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Garek, and its corporate predecessors, have regularly been subject of harsh questioning by sister publication Finweek over the last four years.
According to a statement, the ministry of trade and industry has - "in the interest of shareholders, the public interest and good corporate governance" - opted to appoint inspectors in terms of the Companies Act to investigate the affairs of Global Afrika Resource and Energy Corporation Limited (Garek), Mwamko Afrika Trade Resource Industrial and Commerce Corporation Limited (Matric) and Resourcefin Strategies International Limited (Rsi) since their inception.
Finweek has written more than a dozen articles on the three companies under investigation, mainly focusing on why shareholders were not provided with up to date financial information despite being subjected to intricate scrip deals.
Finweek's enquiries were usually forwarded to the group's lawyers, who declined to answer questions and accused the publication of misleading reporting.
All three companies have hinted strongly at listing at various times, but such an event never transpired. Most recently Garek - which still claims LPC Manhattan as their corporate adviser - promised to list four companies in the short term, including one before the end of 2005.
The company's website has not updated its listing information for months, and the latest missive to shareholders relates to attempts to take legal action against financial website Moneyweb.
Spokespersons for the group usually cited the "evolutionary nature" of Garek's business for not submitting financial results to shareholders and also for delaying the long awaited listing process. Share peddlers have dangled the listing of Garek as a carrot for prospective investors, hinting that huge gains could be made on listing.
By inference Garek was supposedly set to be worth billions of rands in terms of market capitalisation - despite the fact that its array of "operating" subsidiaries and mining concerns were largely unknown. Shareholders could, however, not quantify the real value of their holdings without recourse to audited financial statements.
The DTI appointed inspectors will report on whether the business of any of the companies is being conducted fraudulently, or with the intent to defraud creditors or members.
The inspectors will also report on whether the business of the companies has been conducted in a "manner oppressive or unfairly prejudicial to the companies" members, or whether any of the companies were formed for any fraudulent or unlawful purpose and whether any of the companies' shareholders have not been given all the information with respect to any of the companies' affairs they might reasonably expect."
Garek spokesperson Alan Curtin could not be reached for comment at the time of writing this article.
