed to pay NTT $12.5 million (about R208.6 million). The settlement, reportedly confirmed by NTT, was signed on 5 October.

Four of the other implicated executives – being Ord, Nathan, Missaikos and Bodley – issued a statement shortly after TechCentral’s report that wholeheartedly rejected the settlement.

“We note that Mr Goodall’s statement was signed as a term of a negotiated settlement that resolves substantial personal claims NTT had brought against him in separate proceedings in the UK.”

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NTT sued Goodall for millions in that jurisdiction, arguing that he should repay the bulk of his retirement package.

Curiously missing from any statement is the name of Bruce ‘Doc’ Watson, another DiData/NTT exec. Together, the directors were referred to as The Campus Six.

The four other executives contest that: “The arbitration proceedings launched by NTT against Mr Goodall were set down for hearing on 5 October 2026. There is no doubt that the wording of Mr Goodall’s statement is the product of what was negotiated and agreed between NTT and Mr Goodall as a term of the settlement agreement. The settlement agreement has not been published. Only carefully selected terms of the settlement have been revealed in Mr Goodall’s statement.”

This gets more personal …

The four say that “Mr Goodall advised us, via WhatsApp on 5 October, before this statement was released that he was ‘devastated’ and ‘shattered’ and that in the context of ‘a brutal weekend and a really tough time over the last 6 months preparing for the arbitration’, he had settled his case with NTT”.

“There is no doubt that he felt pressure to conclude the settlement agreement and to agree to the statement that he advised that NTT would publish because if he had been unsuccessful, he would have, in his words, been ‘totally wiped out’.

“It is sad for us to respond to Mr Goodall’s statement by pointing out that what he has now stated directly contradicts many statements he has made under oath and that he has done so pursuant to the terms of the settlement he has reached with NTT.”

Controversial sale

In 2019, The Campus – a sprawling and iconic 75 000m² facility – was sold to Identity Property Fund, headed by Sonja de Bruijn, for R1.4 billion, according to Bloomberg.

TechCentral first reported the news of the subsequent investigation into the sale, and in November 2024 it was declared void by the South Gauteng High Court.

The executives, which included Ord, Nathan, Missaikos, Bodley as well as Goodall and the as-yet-unnamed (in settlement documentation) Watson (as well as Goodall, in that original grouping) appealed.

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The Supreme Court of Appeal heard the case in May 2026. Judgment was reserved.

The four vehemently argue that: “Contrary to Mr Goodall’s statement and to what Mr Goodall himself deposed to under oath, the fund structure through which we made our indirect investment in the Campus transaction was designed by Identity Partners and specifically approved by NTT under advisement from various advisors including Webber Wentzel Attorneys and a commercial bank. The structure was not designed with the intention of hiding our participation in the Campus transaction.”

They maintain that because the matter is “currently before the Supreme Court of Appeal [SCA], where judgment has been reserved … [the] entire matter is sub judice”.

Goodall is the first to break ranks among the defendants in that SCA case to settle.

It is understood that he recently acquired separate representation in the appeal and, according to TechCentral, the statement was provided by the law firm acting for NTT.

This point is contentious to the other four executives.

Moneyweb understands that Watson, too, has in recent times sought separate representation from the original grouping. This helps explain the absence of a reference to him in Goodall’s statement or, indeed, the statement of the other four executives.

If this is indeed the case, and Watson settles (as could be expected), then only the four who issued the statement remain on the hook.

The SCA judgment remains outstanding.

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