Bonatla was suspended at its own request, which shows how difficult it has been for the company and "consultant" Niki Vontas to revive the enterprise he founded in 1997.

Vontas may not be a director, since he was sequestrated over a R75m debt he owed Bonatla shareholders in 2004. However, his guiding hand still seems evident, even though the CEO is his father-in-law, Rob Rainer.

Bonatla was first suspended from the JSE in 2004 for incomplete results, but given that it had sold all its assets, you could argue this was of little importance.

The turning point came in October last year when Bonatla convinced the JSE to lift the suspension and allow it to inject assets. Vontas announced eight deals on January 25, and the share price vaulted 23% on the day.

A few weeks later, Bonatla rejigged some of the deals but said at least one - the R6m purchase of Gemini Moon - had already been done, "resulting in the effective date of the transaction being February 12". In its annual report, Bonatla listed this deal under "acquisitions concluded", as well as a R6m deal to buy Scottwaal Beleggings.

But on May 17, in the footnotes to another announcement, Bonatla simply stated that "the transactions... regarding the acquisitions of Gemini Moon Trading 177... have lapsed as the respective conditions precedent... were not met".

Days after this was questioned in an article in Business Day, Bonatla's corporate sponsor, KPMG, quit, following previous sponsor Vunani out the door. Says KPMG's Pop Motsisi: "We've got certain client acceptance procedures and were unable to continue with the client." Now it seems Tlotlisa Corporate Finance has emerged as Bonatla's new sponsor.

It appears that other announced deals have also collapsed, including Bonatla's efforts to buy the SaXum group from Dalefern Properties for R131m.

According to Bonatla's annual report, there were 501 shareholders in Bonatla, including 199 individuals - and this will have risen in recent months. Before the January announcement, Bonatla's stock was sitting at 26c. It had risen to 40c when it was suspended last week, giving the company a market capitalisation of R74m.

When asked last week when he expected the suspension to be lifted, Vontas said the "outstanding transactions... will be concluded before September 30".

Roger Fuller-Good, who heads Nedbank Capital's preference share division, plays down the impact on Nedbank of Bonatla's suspension.

"This investment is fully provided for, and is not something that causes us concern. If we can realise this investment at some time, it would be a bonus for us," he says.

Fuller-Good says Nedbank will convert to ordinary shares "if the company still exists in five years".

But there is sentiment from inside Bonatla that Nedbank itself has thwarted its own investment in Bonatla to some extent by not being willing to lend money to allow the company to buy the properties it wanted.

Fuller-Good says there is "no validity" in that view: "For a start, two different divisions of Nedbank are involved, and Property Finance must consider Bonatla's application for funding of its proposed acquisition of properties on the merits."

Even though Bonatla requested the suspension, the decision to lift it is now in the hands of the JSE. Says Doug Doel, GM in the JSE's issuer services division : "We'll want assurance that deals have been concluded, and that these things will be put to the shareholders in circulars which must be approved by ourselves. If they conclude deals, and we are happy that there is a viable company, we will consider lifting the suspension."

But it seems the JSE isn't impressed by Bonatla announcing certain deals as done when it appears they have actually fallen apart. "This is something we will look at in terms of the listing requirements, and is part of the ongoing monitoring of a listed company," says Doel.

Until September, however, Bonatla shareholders will be biting their nails in case any other deals slide off the table.