>>16569269 Gencore/Billiton Bun | Gill Marcus Bun

>>16696664

>The ghosts of Andersen may still be with us.

“Glencore: Will the previous board be held to account?” – Gill Marcus to be held responsible, KPMG, PIC

https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/companies/glencore-will-the-previous-board-be-held-to-account-eb77c7a2-9613-46ba-a036-34289c60969b

June 1, 2022

CORPORATE pundits are calling for the board of disgraced commodities trader Glencore, including former Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus, a non-executive chair, to be held responsible for the group’s unethical behaviour, which recently saw it admit to fines of $1.5 billion (R23.6bn) in three territories.

Between 2007 and 2018, Glencore and its subsidiaries paid more than $52 million to intermediaries to bribe Nigerian officials in return for profits of $124m, US court filings show, and from $27m to an agent to bribe officials in Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea.

However, the US Department of Justice has confirmed that there are parallel investigations by other foreign jurisdictions.

“At the core of Glencore’s unlawful conduct is that Glencore not only entered into corrupt relationships to secure oil contracts but shockingly paid bribes to avoid government audits,” it was reported.

Tony Hayward was chairperson from 2013, while Kalidas Madhavpeddi was appointed chairperson in 2021.

As a non-executive board member, Marcus, who was on the board from 2018, is the chair of the audit committee and a member of the board’s ethics committee.

“Ms Marcus was appointed as non-executive director of Glencore on 7 December 2017, which appointment was effective from 1 January 2018. She had a fiduciary duty to ensure Glencore’s legal and ethical compliance, which duty she had to comply with during the period which was investigated by the US Department of Justice,” said a source, who declined to be named.

It was pointed out that Glencore not only benefited from its operations and presence in the country, but had been funded by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), with the body being a substantial shareholder in the group.

“The PIC’s investments and shareholding in Glencore (Glencore’s main listing is on the London Stock Exchange with a secondary listing on the JSE) will, therefore, directly or indirectly be subject to the total of the billion dollar fines which Glencore will pay as part of its guilty plea in terms resulting from the US Department of Justice’s investigation,” the source said.

Questions have also been raised over the complicity of audit firm KPMG, which previously had the contract to oversee Glencore’s audits, until Deloitte and Touche were reappointed as external auditors early this year, subject to shareholder approval.

The African Energy Chamber this week called for African countries to open their own investigations against the global diversified miner after two subsidiaries last week pleaded guilty to multiple charges of market manipulation and bribery, including corruption related to the company’s oil operations in Africa and South America.

Former Eskom chief executives Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe have alluded to the corrupt relationship, with Koko saying he was consulting lawyers about igniting fresh investigations into President Cyril Ramaphosa-linked Glencore and its dirty deals at the power utility.

They both testified before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture chaired by Justice Raymond Zondo that there had been an adversarial relationship between the power utility and Glencore.

Glencore picked Ramaphosa’s Shanduka as its BEE partner on a coal export project in 2005. They teamed up again as investors in the Optimum project to supply coal to the state power authority. However, the government blocked permits for the mine, forcing Glencore to sell it to the Gupta family, business allies of former president Jacob Zuma.

>>16706154

>Equatorial Guinea

“EQUATORIAL GUINEA 2020 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT”

https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/EQUATORIAL-GUINEA-2020-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Equatorial Guinea is nominally a multiparty constitutional republic. Since a military coup in 1979, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has dominated all branches of government in collaboration with his clan and political party, the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea, which he founded in 1991. In 2016 President Obiang claimed to receive 93.7 percent of the vote in a presidential election that many considered neither free nor fair. In 2017 the country held legislative and municipal elections that lacked independent domestic or international monitoring and verification of the voter census, registration, and the tabulation of ballots. The ruling party and its 14 coalition parties won 92 percent of the vote, taking all 75 Senate seats, 99 of 100 seats in the lower chamber, and all except one seat in municipal councils.

The vice president (eldest son of President Obiang) has overall control of the security forces. Police generally are responsible for maintaining law and order in the cities, while gendarmes are responsible for security outside cities and for special events. Police report to the minister of national security, while gendarmes report to the Ministry of National Defense. Military personnel, who report to the minister of national defense, also fulfill police functions in border areas, sensitive sites, and high-traffic areas. Both ministers report to the vice president directly. Additional police elements are in the Ministries of Interior (border and traffic police), Finance (customs police), and Justice (investigative/prosecuting police). Presidential security officials also exercise police functions at or near presidential facilities. Civilian authorities did not maintain effective control over the security forces. Members of the security forces committed numerous abuses.

Significant human rights issues included: unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings by the government; forced disappearances by the government; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; arbitrary detention; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; political prisoners or detainees; serious problems with independence of the judiciary; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious restrictions on free expression, press, and the internet, including violence, threats of violence, or unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, censorship, site blocking, and the existence of criminal libel laws; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, such as overly restrictive laws on nongovernmental organizations; serious restrictions on freedom of movement; the inability of citizens to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections; restrictions on political participation; serious acts of corruption; lack of action and accountability for violence against women, although the government in one high-profile case investigated rapes of minors; trafficking in persons, although the government investigated two cases during the year; and crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex persons.

The government took some steps to prosecute or punish officials who committed abuses, including certain cases prompted by criticism from the press and public, whether in the security forces or elsewhere in the government, but impunity was a serious problem.

>>16731550

>In 2003, Dr Motsepe led ARMgold into a merger with Avmin and Harmony. Following the merger, Avmin changed its name to African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and he became the founder and executive chairman of ARM.

“ARM considers restarting options at Nkomati Nickel following 42% price surge” – “ARM owns Nkomati Nickel on a 50/50 basis with Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel), the Russian platinum group”

https://www.miningmx.com/news/base-metals/49003-arm-considers-restarting-options-at-nkomati-nickel-following-42-price-surge/

March 7, 2022

AFRICAN Rainbow Minerals (ARM) may restart production at Nkomait Nickel operations in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province following an improvement in the price of the metal.

Mike Schmidt, CEO of ARM, said last week at the group’s interim results presentation the company was also considering options regarding underground mining at Nkomati.

“We’ve always said we put the mine on care and maintenance and wait for better prices,” said Schmidt. “The questions raised is ‘you’ve got the good prices, what now?'”.

“So, we are busy with study options with our partner and we are considering a number of options in terms of the way forward,” said Schmidt.

“The recent rally in nickel may not be entirely market driven; there may be other fundamental changes. We do need to understand the market fundmanetals and [if] prices are sustainable,” he added.,

Schmidt said the otion of going underground – which he described as “a very large resource that can last for 20 years” – was currently “under study”.

ARM owns Nkomati Nickel on a 50/50 basis with Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel), the Russian platinum group metals producer which has seen its share price dive nearly 90% in the last month following the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

ARM and Nornickel decided to put Nkomati in mothballs in 2019 after it reported losses. ARM wrote up a R890m impairment against the asset in that year.

Nickel is considered a critical metal in the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries. Demand growth totalled 16% last year and was expected to grow again, by about 8%, in the current year to 2.89 million tons, according to a report by Morgan Stanley.

“Looking specifically at nickel electric vehicle demand, we forecast this to grow by 70,000 tons (about 55% year-on-year) this year, and see it expanding with a 40% compound average growth rate through the 2020s, reaching a demand-share of 25% by 2030,” the bank said in its report.

At $26,489/t, the price of nickel is 27% higher year to date and 42% higher year-on-year. It is the second only to aluminium in best performing base metals over the last year.

Last week, ARM reported a 27% year-on-year decline in interim headline share earnings to R18,87/share. It declared an interim dividend of R12/share.

>>16737403

African Rainbow Mineral did not consult with Russian partner, Nornickel, over Nkomati Mine

“African Rainbow Minerals and Nornickel at odds over Nkomati Mine”

https://www.africaintelligence.com/southern-africa-and-islands/2022/04/20/african-rainbow-minerals-and-nornickel-at-odds-over-nkomati-mine,109779153-art

April 20, 2022

The chief executive of South Africa’s African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), Mike Schmidt, last month hinted the mining group might resume operations at the Nkomati nickel mine. While his statement was met with enthusiasm, it appears that the announcement was mas not made in consultation with ARM’s Russian partner, Nornickel.

Nornickel History

https://www.nornickel.com/company/history/

• 1935

The USSR Council of People’s Commissars resolved to build Norilsk Plant.

• 1942

The first batch of converter matte was produced, with Norilsk Plant opening a Nickel Electrolysis Shop in 1943.

• 1953

Norilsk was granted the status of a town, with Norilsk Plant producing 35% of nickel, 12% of copper, 30% of cobalt and 90% of PGM from the Soviet Union’s total metal output.

• 1960

The Talnakhskoye Field, the world’s largest deposit of copper-nickel ores, was discovered giving a new lease of life to Norilsk Plant. Works started to build mines and the town of Talnakh on the Taimyr Peninsula.

• 1965

The Oktyabrskoye Field, a deposit of copper-nickel ores, was discovered.

• 1981

Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant and the first stage of Talnakh Concentrator were put on stream.

• 1993

A decree of the President of the Russian Federation transformed the Norilsk Nickel State Concern for the Production of Precious and Non-Ferrous Metals into Russian Joint Stock Company (RJSC) Norilsk Nickel for the Production of Precious and Non-Ferrous Metals.

• 1994

RJSC Norilsk Nickel's assets were privatised.

• 2001

The Company was restructured, with shareholders of RJSC Norilsk Nickel exchanging 96.6% of their stock to the shares of MMC Norilsk Nickel. The Company’s shares were listed on the RTS and MICEX stock exchanges, while, in June, the Company started issuing Level-1 ADRs with MMC Norilsk Nickel shares as the underlying asset.

• 2006

Nornickel obtained a follow-up exploration licence for the Maslovskoye Field and in four years from then entered its reserves into the government books as follows: 728 kt of nickel, over 1.1 mt of copper, 12.5 m oz of platinum and 1.3 m oz of gold.

• 2009

The Company created its own icebreaker fleet of reinforced ice class vessels having the distinction of being the first Arctic shipping vehicles to be awarded the highest ARC 7 ice class.

• 2013

Vladimir Potanin’s team changed the management structure of Nornickel. The Board of Directors adopted a new development strategy. The Company decided to focus on the Tier-1 assets of Polar Division and Kola MMC.

• 2014

Disposal of overseas and non-core assets: the Company sold its Western Australian gold mining assets (North Eastern Goldfields Operations (NEGO)), nickel assets (Lake Johnston, Cawse, Avalon, Black Swan and Silver Swan), and stakes in energy companies.

• 2015

The Company piloted Stage 1 of Talnakh Concentrator in Norilsk.

Norilsk Nickel celebrated its 80th anniversary marking the 80 years of exploring the Russian Arctic. Russian President Vladimir Putin commended MMC Norilsk Nickel’s team for their valuable contribution to the development of the Russian metals industry and excellent operating performance.

• 2016

The Nickel Plant shutdown project was completed, which helped cut sulphur dioxide emissions in Norilsk and thereby mitigate the environmental impact.

The Company completed rebranding: the new Nornickel logo symbolises the ongoing changes, while Aspirations and Reliability were chosen as the Company’s key attributes.

• 2017

Giving a start to Russia’s Year of Environment, Nornickel opened a visitor centre at the Pasvik Reserve.

And there is more…

>>16554835 James Rothschild – Investments; Rusal, Glencore, Ukraine, etc

>>16569271 Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One

>>16569275 Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part Two

“Russian Tycoon Potanin to Start Nornickel-Rusal Merger Talks”

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/russian-tycoon-potanin-to-start-nornickel-rusal-merger-talks-1.1787750

July 5, 2022

(Bloomberg) – Billionaire Vladimir Potanin, the biggest investor in MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC, said he’s ready to discuss merging the mining giant with United Co Rusal International PJSC as sanctions against Russia weigh on both companies.

Potanin has headed Nornickel since striking a 2012 shareholder accord with aluminum producer Rusal, the company’s second-largest investor. A merger would create a “national champion,” the tycoon said in an interview with Russia’s RBC TV channel.

“We received the proposal from the management of Rusal to discuss the merger with Norilsk Nickel as an alternative to extending the shareholder agreement,” Potanin said. “I sent a letter in which I confirmed our agreement to start the process of discussing a merger with Rusal.”

Potanin, Russia’s richest man, controls about 35% of Nornickel, a key producer of nickel and copper and the world’s biggest miner of palladium. Apart from some Canadian restrictions in April, the tycoon largely avoided western sanctions targeting other members of the Russian elite until the UK imposed penalties on June 29.

Potanin said that Nornickel is not under sanctions despite the penalties imposed against him by the UK. The billionaire also indicated that he is not going to step down as Nornickel chief executive officer.

Rusal’s press service declined to comment.

About 20% of the world’s nickel comes from Russia, with nearly all of that from Potanin’s Nornickel. The company also produces about 40% of the world’s palladium, used in anti-pollution devices in gasoline cars.

That original shareholder agreement defined Nornickel’s dividend payouts and ended feuding between Potanin and Rusal’s founder Oleg Deripaska.

(Updates with comments from Potanin starting in second paragraph)

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

“Putin's hockey pal and Russia's richest man Vladimir Potanin has been 'snapping up banks for cheap' amid an exodus of Western owners”

https://www.businessinsider.com/vladimir-potanin-snap-up-banks-for-cheap-russia-ukraine-putin-2022-5?op=1&r=US&IR=T

May 14, 2022

Russia's richest man has been snapping up domestic banks at a discount rate, after their Western owners ditched the country, reports say.

The Russian economy has been in freefall since the invasion of Ukraine, after Western powers issued sanctions against a number of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies, seizing and freezing their assets, and a host of leading businesses – from McDonald's to Goldman Sachs – shut down operations in the country altogether.

Metals tycoon Vladimir Potanin, a long-time Putin ally, has largely avoided Western sanctions, despite his close personal ties to the regime. Experts say Potanin, who has played ice hockey with Putin in the past, has largely remained off the West's radar due to his personal importance to global metals markets.

On Thursday, the Financial Times reported Potanin, who is said to be worth $30 billion, had been tapping into his estimated $30 billion fortune to obtain stakes in major Russian banks, which have seen their value dwindle after Western stakeholders abandoned the country.

The billionaire's Interros group is said to have acquired Rosbank after Société Générale (SocGen), a French bank that bought the business from Potanin in 2008, opted for a quick exit from Russia. Insider previously reported banks still operating in Russia were preparing to lose huge amounts of money for exiting.

Potanin reportedly obtained Oleg Tinkov's stake in TCS Group Holding, for which Tinkov, who said was forced to sell his stakes after he criticized the war, complained that Potanin paid only 3% of the actual stakes' worth, per the newspaper. Insider reached out to TCS and SocGen but did not immediately get a response.

Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of political analysis firm R.Politik told the FT: "The Kremlin had a geopolitically problematic asset [in Tinkoff] and Potanin had a solution."

Potanin's recent acquisitions make him a key individual in the banking sector. In February, Rosbank and Tinkoff, TCS's main assets, combined assets of almost $45 billion (RBS3 trillion).

Someone involved in the negotiations for SocGen told the FT: "We wanted to find a way to exit in the most orderly way while preserving our 12,000 staff."

They added: "Potanin… says he wants to preserve the bank and its culture," that's why they decided to accept his offer that was quick and he knows the bank, per the report.

Potanin founded Interros – a conglomerate with stakes in industries including mining, energy, and real estate – in 1990, and is the richest man in Russia, per Forbes. But he is mostly known for mastering the "loans-for-shares" programs, which many other oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich, have made their fortune through the programs.

Under the "loans-for-shares" programs, wealthy entrepreneurs and banks loaned money to the Russian government in the 1990s in exchange for equity in the country's natural resource companies. The government often could not repay these loans, leaving many of the natural resource companies in the hands of wealthy individuals.

Vladimir Potanin Background

https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/moscow/potanin.html

October, 2003

Vladimir Potanin, 42, was born in 1961 into a high-ranking Communist family. He attended the Moscow Institute for International Relations, an elite school that groomed students for the KGB and offices of the Kremlin. He then went to work for the Soviet Department of Trade, where his father had also worked. In 1991, he created Interros, a foreign trade association that traded nonferrous metals, including aluminum, copper and lead. With the capital he accumulated from Interros, he started two banks, the Oneximbank and the MFK, to which many state enterprises transferred their accounts. Later, Potanin became one of the principal authors of the Loans for Shares program, in which the Russian government traded ownership in state industries for loans. The controversial program was administered through auctions, but only select bidders were invited to attend, usually at the discretion of President Boris Yeltsin's daughter. Potanin was among the invited bidders. During Russia's transition to a market economy, he acquired control of more than 20 formerly state-owned enterprises. Potanin's business empire was considerably dented by Russia's 1998 economic crisis, but he managed to set up numerous companies to shelter his personal assets. He also diverted considerable sums to his accounts outside of Russia and threw a party at the height of the crash for more than 100 of his closest friends in a nightclub at the French ski resort Courchevel.

Current Position:

President, Interros Holding Company

Major Holdings:

Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest producer of platinum and palladium

Other Interests:

RUSIA Petroleum; Rosebank; agricultural industrial company Agros; power generation equipment company Power Machines; Soglasie Insurance Company; newsdailies Izvestia and Komsomolskaia Pravda; The Russian Telegraph Newspaper; the magazine Expert; radio stations Autoradio, PM-radio, Novosti on-line, and several regional television and radio companies

Political Connections:

Potanin's father was a senior official in Russia's Ministry of Foreign Trade. One of the Big Seven oligarchs who helped reelect President Boris Yeltsin, Potanin was then appointed by Yeltsin in 1996 to hold Russia's number-twoposition, first deputy prime minister.

Notoriety:

Potanin was the principal author of the Loans for Shares program, which put state assets in private hands and was harshly criticized by many academics. Potanin also has a poor track record with Western investors: George Soros, who in 1997 invested $980 million in Potanin's telecom enterprise Svyazinvest, said it was the worst investment he ever made. Other losers in Potanin's empire include BP/Amoco, which the same year invested $571 million in his oil company Sidanko, only to find the company forced into bankruptcy.

“Metal world agonizes over war in Ukraine but keeps buying from Russia”

https://theprint.in/world/metal-world-agonizes-over-war-in-ukraine-but-keeps-buying-from-russia/902969/

5 April 2022

Russian metal is largely still flowing around the world. Many traders and fabricators who buy from them are tied in to pre-existing purchase deals that can extend over years.

United Kingdom: Last month, 13 copper-industry representatives at the London Metal Exchange were asked whether Russian metal should be blocked from its warehouses. Ten of them said “yes.” But when advisory groups for nickel and aluminum discussed the same question, the general consensus was “no.”

The LME, which is the ultimate decision-maker, says it won’t take action that goes beyond government sanctions — which, so far, have left most of the metals industry untouched.

But the behind-closed-doors discussions reflect a wider angst over whether to keep buying from Russia, as the industry weighs the stigma from the war against its own commercial interests — and the fact that vital metals like aluminum and copper were in short supply even before the invasion of Ukraine.

For now, Russian metal is largely still flowing to the world’s factories and building sites. Many traders and fabricators who buy from Russian companies are tied in to pre-existing purchase deals that can extend over years. And commodities merchants have a well-earned reputation as buyers and financiers of last resort when others have long backed away.

The question of what happens to Russia’s metal exports is of vast consequence to global markets — it’s a key supplier of palladium, nickel, aluminum, steel and copper. Prices for all of those metals set new all-time highs in March, although steel is the only one to be the direct target of sanctions so far.

Aurubis, Europe’s largest copper smelter, is “trying to get out” of its contracts for Russian supplies, and is in favor of sanctions against metals, Harings said in an interview last week. “I believe in the end whatever money we pay will end up in the wrong pockets,” he said.

Norwegian aluminum company Norsk Hydro ASA said it was taking the minimum possible under its contracts with Russian companies and was aiming to reduce that further.

There are still buyers for now — even in Europe. Russian metals producers like MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC and United Co. Rusal International PJSC tend to sell on annual or multi-annual deals to big industrial groups, and for the most part these contracts are still being fulfilled, according to people familiar with the matter.

Traders like Glencore Plc, which has a deal to buy aluminum from Rusal until at least 2024, and Trafigura Group, which has a long-standing relationship with Nornickel, are also fulfilling contracts in Russia.

And few new deals are happening. Glencore, which has been one of the largest traders of Russian commodities since the days when founder Marc Rich struck agreements with the Soviet Union, announced last week it would do no new business in Russia.

Already, Trafigura has been delivering Russian copper to LME warehouses in Asia in recent days after failing to sell it in China, Bloomberg reported.

“EXCLUSIVE | The mystery jet, the former Russian first lady and a blonde VIP” – Part 1

https://samigration.com/blog/exclusive-the-mystery-jet-the-former-russian-first-lady-and-a-blonde-vip/

News 24 - July 11, 2022

Mystery surrounds a two-day trip in Cape Town by a business jet registered in the name of Svetlana Medvedeva, the wife of former prime minister and president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev.

News24 can reveal the Bombardier Global 5000 private jet had to divert its return flight from Cape Town International Airport on Wednesday to Lanseria International Airport outside of Johannesburg because its operators were denied fuel by suppliers in Cape Town.

Medvedeva is a Russian economist, but it is not known who was on board the flight operated by Russian air charter company RusJet. The purpose of the flight that arrived in Cape Town on Monday last week and departed again on Wednesday remains a secret.

The route of the Bombardier Global 5000 private jet. (Screen grab via Flightradar24)

According to Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) operations manager Terence Delomaney, “we do not have any scheduled Russian aircraft flying into our airports at the moment. Lanseria is not an Acsa airport. All aircraft will need to ensure arrangements are made in advance for fuelling. There are various suppliers available – some may apply sanctions and others not”.

As a commercial airport, Lanseria buys its own fuel and then sells it forward to all aircraft operators using the airport.

International oil and fuel companies might apply the same sanctions in their countries of origin instituted against Russia, which have affected flights from Russia internationally. The same applies to the European and US airspace, which is closed for Russian air traffic.

According to the website www.airport-data.com, the private jet is registered in Svetlana Medvedeva’s name.

RusJet is a Russian VIP charter company based in Moscow. According to eyewitnesses at Lanseria, it was obvious there was a very important person or people on board, judged by the contingent of bodyguards and the entourage accompanying a stately older woman with blonde hair.

They said there were 14 passengers who disembarked at Lanseria: the older woman; what seemed to be a private assistant; another two women who looked after her needs; and four security guards, while the rest were men in business suits who entered the aircraft just behind the older woman when they got back into the plane.

The entourage was rushed into the VIP lounge, with the security guards posted outside while the jet was refuelled.

It was obviously just a fuel stop before the jet departed late Wednesday afternoon again. According to Flightradar24, the jet arrived in Cape Town on Monday via Cairo in Egypt. It followed the same route back, re-routing through Botswana.

The route of the Bombardier Global 5000 private jet. (Screen grab via Flightradar24)

According to Africa Intelligence, up to March, the aircraft had been registered in the state of San Marino and is part of Skyline Aviation’s fleet.

“EXCLUSIVE | The mystery jet, the former Russian first lady and a blonde VIP” – Part 2

https://samigration.com/blog/exclusive-the-mystery-jet-the-former-russian-first-lady-and-a-blonde-vip/

July 11, 2022

According to an investigation by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, “Skyline is a charter company based in the small Alpine republic, with strong ties to the Russian elite and currently in liquidation. Its aircraft – including the one seen in South Africa – regularly flew former Russian prime minister and president Dmitry Medvedev’s wife, Svetlana Medvedeva.

“Skyline has been under US sanctions since 2 June due to its links with Russia,” the publication reported.

It’s unclear if the passenger(s) were in South Africa for government or private business.

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor was in Indonesia attending a two-day G20 meeting of foreign ministers.

Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for the presidency, referred enquiries to Pandor’s department, which did not respond.

The Russian embassy in Pretoria said it had no information regarding the flight.

The Moscow Times in 2019 reported that “Medvedeva secretly owns a $50 million Bombardier small business jet that she uses to fly to Europe and Russian cities”. The claims were made by Alexei Navalny, opposition leader who survived a poisoning attempt in 2020 and has been imprisoned since January 2021.

Navalny claimed Medvedeva undertook 11 trips to various destinations from 2015 to 2019 with the jet which was paid for by the Russian government. She was described as a socialite who appeared on various best-dressed lists prior to becoming Russia’s first lady in 2008. She completed her studies as an economist but gave up her career when she married her husband.

Medvedev made headlines last week when he invoked the possibility of nuclear war if the International Criminal Court moves to punish Moscow for alleged crimes in Ukraine.

Medvedev was President Vladimir Putin’s stand-in president between 2008 and 2012 and now serves as deputy head of the Security Council of Russia.

Russian former president Dmitry Medvedev (L) and first wife Svetlana Medvedeva arrive at the Phipps Conservatory for the G-20 Summit on September 24, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

The question remains of what urgent business the aircraft’s passengers were in Cape Town for, for them to undertake a long and tedious flight to avoid the European skies Russian aircraft are currently banned from.

Sources in the oil industry told News24 the most logical explanation would be that it involved Russia’s attempts to find buyers for its crude oil, which it currently has in abundance, but can’t sell due to international sanctions.

In recent weeks various news reports speculated that South Africa has massive crude storage tanks at its facility in Saldanha which Russia might eye as a possible storing space for its crude. At least two oil tanker ships from Russia were recently suspected to call at Saldanha, but when their presence came under the spotlight, the ships both headed around South Africa towards the United Arab Emirates.

Another source says there are also discussions underway to source Russian fuel via China or India. With South Africa part of the BRICS government, it can freely trade with both Russia, China and India, especially with the fuel crunch the country is currently facing.

>>16763881

“Big Psychiatry Weaponized for Deep State's Crazy NOW”

https://youtu.be/1uT1jiamAoM

Weaponized psychiatry is one of the key tools being used by the Deep State to usher in its diabolical New World Order, explains The New American magazine's Alex Newman in this episode of Behind The Deep State. For generations, psychiatry has been at the forefront of the movement for tyranny, even being used against dissidents to keep them locked up in horrific conditions in communist nations. Now, the UN World Health Organization is in the process of developing and imposing a global "mental health" regime that is extremely dangerous. Meanwhile, Alex explains that psychiatry is not like other medical fields: there are no objective tests, and psychiatrists themselves vote on what to classify as a "disorder."

>>16767958

>>16763881

>1:10:24 – “I go to Amazon and I open the page and I stop and I look and I can’t believe what I am seeing. At that point, six months after DSM 5 was published, the highest selling book in the whole of the United States was DSM 5… So who was buying this book?… she said from my experience in the New York state area where I work in primary care, what’s happening is the pharmaceutical industry is buying DSM in bulk and then distributing it for free to clinicians up and down the country and that is why the sales are so high.”

>1:40:54 – “I quickly learned was that there’s a huge disjunct between the people who sat on these committees thought about the process and how this process was represented by the private corporation, the American Phsychiatric Association (APA), which incidentally… funds a lot of its operational costs from publication of DSM. DSM makes the APA about $6 million a year in publication revenue. The APA had vested interest in representing this as a piece of science whereas the people on the committees were quite clear that it was a hugely problematic endeavor and important endeavor as they believed. An endeavor that would improve the state of psychiatric diagnosis, improve its reliability, etc. and so forth. But not to the extent that it was being represented by the APA. So I think what I encountered was what the APA had sort of covered over and led people to believe didn’t exist. Could I give you another example of how the APA does this? I wanted to speak to the people who wrote DSM 5. So I contacted the APA and said could I do so. I want to understand the processes that went on behind the scenes as I did with DSM 3 and DSM 4 and it turns out that I wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone involved in DSM 5 because all of them were asked to sign confidentiality agreements prohibiting them from speaking to anybody, any academic, any journalists, about what went on behind the scenes in the construction of DSM 5. So I said, well can I just consult the archives then. Yeah? I mean I’m a researcher and they said we can’t do that either and I said, why not? Because they’ve all been embargoed for 20 years post-publication. So we cannot work out what went on behind the scenes. And so the APA has a vested interest in keeping this hidden.”

“Plot Against Guns is Not About Safety, but Tyranny”

https://youtu.be/W5BD9dfIuzI

The Deep State war on the gun rights of Americans, supposedly a response to a number of recent mass shootings, has nothing to do with public safety, and everything to do with disarming victims so they can be more effectively oppressed, warns The New American magazine’s Alex Newman in this episode of Behind The Deep State. In fact, data and common sense both show that disarming law-abiding citizens worsens public safety, allowing criminals free rein. In this episode, Alex also talks about how and why state and local authorities MUST resist this Deep State attack on the Second Amendment-protected right to Keep and Bear Arms.

1:57 – “The last thing in the universe that the big pharmaceutical companies need is more taxpayer money but this is the trap. Right? This is what the deep state always does. They create a problem or they manufacture a problem or they exploit a problem and then they give you 2 options and it’s always the same thing. Heads they win, tails you lose. So that’s where we are now either heads we give more money to the big pharmaceutical companies, put more people on crazy drugs, lock more people up in insane asylums and take away more freedom under the guise of mental health or we take away your guns and remove your right to defend yourself or some combination of the two if we’re going to do a compromise.”

“Food Crisis Being Engineered by the Deep State”

https://youtu.be/4UHWRctEBrE

May 23, 2022

Catastrophic food shortages and even famine are being engineered by the Deep State in a bid to centralize control over the food supply and ultimately the population of the planet, warns The New American magazine's Alex Newman in this episode of Behind The Deep State. Key globalist Deep State operatives such as Henry "New World Order" Kissinger have flirted with the idea of food shortages as a population-control weapon for generations. The goals are clear. And now, thanks to deliberate policy decisions taken by Deep State-controlled governments and organizations, a true food crisis of global proportions is emerging. Newman also provides ideas on how to deal with the coming threat–before it's too late. You will want to share this one with your friends and family!

>>16768430

>https://youtu.be/4UHWRctEBrE

Embedded

“Global War on Farmers by Deep State Threatens EVERYTHING”

https://youtu.be/i8Aw7S10uLU

The war on farmers and ranchers is not just happening in Holland or the United Statesit is global, ranging from Brazil and South Africa to Chinawarns The New American magazine's Alex Newman in this episode of Behind The Deep State. The goal is to totally restructure the food supply so that all production is in the hands of Deep State-controlled mega-corporations and governments. In the Netherlands, under the guise of stopping "nitrogen," the Dutch government is seeking to destroy huge swaths of that nation's agricultural sector. In Brazil, the pretext was giving land to Indians. In South Africa, the war on farmers has been especially brutal, and is being carried out under the guise of wealth redistribution. In China, it's happening under the guise of "efficiency." In the United States, it's happening to supposedly protect the environment, lands, "endangered" animals, the "climate," and much more. Ultimately, the devastation will help the Deep State exert far more control over humanity by having total control over all food and lands. The war on energy is happening in tandem.

“Dark Times Before The Dawn: Daniel Natal Interview” – Great Interview

https://youtu.be/xdDYaPlPEb0

Explains why a republic decays into a democracy (mob rule) which is socialism (promising free stuff). He also discusses the difference between a dictatorship and a totalitarian state as well as Big Tech’s technology came from the military, synthetic famines.

10:32 – “Aristotle, when he described democracy, it’s very clear he was saying what we described as socialism today. The term socialism was only coined in the 1830s by French philosopher. Aristotle, when he described a democracy, he said that in a time of democracy demagogues would rise up and these demagogues would manipulate the people. They would bribe their way into power by offering free food, free housing, free health care. He actually says this in politics.”

>>16697445

“The Psychology of Totalitarianism”

https://youtu.be/v2NftKNm1hU

What is the difference between a dictatorship and a totalitarian state? Answer: A dictator only controls one institution (namely, government). In a totalitarian state, by contrast, the ruler lays claim to ALL the society's institutions: government, economics, religion, media, art, marriage, etc. They are all amassed into a single integrated system. In other words, there is no separation of church and state, or a separation of business from government, or a separation of any of the institutions from the centralized power structure. As this system emerges, a new populace has to be cultivated: One used to powerlessness, passivity, dogmatism. Watch as we explore the psychology of such subjects in a totalitarian state.

9:48 – “Towards the end he reminded me of Mark Penn’s book “Microtrends Squared”. In it there is a chapter called “The Impressionable Elites” whereby he documents studies that demonstrate that an inverse relationship exist between critical thinking facilities and the amount of time someone spends in a university. That is to say that people who went to trade schools have better developed critical thinking facilities than someone who earned a degree in a university. It gets even worse as the degrees get higher. The more times spent inside an institution of higher learning, the less one can think rationally and rather relies on appeals to authority for authority. As Noam Chomsky said, universities are not selection mechanisms for intelligence but for conformity.”

“Credit Crash” – “Feminism Was Created To Destabilize Society, Tax Women”, break up family; “Global Economic Collapse, Recession, Food Shortages”

https://youtu.be/1_F3HUPwbiU

July 5, 2022

According to Stephen Roach's book 'Unbalanced,' America and China are addicted to 'the political economy of false prosperity'. In America's case, they undertook a policy of increasing shareholder profits by cutting wages for workers. The problem? The global system was predicated on America being the planet's consumer market and China being the planet's production hub. If America stops buying, China (and the whole global economic system) will come unhinged. And Americans are getting poorer due to persistently decreased wages. The stopgap measure was promoting credit card usage and debt. By this method, they could keep up consumption rates. This worked to cover the gaps until the 2008 financial collapse. Afterward, the problem wasn't fixed, but was merely kicked down the road. By 2020, the credit markets were melting down due to these unaddressed problems–meaning it will be harder to get car loans, or house loans, or student loans. 74% of US GDP is based on real estate and personal consumption. If the credit is cut off, then these sectors will hemorrhage. More importantly still, China's economic position will buckle and collapse. Are we on the precipice of something really big?

2:16 – “We the Rockefellers funded that. We funded women’s lib. We’re the ones who got all the newspapers and television, the Rockefeller Foundation. He says, and you want to know why? He said there were two primary reasons… One reason was, we couldn’t tax half the population before women’s lib and the second reason was, now we get the kids in school at an early age. We can indoctrinate the kids how to think which breaks up the family. The kids look at the state as the family. As a school as the officials as their family not as the parents teaching them… When I saw their intentions behind it, where they are coming from when they created it… I saw the evil behind what I thought was a noble adventure.”

Video Sources:

“Aaron Russo: Feminism Was Created To Destabilize Society, Tax Women & Set-Up NWO” - https://rumble.com/v16l6m9-aaron-russo-feminism-was-created-to-destabilize-society-tax-women-and-set-u.html

“Edward Dowd - Global Economic Collapse, Recession, Food Shortages, Lockdowns, Monkeypox, & Preparing” - https://rumble.com/v18ed9z-edward-dowd-global-economic-collapse-recession-food-shortages-lockdowns-mon.html

>>17069188

“How Armand Hammer Went From Communist to Multi-Millionaire!” – Lenin; “We do not need doctors, we need businessmen… communism is not working and we must change to a New Economic Policy”

https://thefinancefriday.com/2021/05/14/armand-hammer-millionaire/

May 14, 2021

In 1875, Jewish immigrants Julius Hammer and his wife, Rose Lipschitz, left Odessa, in Ukraine (then a part of the Russian Empire) for the United States, in the hopes of starting a new life in New York.

Despite his business successes, Julius and his wife were devout communists. Using his money, Julius would help found the Socialist Labor Party of America (the precursor to the Communist Party USA), with the help of several other communists and trade unionists in The Bronx.

It was into this household that Armand Hammer was born on May 21 1898.

Although initially intending to remain in the USSR for a few months at most, Armand would stay in the Soviet Union until late 1930, with him actually seeing his business career begin in the communist country.

Upon traveling to the USSR, Armand would take $60,000 worth of medical equipment with him earmarked for the Soviets, who were experiencing a typhus epidemic. Armand’s medical equipment would save millions of Soviet lives.

This act caught the attention of Soviet leader, Vladimir Lenin, who invited the young American to meet with him. Here, the pair would strike a deal for Soviet fur and caviar to be exported via Hammer to the United States.

According to Armand Hammer, it was here where Lenin said: ”We do not need doctors, we need businessmen… communism is not working and we must change to a New Economic Policy.”

Despite his advanced age, Armand remained active in Occidental’s management until the day he died. In turn, this has inspired many other successful businessmen: Phil Town; Warren Buffett [and mentored his son ->>17352519] and Charlie Munger (to name a few) to do the same!

“How Armand Hammer Went From Communist to Multi-Millionaire!” – Occidental Petroleum

https://thefinancefriday.com/2021/05/14/armand-hammer-millionaire/

May 14, 2021

Occidental Petroleum

By 1957, Armand Hammer was a self-made multimillionaire, and was married to a woman who was also independently wealthy. Selling off his cattle farming and whiskey distillery businesses, the couple would merge their money to buy a defunct oil company.

This company was Occidental Petroleum.

Using this knowledge and his money, Armand Hammer would finance the exploration of new oil and natural gas deposits, with the company discovering the huge Lathrop Gas Field in California in 1961.

From here, Hammer’s international business and political connections would allow him to expand Occidental Petroleum into Peru, Venezuela, Trinidad, Bolivia and the UK (even though the latter refused to grant him entry into the country’s due to his chumminess with the Soviets).

After oil was discovered in Libya in 1959, Hammer was one of the first oil magnates to go to the country, establishing several oil fields in Libya, which would be nationalized by Muammar Gaddafi after the 1969 revolution.

Despite this set back, Hammer had still been paid for what the Libyan government had taken from Occidental, with the company using it to acquire New York-based chemical manufacturing company, Hooker Chemical Company.

Through Hooker Chemical, Hammer was able to invest heavily in R&D, which resulting in the discovery of oil shale in 1972, which made the company billions of dollars (and continues to do so today!)

Thanks to this money, Hammer would strike a deal with Venezuelan state-owned company Ecopetrol, to explore for oil in the country, resulting in the discovery of the Caño Limón oil field, which has netted both companies even more money.

1988 would be both a good and a bad year for Hammer. In April, Occidental acquired Cain Chemical in a deal valued at $2 billion, whilst July saw the inferno at the company’s Piper Alpha platform in Scotland, which remains the world’s deadliest offshore oil rig disaster yet!

“How Armand Hammer Went From Communist to Multi-Millionaire!” – Political Involvement, Powerful Friends – “go-between for seven presidents (Kennedy through Bush Sr.)”

https://thefinancefriday.com/2021/05/14/armand-hammer-millionaire/

May 14, 2021

Political Involvement

Although initially a communist like his father, Armand’s early business successes would soon see him break away from the rest of the communist party. Yet, this move would not end Armand’s involvement in politics…

Instead, Armand Hammer simply joined another party.

Whilst never officially a member of the party, Armand would be a sizeable donor to the party, donating $54,000 to Richard Nixon’s political campaign, even going as far to break campaign finance laws to ensure Nixon became president.

Thanks to his prior medical training and connections to the Republican Party, Republican President Ronald Reagan was able to appoint Armand to serve on the President’s Cancer Panel in 1981, before eventually serving as the panel’s chairman from 1984 until 1989.

Yet, it wasn’t just the Republicans that Armand liked. For years, Armand would also maintain a strong personal and financial friendship with the Democrats too, even becoming a registered member of the party too!

Among Hammer’s closest friends was actually Democrat Al Gore Sr. (the father of the future vice-president), with the pair meeting whilst Gore was still representing Tennessee in the US Senate.

Following Gore’s failed re-election in 1970, Armand Hammer would soon employ Gore as Occidental’s legal counsel. Following this, Hammer would make Gore the vice-president of Island Creek Coal co., an Occidental subsidiary in Kentucky.

Hammer would also be quite fond of Gore’s son, Al Gore Jr. (the future vice-president), with Hammer encouraging Gore Jr., that if he wanted to, Hammer would help him become president (although Hammer’s death in 1990 effectively put an end to this!)

Rather ironic, given the fact that Gore Jr. is well-known for his environmentalist and anti-non-renewable energy stances today…

Owing to his strong connections to both countries, Armand would serve as an unofficial envoy between both nations, being the go-between for seven presidents (Kennedy through Bush Sr.) and five Soviet premiers (Khrushchev through Gorbachev).

Make Powerful Friends

Despite many people at the time believing that Hammer was a Soviet spy (whether knowingly or unknowingly), Armand had made so many friendships with so many powerful people, that he was essentially untouchable.

According to Armand Hammer, he’d known every president from Hoover until Bush Sr., serving as a citizen diplomat for Kennedy until Bush, maintaining apartments in both Moscow and Los Angeles, with no one objecting to either.

Over the course of his business career, Hammer would come to form a special kind of friendship with the most unlikely people. Often, Hammer’s closest friends were people who’d usually be antagonistic towards American, and American entrepreneurs even more so.

It was through these friendships, that Armand Hammer was able to cool tensions between East and West during some of the most turbulent times in the Cold War, whilst also striking multibillion dollar business contracts in the process!

“"Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer," by Edward Jay Epstein. Random House. 432 pages.”

http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Subject%20Index%20Files/E%20Disk/Epstein%20Edward%20Jay%201995/Item%2023.pdf

September 8, 1996

Few have understood the transforming power of public relations as well as Armand Hammer.

When Hammer published an autobiography in 1987 — his third — there wasn't room on the back cover for all the endorsements: Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, George Bush, Menachem Begin (Jewish Terrorist), Linus Pauling, Walter Cronkite.

They had bought the image Hammer's press releases had shaped over six decades: openhearted humanitarian, savvy art collector, brilliant capitalist.

They did not know the facts unearthed by Edward Jay Epstein In this impeccably researched expose. They blurbed the book of a man who laundered money for Soviet spies, swindled art customers with fake Faberges, feigned illness to escape prison during Watergate and treated Occidental Petroleum as his piggy bank.

In a lucid, understated style, Epstein describes a con-man operating on an epic scale. Parts of the story are not new. But drawing on Soviet archives, FBI files and even secret tapes Hammer made of himself arranging bribes, Epstein nails Hammer.

In business: "Dossier" details how Hammer siphoned millions from Occidental to a secret Swiss bank account, from which he withdrew cash for illegal payoffs, art purchases and even charitable donations. The Soviet megaprojects he pressured Occidental's board into approving were revealed after his death in 1990 to haveamassed losses of $2.5 billion.

In his personal life: In the late 1980s, when his third wife, Frances, became jealous of a comely young woman Hammer had hired as his "art advisor," he had the woman, Martha Kaufman, change her name legally to Hilary Gibson and wear glasses and a wig. Then he told his wife he'd fired Kaufman, who remained on the payroll as his mistress.

Epstein found proof in Soviet archives that Armand Hammer, along with his Communist father Julius, used their business at the direction of Soviet intelligence to funnel money to operatives abroad. The Russian art Hammer peddled in the West In the 1930s was not, as he claimed, his own. It had been looted from estates and churches by the Bolshevik regime, which sold it through Hammer to generate hard currency.

“Syndicates stole 65 truckloads of Eskom coal in a day — Report”

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/456485-syndicates-stole-65-truckloads-of-eskom-coal-in-a-day-report.html

14 August 2022

Criminal syndicates are hijacking thousands of tonnes of Eskom coal and selling it at a hefty premium to international buyers, the Sunday Times reports.

The publication said it made contact with a former operative who worked at a “black site” around Middelburg in Mpumalanga, which stole coal on the way from mines to power stations.

Coal would be offloaded and replaced with lower-grade product or discarded coal by-products that the thieves then sent to power stations.

These are either highly inefficient at generating the heat required to produce electricity or could damage generating units, resulting in costly breakdowns that increase the likelihood of load-shedding.

The former operative explained their tasks would be to drive in a bakkie in front of a designated truck and active a signal jammer blocking the truck’s tracker while it diverted to the black site.

He would deactivate the signal jammer once the truck was back on the road with the replaced load.

The former operative told Sunday Times that the scale of the theft was massive.

“[In] one night almost 2,000 tonnes of RB1 [high-grade] coal was dropped off. To give you an idea, 2,000 tonnes fills 65 trucks,” they stated.

The coal meant for Eskom would then be transported to the harbour and exported.

Experts estimate that Eskom pays between R400 and R750 per tonne of coal, while the export price was about $344 (R5,562) per tonne.

The former operative said several people working along the coal supply chain were complicit in the criminal activity.

These included security, the weighbridge, ground force labour personnel, and sometimes even mine supervisors.

“There was usually a middleman who came with the truck. You pay him, and he pays everyone in the chain. A driver can get up to R30,000 per load. The minimum cut for a driver is R9,500. It all depends on the quality of the coal,” they stated.

Police in the area were also supposedly taking bribes to look the other way.

Minerals Council SA spokesperson Allan Seccombe told the publication people subcontracted to Eskom to take samples of coal deliveries were bribed as much as R100,000 per month to tamper with the results and make the combustible appear suitable for use.

The Sunday Times said it spoke to more than 15 other people working in the industry who corroborated the operative’s claims but were too scared to go on record.

The source now claims to operate a legitimate business but fears that speaking out could endanger his and his family’s lives.

Coal mafia clampdown

Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan previously said law enforcement agencies had identified “mafia” groups operating in Mpumalanga that have infiltrated the structures of legitimate companies to set up parallel operations in illegal mining and coal supplies.

That has resulted in Eskom getting sub-standard coal that includes pieces of metal and rubble.

This damages its generating units, many of which are already performing well below maximum capacity after decades of operation.

Investigations are also ongoing into Eskom being billed for thousands of litres of fuel oil that never gets delivered to its power plants.

In addition, Eskom is battling rogue elements within its ranks that sabotage its power plant operations, a claim it first made in November 2021.

That came after the stays of a power pylon had been deliberately cut, collapsing onto a secondary distribution line.

That resulted in power to the coal conveyor belt at Letabo Power Station tripping and nearly dumping South Africa into Stage 6 load-shedding.

In May 2022, the power utility reported the fifth incident of suspected sabotage at just one of its power plants — Tutuka.

In that case, a saboteur with knowledge of the power station’s layout and security camera positions had severed a warming valve cable with a grinder and cut a control air pipe, resulting in the delay of the return to service of Tutuka Unit 5.

A day after that, Gordhan revealed that flexible copper bars needed to synchronise a unit at the Hendrina Power Station were stolen by people working within the power station.

“Kill the Boer Verdict with Gabriel Crouse (IRR)” “(was an expert witness in the case)”

https://youtu.be/wWJrOxiKiPE

I speak with Gabriel Crouse from the IRR about the verdict in the Kill the Boer Hate Speech case against Julius Malema and the EFF. Gabriel Crouse was an expert witness in the case.

https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2022-08-25-singing-shoot-the-boer-not-hate-speech-declares-equality-court/

The second witness for AfriForum, Gabriel Crouse from the Institute of Race Relations, was found to have not assisted the court in his testimony.

“His testimony is of no assistance to the court and did not assist in any manner or advance the case for AfriForum. It is rejected as he is not an expert,” Molahlehi said.

“WATCH LIVE: Ernst Roets - Kill The Boer” - Interview

https://youtu.be/rejZIK4I9o8

Ernst Roets is the Head of Policy and Action at Afriforum. We discuss the judgement that did not find "Kill The Boer" to be hate speech.

15:04 – [Roets] “It was almost strange, surreal in a way in a sense to see the Human Right Commission come out criticizing the judgment. We had a problem with the Human Right Commission for sometime and their biased approach to issues like this. The Human Rights Commission said in 2019 that when Malema says that “we are not calling for the slaughter of white people, at least for now”, it’s not hate speech because he’s black. By implication, if he was white, it would have been hate speech. So that’s the where we are with the Human Rights Commission. Now the Human Rights Commission came out and said listen, we are not quite convinced that this judgment was the correct judgment. We are concerned about the consequences of this and they will look into it as well. So that’s quite telling if you have a judgement that so far, you can say if you want to express it in political terms, so far to the left that the Human Rights Commission says maybe we taking it a bit too far. That already says something. But other than that I think what’s also very telling is that the EFF went out. They literally walked out of the court room on the stairs they started chanting “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer” and as we were standing outside… as I was talking to journalists outside the court, there were literally EFF guys looking at me going like this [gesturing slitting of his throat] saying to me, “we are coming for you, we are coming to kill you” and then they chant “kill the boer, kill the farmer”.”

“AFRIFORUM VS EFF & 2 OTHERS JUDGMENT 2022-08-25”

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UKBLyZDP8ZwKdeWnjIvihhl-rcByVH7k

“WATCH: ANC in KZN wrap up Nkandla visit to seek ‘wisdom and guidance’ from Jacob Zuma”

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/watch-anc-in-kzn-wrap-up-nkandla-visit-to-seek-wisdom-and-guidance-from-jacob-zuma-d83cdd4d-87a6-4b06-8a46-70d3bb9096a9

August 29, 2022

Durban – The newly-elected ANC leadership in KwaZulu-Natal travelled to Nkandla where they met former state president, Jacob Zuma, at the weekend.

The purpose of the visit was to "seek wisdom and guidance“ from the former head of state.

“We recall that president Jacob Zuma was elected to deputise and strengthen president Thabo Mbeki’s leadership collective because of his excellent human relations, listening skills and capacity to unify.

“It was felt that, inevitably, Zuma’s leadership would be needed to refocus attention to the vision of the ANC to build a compassionate and caring society.

“His passion for education, rural development, fighting poverty and crime remains legendary," said ANC provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo.

In attached video

1:00 – “We did not discuss the issue of the national conference. We debated the issue of how to ensure the ANC remains in power. How to maintain the power of KwaZulu Natal, the power of ANC in the government after 2024.”

>>17460248

>“It was felt that, inevitably, Zuma’s leadership would be needed to refocus attention to the vision of the ANC to build a compassionate and caring society.

“Jacob Zuma sings kill the Boer” (2012)

https://youtu.be/TOiIEDFv-5Q

“Two of SANDF’s ‘most senior generals’ accused of MURDER plot”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-who-are-senior-sandf-generals-accused-murder-kidnap/

31-08-2022 13:17

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit has blown the lid off a case involving two of the most senior generals in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). The army stalwarts stand accused of orchestrating the MURDER and KIDNAPPING of two civilians.

SANDF SENIOR GENERALS ACCUSED OF MURDER, KIDNAP

The jaw-dropping case was brought to court on Monday – but three soldiers appeared in the dock, rather than the two experienced generals. The probe into this gruesome incident, which occurred back in February, may have also fallen victim to an attempted ‘cover-up’.

“AfriForum’s private prosecution unit asked the police to explain why two of the country’s most senior army generals were not arrested and charged, despite an express instruction from a prosecutor to do so. The case involves two men, Sibusiso Phetla (39) and Jerome Lebaka (41).”

“They were kidnapped on 13 February this year and presumably killed on the orders of the SANDF generals. The two suspects were identified by an eyewitness and directly linked to the case, but they were not arrested for inexplicable reasons.”

“On Monday 29 August, three soldiers appeared, charged with the kidnapping and murder of Phetla and Lebaka. The case was adjourned until September 19 for the disclosure of the dossier to the accused.” | AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit

SANDF STORY ‘NOT ADDING UP’

It’s still not clear what actually happened to the two victims – but they are now presumed dead. A mother to the 39-year-old has teamed up with AfriForum to get to the bottom of this mystery, and she has drawn attention to some glaring inconsistencies presented by SANDF officials…

• The lead investigator stands accused of ‘not complying’ with numerous instructions from the prosecutor.

• Phetla’s mother, Mirriam, approached AfriForum for help when the generals were not added as the accused.

• The prosecution unit believes that the three accused are being used as ‘scapegoats’ to protect the generals from prosecution.

• Miriam says she was told by a soldier how her son and two others got lost and ended up in Salvokop.

• Here, they were approached by several other soldiers, including two senior generals who apparently live in the area.

• The mother states that shots were fired, and the victims subsequently assaulted, allegedly at the request of the generals.

AFRIFORUM VOW TO SECURE JUSTICE – DESPITE OBSTACLES

Gerrie Nel is the head of AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit. He is apoplectic with the behaviour of these senior SANDF officials, and also reserved some choice words for the case’s investigating officer. According to Nel, these parties have proved to be ‘uncooperative’.

“Specific instructions were given to the investigating officer that he should obtain warning statements from the two generals and that they should be arrested and added as accused in the case. However, these instructions were ignored.”

“The prosecutor further informed the court that the SANDF is not cooperating in the investigation. It’s also understood that the scene of the kidnapping in Salvokop, was not visited by police investigators. A formal complaint has been submitted by Gerrie Nel.”

Gerrie Nel

>>17471863

“Murder: SAPS and SANDF appear to be colluding in shielding 2 Army Generals from prosecution”

https://southafricatoday.net/south-africa-news/murder-saps-and-sandf-appear-to-be-colluding-in-shielding-2-army-generals-from-prosecution/

August 31, 2022

Adv. Gerrie Nel, Head of AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, has filed a formal complaint with the SAPS. “To date, neither of the two generals have been arrested and brought to court to appear as accused persons, nor has the investigator complied with numerous instructions from the prosecutor. A generous interpretation of the situation is that the investigator is disinterested or incapable of performing his duties and following simple instructions from the prosecutor. However, a further irresistible inference is tenable that there is collusion between the SAPS and the SANDF to shield the two generals from criminal prosecution,” says Nel.

Plea

In his letter to the SAPS, Nel implored police management to act swiftly before parties implicated in a very serious crime are let off the hook. “The investigation is clearly incomplete because of the aforesaid conduct of the investigating officer. This questionable conduct of the investigating officer has forced the prosecutor to postpone the matter to 19 September 2022 for discovery, despite the outstanding investigation of two generals of the SANDF. We trust you will agree that our client’s interests are being trampled upon by the blatant disregard of work ethics by the investigating officer and his superior, therefore, we respectfully request your assistance to ensure that the case be dealt with expeditiously and proficiently,” wrote Nel.

“SANDF members ordered to stop working with AfriForum's border security structures”

https://youtu.be/YMq0b7vD2xs

Posted July 4, 2022

Members of the South African National Defence Force have been ordered to stop working with Afriforum's border security structures in Musina in Limpopo. AfriForum launched the Border Watch Initiative last month in what they said is a quest to stop criminal activities at the Musina border post. The defence force then issued a statement saying it was against the law for a civil organization or NGO to conduct any patrols at any borders of the country.

AfriForum's Llewellyn Hemmens elaborates.

Tune into Newzroom Afrika, DSTV channel 405, for more details.

>>17471863

>>17472036

“AfriForum: Two SANDF generals involved in murder”

https://youtu.be/NB27SwMNH-U

AfriForum’s private prosecutions unit says it has evidence that two SA National Defence Force generals are accused of ochestrating a murder. The unit further states that police have refused to investigate what appears to be an instruction from a prosecutor to arrest them. AfriForum's Barry Bateman explains. Tune into Newzroom Afrika channel 405 for more.

>>17476104

>“KZN Floods | State of Qatar donates humanitarian aid to KwaZulu-Natal” - https://youtu.be/IOYegh27X1U, posted May 29, 2022

3:06 - [Tariq Ali Faraj]; “This is a token of friendship from the people in the government and the leadership of the State of Qatar and Qatar also will not forget that South Africa supported Qatar also in other times of hardship and when we needed support.”

“Qatar, South Africa to sign 26 agreements this year to strengthen bilateral ties”

https://me-confidential.com/24624-qatar-south-africa-to-sign-26-agreements-this-year-to-strengthen-bilateral-ties.html

May 5, 2021

Qatar and South Africa will sign 26 agreements spanning several areas including trade this years as both countries seek to boost their bilateral relations, The Peninsula Qatar reports citing the Gulf country’s envoy to the African country.

“There are about 26 agreements and areas of cooperation between the two countries that will be signed during the fifth round of political consultations,” Tariq Ali Faraj Al Ansari told Qatar Radio recently.

“Among these agreements is an understanding between the South Africa Chamber, the Qatari Businessmen Association, and the Qatar Chamber, about establishing a joint businessmen council to enhance trade exchange between the two countries and overcome import and export obstacles and others,” Al Ansari said.

Trade volume between the two countries over the five past years stood at $2 billion. The two countries will hold the fifth bilateral consultation this year at the level of foreign ministers with talks focusing on important economic issues namely economic diversification.

Faizel Moosa, the South African ambassador to the Gulf country, Qatari also noted, recently indicated that there are plans to negotiate with Qatar Airways to increase its cargo aircraft operations to facilitate more goods.

The volume of trade between the two countries between 2019 and 2020 shot up by 150 per cent.

>>17477458

“Did FIFA Accidentally Confirm a World Cup Bribery Scandal?” - Qatar

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/sports/fifa-teixeira-qatar-2022-bribes.html

Published Dec. 5, 2019

Qatar has for years been dogged by accusations that a corrupt vote delivered the 2022 World Cup. Now, world soccer’s governing body may have inadvertently supported those claims.

Confirmation of one of the worst scandals in soccer history appears to be sitting in plain sight, published last week on the website of FIFA, the sport’s global governing body.

The admission exists in a couple of lines referencing three notorious former soccer officials, dropped casually into a long decision justifying the lifetime ban of one of them. FIFA cautions that people should not read too much into it.

But it’s there, for the first time, posted publicly in an official FIFA document.

Question: Which officials were to receive money for their votes in connection with the Qatar selection?

Answer: Ricardo Teixeira, Nicolás Leoz and Julio Grondona.

As secrets go, it was not a well-kept one. Many journalists have published the accusation that bribery helped deliver the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. Investigations have probed it. The United States Department of Justice built indictments based on it. [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/plot-to-buy-the-world-cup-lvxdg2v7l7w, https://en.mercopress.com/2017/11/28/huge-payments-linked-to-the-2022-qatar-world-cup-investigated-by-brazil-and-fbi, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/27/sports/fifa-garcia-report.html, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/sixteen-additional-fifa-officials-indicted-racketeering-conspiracy-and-corruption]

But the one organization that would never bring itself to admit that bribes had been paid was FIFA itself. That was why it was jarring this week to see the mention of payments to three former top soccer officials — Brazil’s Teixeira, Paraguay’s Leoz and Argentina’s Grondona — as supporting evidence in a FIFA disciplinary report posted online.

South Africa can help Qatar in managing World Cup crowds, stadiums: Ambassador

https://www.qatar-tribune.com/article/60430/NATION/South-Africa-can-help-Qatar-in-managing-World-Cup-crowds-stadiums-Ambassador

20/04/2017

SOUTH Africa with its experience of hosting FIFA World Cup can help Qatar manage crowds in a better way during the 2022 World Cup, South African Ambassador to Qatar HE Shirish M Soni said in Doha on Wednesday.

Soni said that these issues were part of discussion during the recent visits of the Emir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani and HE the Minister of Foreign Affairs to South Africa.

"Our newly appointed Minister of Police, Fikile Mbalula, is ready to visit Qatar and share his experience in this regard with stakeholders in Qatar. The ministry has a special unit dedicated for this purpose," the ambassador said. He added that South Africa can also extend its help in training the police force through Qatar's Police Academy to ensure an incident-free World Cup. [Yet they are

In fact, Qatar and South Africa have signed a cooperation agreement in Police Administration.

Talking about the football team which is from Cape Flats Football Academy, the ambassador said that the tour is meant to introduce Qatari and South African students to each other and can lead to stronger ties between the two countries. [It is curious that they have a football team there from one of the most violent parts of South Africa. “It’s Cape Flats – locally known as The Flats – that sees the most violence and crime… Cape Flats: Cape Flats is known for high crime rates and should definitely be avoided. It’s situated to the southeast of the CBD area and ruled by gangs.” https://www.thebrokebackpacker.com/is-cape-town-safe/]

>>17477474

>[It is curious that they have a football team there from one of the most violent parts of South Africa. “It’s Cape Flats – locally known as The Flats – that sees the most violence and crime… Cape Flats: Cape Flats is known for high crime rates and should definitely be avoided. It’s situated to the southeast of the CBD area and ruled by gangs.” https://www.thebrokebackpacker.com/is-cape-town-safe/]

“The Flats | Filmsupply Films”

https://youtu.be/4Cdt6ORNAoI

License high-quality, cinematic stock footage for your next project: https://flmsp.ly/tfjo Filmsupply exists to empower creative professionals by providing high quality, cinematic stock footage. Filmsupply Films exists to empower the films behind them. Watch more films by our filmmakers: https://flmsp.ly/tfls In a community that has been gripped by gang violence for generations, the locals turn to something else to find a place to belong. License footage from The Flats: https://flmsp.ly/jflt

>>17477474

>>17477482

Especially when…

“World Cup hosts Qatar 'funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars to al-Qaeda-linked terrorists fighting in Syria'” – Part 1

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9651517/Qatar-funneled-hundreds-millions-dollars-al-Qaeda-linked-terrorists-fighting-Syria.html

4 June 2021

Qatar has been accused of facilitating a multi-million pound money laundering operation to fund terrorists in Syria.

Top Qatari politicians, businessmen, charities and civil servants are alleged to have used a private office belonging to the country's emir and two banks to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to Nusra Front, an Al-Qaeda affiliate.

The allegations are contained within papers filed at London's High Court this week on behalf of nine Syrians, who are claiming damages for financial losses, torture, arbitrary detention and threats of execution they claim to have suffered as a result of the scheme, or at the hands of Nusra Front.

All of the accused have vehemently and categorically denied the allegations. Qatar is due to host the next World Cup, taking place next year.

According to court papers, seen by The Times, the Qatari state - acting in league with the Muslim Brotherhood - concocted a conspiracy to 'actively support and facilitate' Nusra Front terrorists as they fought during the Syrian civil war.

The money was moved using over-priced construction contracts, over-priced property purchases, and over-payments to Syria workers, it is alleged.

Funds were sent either directly into Syria or to banks in Turkey, where it was withdrawn and taken across the border to the terror group, court papers claim.

Qatar National Bank, the Middle East's largest financial institution, and Doha Bank are both accused of facilitating the transactions.

The banks 'knew or ought to have known' what the money was actually being used for, according to the lawsuit. Both have categorically denied the allegations.

The papers do not make specific allegations about the roles each defendant is alleged to have played, which are expected to be included in a future filing.

All the defendants will be entitled to lodge defence documents or argue that the case should not be heard by the English courts. The claim will only proceed if there is sufficient evidence to support it.

Nusra Front was founded in Syria by disciples of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who would later become the leader of ISIS but was then leading Al Qaeda in Iraq, who were sent from Iraq to establish a presence in Syria.

The group was founded in 2011 as Jabhat al-Nusra under the leadership of a jihadist using the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al Golani, with the stated aim of overthrowing the regime of Bashar al-Assad and establishing an Islamist state.

In 2013, a major split occurred when Baghdadi attempted to merge al-Nusra with al-Qaeda in Iraq to create ISIS.

While some al-Nusra fighters joined with ISIS, Golani insisted that no such merger had occurred and rallied other jihadists around him.

>>17477493

“World Cup hosts Qatar 'funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars to al-Qaeda-linked terrorists fighting in Syria'” – Part 2

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9651517/Qatar-funneled-hundreds-millions-dollars-al-Qaeda-linked-terrorists-fighting-Syria.html

4 June 2021

The following year the two groups took up arms against one-another, with al-Nusra fighting against ISIS around Raqqa. They have remained hostile ever since.

All the defendants will be entitled to lodge defence documents or argue that the case should not be heard by the English courts. The claim will only proceed if there is sufficient evidence to support it.

Nusra Front was founded in Syria by disciples of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who would later become the leader of ISIS but was then leading Al Qaeda in Iraq, who were sent from Iraq to establish a presence in Syria.

The group was founded in 2011 as Jabhat al-Nusra under the leadership of a jihadist using the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al Golani, with the stated aim of overthrowing the regime of Bashar al-Assad and establishing an Islamist state.

In 2013, a major split occurred when Baghdadi attempted to merge al-Nusra with al-Qaeda in Iraq to create ISIS.

While some al-Nusra fighters joined with ISIS, Golani insisted that no such merger had occurred and rallied other jihadists around him.

The following year the two groups took up arms against one-another, with al-Nusra fighting against ISIS around Raqqa. They have remained hostile ever since.

Further splits have occurred within al-Nusra since, and the group has gone under several different names including Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

Today, it largely controls territory in Syria's Idlib province - the last of the country's provinces not recaptured by the Syrian army.

Nusra has been declared a terrorist organisation by the US since 2012, and America has never directly funded or supported the group.

However, it is widely thought that weapons provided to other 'moderate' groups have found their way into the hands of al-Nusra and that fighters trained by the CIA joined the group after entering Syria.

This was one of the main reasons given by President Trump for pulling the plug on the CIA's training operation back in 2017, the New York Times reported [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/world/middleeast/cia-syria-rebel-arm-train-trump.html].

“Qatar and the Jews: The scandal that just won’t go away” – Part 1

https://www.jns.org/opinion/qatar-and-the-jews-the-scandal-that-just-wont-go-away/

October 18, 2021

Jewish leaders who visited the country defended their trips by claiming it was becoming more moderate. But the Qataris’ own statements and actions in the months to follow kept blowing up that statement.

Qatar’s foreign minister last week declared that his country will not normalize relations with Israel. And yet, not long ago, a number of American Jewish leaders visited Qatar and announced that the Qataris were becoming moderate and would soon seek relations with Israel.

So, what went wrong?

It all began in late 2017 when several leaders of American Jewish and Zionist organizations secretly accepted invitations for all-expense-paid trips to meet with the Emir of Qatar in his oil-rich Gulf kingdom.

It was curious that the travelers tried to keep their visits secret from the media, the Jewish community and even from their own members. I doubt that it was the Emir who wanted the visits kept secret since his whole point in inviting them was to improve Qatar’s public-relations image.

Perhaps the Jewish officials kept the visit secret because they were concerned that many American Jews would be uncomfortable with their actions. After all, Qatar is the world’s leading funder of Hamas terrorists. Qatar is also hosts and sponsors the world’s largest anti-Semitic media network, Al Jazeera.

A few months later, some journalists found out about the visits. They reported that registered foreign agents of Qatar in the United States had used the lavish visits as a part of what the Jewish Telegraphic Agency called “intensive lobbying of the U.S. Jewish community.” Their strategy of cultivating relations with prominent American Jews even included spreading some cash around.

Some of the Jewish leaders claimed that Israel approved of their visits to Qatar. But Acting Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said that the spectacle of “self-appointed members of the Jewish community running to Qatar is an exercise of pure ego.” According to Hotovely, “They never checked with anyone in the Israeli government. Qatar is responsible for the funding of Hamas and other terrorist groups that target us and our children. We are baffled by this development.”

>>17477505

“Qatar and the Jews: The scandal that just won’t go away” – Part 2

https://www.jns.org/opinion/qatar-and-the-jews-the-scandal-that-just-wont-go-away/

October 18, 2021

The Jewish leaders also defended their trips by claiming that Qatar was becoming more moderate. But the Qataris’ own statements and actions in the months to follow kept blowing up that statement.

— A report by the Anti-Defamation League found that the official Qatari government media was continuing to publish editorial cartoons that “blatantly demonize Jews” and “draw on the worst kind of anti-Semitic themes.”

— A review by MEMRI of textbooks prepared by Qatar’s Ministry of Education and used in its schools found that they “feature anti-Semitic motifs, presenting Jews as treacherous, dishonest and crafty, and at the same time as weak, wretched and cowardly.”

— The international book fair in Qatar’s capital, Doha, featured anti-Semitic books such as The Myth of the Nazi Gas Chambers and Lies Spread by the Jews, and an Arabic translation of Awakening to Jewish Influence in the United States of America by white supremacist leader (and former Ku Klux Klansman) David Duke.

— Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Thani declared: “Al Jazeera follows the professional standards. We are not questioning the content of Al Jazeera.” (According to CAMERA’s analysis, Al Jazeera’s coverage of Israel and Jewish affairs is a veritable “junkyard of inaccurate statements [as well as] bias and misinformation.”)

— The London Sunday Telegraph revealed that Qatar recently contributed $34 million to an Iraqi Shia terrorist group that has murdered many American soldiers in southern Iraq and sent $68 million to Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.

— American victims of Palestinian terrorism filed suit against three major Qatari financial institutions because they were laundering millions of dollars to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists.

— The German weekly news outlet Die Zeit reported that funds were being sent by “several rich Qataris and exiled Lebanese people from Doha (Qatar’s capital) to Hezbollah … with the knowledge of influential government officials through a charity organization in Doha.”

Now we have the latest development, the new announcement by Qatari foreign minister Al-Thani: “We see that the core of the issue is the occupation. So as long as there is no prospect for ending that occupation and having a fair and just solution, I don’t see Qatar taking such a step for normalization.”

So, according to the “moderate” Qataris, Israel has to first retreat to the indefensible nine-miles-wide borders of 1967, including the surrender of the “occupied” Old City of Jerusalem (where the Western Wall and Temple Mount are located), and only then Qatar will consider normalizing relations.

So much for the “Qatar is becoming moderate” myth.

True leaders acknowledge when they have made mistakes. It’s time for the American Jewish leaders who visited and praised Qatar to admit they were wrong. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

Author

Stephen M. Flatow is an attorney and the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995. He is the author of “A Father’s Story: My Fight for Justice Against Iranian Terror.”

“Qatar, Key US Ally, Faces New Accusations of Terror Funding” – Part 1

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-05-13/qatar-key-us-ally-faces-new-accusations-of-terror-funding

May 13, 2022

Qatar is facing new scrutiny over alleged financial ties to terrorism in a lawsuit from the family of a beheaded American journalist and a separate federal investigation of a member of the country’s royal family.

Qatar, a key U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf, is facing increased scrutiny over its alleged financial ties to terrorism in a lawsuit from relatives of a slain American journalist and a separate federal investigation into a member of the country’s royal family.

The family of Steven Sotloff alleged in a federal lawsuit Friday that prominent Qatari institutions wired $800,000 to an Islamic State “judge” who ordered the murder of Sotloff and another American journalist, James Foley. The two were beheaded in Syria in 2014, their killings filmed and published in grisly propaganda videos.

“We want to do everything we can to make sure no other family has to suffer what we have suffered,” the Sotloff family said in a statement explaining their lawsuit.

Separately, federal prosecutors have been investigating potential ties between terror groups and Khalid bin Hamad Al-Thani, the half-brother of Qatar’s ruling emir, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press and interviews with two people familiar with the investigation.

A grand jury investigation, run out of the Southern District of New York, has focused in part on whether Khalid Al Thani provided money and supplies to Al Nusra, al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, said the two people. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Qatar has enjoyed a strong relationship with the Biden administration. The world’s wealthiest country per capita played a key role in evacuations from Afghanistan and its huge supplies of natural gas could help sustain Europe’s energy markets amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. Qatar could also play a critical role in President Joe Biden’s bid to revive a nuclear deal with Iran.

The Qatari Embassy said it needed more information before it could comment about the reported investigation, and did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.

Earlier this year, Biden designated Qatar a major non-NATO ally, a move that could be helpful in the country’s bid to get U.S. approval for a more than $500 million sale of MQ-9 Reaper drones. Qatar is home to the largest U.S. Air Force base in the Gulf.

“Qatar is a good friend and a reliable partner,” Biden said in January while hosting Qatar’s ruling emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, at the White House.

But Qatar, which was one of the strongest international backers of the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar Assad, has long faced criticism from some U.S. officials for allowing or encouraging funding of extremists groups in Syria, as well as for its direct and indirect support of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

Qatar has said it condemns terrorism, but officials have also conceded its efforts may have helped the wrong people.

“Look, in Syria, everybody did mistakes, including your country,” Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, Qatar’s former prime minister and foreign minister, said in a 2017 interview with American journalist Charlie Rose. He added that Qatar had never intentionally funded extremists groups in Syria and had cut off funding to any group it learned had another “agenda.”

Lawyers for the Sotloff family said in the lawsuit that Qatari officials either “knew or recklessly ignored” the fact that the Islamic State terrorists they were allegedly funding would target Americans for kidnapping, torture and murder.

>>17477522

“Qatar, Key US Ally, Faces New Accusations of Terror Funding” – Part 2

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-05-13/qatar-key-us-ally-faces-new-accusations-of-terror-funding

May 13, 2022

Foreign countries and government officials cannot typically be sued in U.S. courts. But the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act allows terror victims to seek damages from private entities connected to governments. The Sotloff suit’s defendants, Qatar Charity and Qatar National Bank, are alleged to have knowingly facilitated funding to terror groups.

Specifically, the lawsuit says the charity and the bank provided $800,000 to Fadel al Salim, which he allegedly smuggled into Syria from Turkey and then used to form a “brigade of Islamic State fighters” and become a “sharia judge.”

The Sotloff complaint said al Salim signed the “Legal Retribution Verdict” ordering the deaths of Foley and Sotloff as well as led a convoy that transported the pair from one prison in Raqqa, Syria, to the town where they were slain.

Representatives for Qatar Charity and Qatar National Bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The current whereabouts of al Salim are unknown. But U.S. prosecutors have made significant progress in separate criminal cases against two of the British Islamic State militants responsible for the killings of Sotloff and three other American captives.

Alexanda Kotey was sentenced recently in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, to life in prison. El Shafee Elsheikh, who was convicted in a jury trial last month, also faces life imprisonment when he is sentenced in August.

Kotey and Elsheikh were part of a cell of British militants known by their captors as “the Beatles” because of their accents. They were captured in Syria in 2018 and transferred to the U.S. in 2020 for criminal prosecution after Attorney General William Barr agreed to take the death penalty off the table.

Another militant, Mohammed Emwazi — known as “Jihadi John” — was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2015 and a fourth was arrested in Turkey.

Sotloff, Foley and Peter Kassig were beheaded as part of propaganda videos released by IS in 2014 while Kayla Mueller was tortured and raped by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi before she was killed. The hostage-taking also resulted in the killings of British and Japanese captives, officials have said.

“We are forever broken by the loss of our beloved son, and defined as the people from a horror movie,” mother Shirley Sotloff said at the Kotey sentencing hearing.

The Sotloff lawsuit, filed in West Palm Beach, Florida, does not disclose how information in the complaint was obtained. But it does include a high-level of detail, such as a specific bank account number, passages from a handwritten statement acknowledging payments and Islamic State judicial records.

The lawsuit also alleges Qatari royal family members and government officials worked with the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkish intelligence to fund extremist groups in Syria with the aim of undermining the Assad regime.

Similar allegations of prominent Qataris funding terrorist groups have been made in two ongoing lawsuits filed in London on behalf of Syrian refugees.

Ben Emmerson, a London-based lawyer representing the refugees, said there’s clear evidence American officials have chosen to turn a blind eye to Qatar’s terror financing in Syria because the U.S. needs Qatar’s help in other areas.

“This is realpolitik in action,” he said.

One of the London lawsuits alleges that Qatar National Bank board members made hawala payments an informal money transfer system directly to Al Nusra, al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria. Those include transfers, according to the lawsuit, by the emir’s half-brother, Khalid Al Thani. He previously served on the board of Qatar National Bank.

It’s unclear if those payments are part of the grand jury investigation involving Khalid Al-Thani, which is at least a year old. Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

>>17465900

>Gauteng Premier, David Makhura says they have identified suspects in the Nomzamo tavern shooting in Soweto but “they have left the country.”

What does Qatar know?

“Wait, what? State of Qatar declares SA tavern shootings ‘an act of terrorism’”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-qatar-tavern-shootings-soweto-act-of-terrorism-statement/

11-07-2022 06:30

This weekend’s tavern shootings – which have claimed around 20 lives – are now being treated with the utmost urgency… in Qatar.

South Africans have been left a tad bemused by the State of Qatar’s response to the spate of tavern shootings reported in our country over the weekend. The Gulf nation’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered a strong condemnation – and implied that the incident was terrorism-related.

QATAR GOVERNMENT CONDEMNS ‘TERRORISM’ IN SOUTH AFRICA

There are a few reasons why so many SA citizens have been left scratching their heads at this statement. First and foremost, the Qatari government has acted quicker than their counterparts in South Africa, to denounce the shootings as an act of terror.

Secondly, many have been left to wonder if international agents are to blame for this crime – and Qatar’s bold declaration will certainly add fuel to the fire. What is more, the Doha-based ministry is specifically focused on the incident in Soweto.

In total, 15 people were gunned down in the Johannesburg district on Saturday. This misery has been compounded by similar shootings in Pietermaritzburg and Katlehong over the weekend, where a further six people were killed. The heinous crimes have made international headlines.

TAVERN SHOOTINGS: STATEMENT FROM QATAR BLINDSIDES SA CITIZENS

But it’s not just the foreign press taking note: The Qatar government has shared its ‘deep condolences’ to all those affected by the tavern shootings – and the State’s decision to pin the blame on terrorism has become a major talking point online…

“The state of Qatar expressed its strong condemnation and denunciation of the shooting incident in Soweto, which led to deaths and injuries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms the State’s firm position on the rejection of violence and terrorism.”

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

TAVERN SHOOTINGS: LATEST UPDATES AND NEWS FOR MONDAY 11 JULY

It’s almost certain that this message is simply an act of diplomatic solidarity over anything else. But it adds yet another factor of intrigue to a case that is going to take some cracking. SAPS are still trying to piece together how and why these tavern shootings played out the way they did.

We’ll need answers fast, given that this isn’t even the deadliest incident at a South African tavern reported in the last two weeks. Young patrons – 21 of them in total – lost their lives at the Enyobeni venue in East London just 15 days ago, and we’re still none the wiser about an official cause.

Communities are demanding justice, and prolonged periods of silence will do nothing to quell these rising tides of rage.

Statement | Qatar Strongly Condemns Shooting Incident in South Africa#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/ujpLQsu8Qm

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) July 10, 2022

>>17477672

And then…

“Qatar DELETES statement calling SA tavern shootings ‘terrorism’ – but why?”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-why-qatar-delete-statement-terrorism-tavern-shootings-new-updates/

12-07-2022 17:12

The recent tavern shootings in South Africa sparked a number of theories – but officials in Qatar have now retracted their terrorism claims.

The plot thickens. Just hours after government officials in Qatar labelled the tavern shootings in South Africa as ‘an act of terrorism’, the statement which was posted online mysteriously vanished on Monday.

WERE THE TAVERN SHOOTINGS AN ACT OF TERRORISM?

The post was deleted by the Qatari Foreign Ministry, after it had managed to turn heads in South Africa. The Gulf state was the first governing authority to suggest a motivation for the attacks, which took place in Soweto, Katlehong, and Pietermaritzburg.

In total, 22 people were gunned down in three locations. Although Police Minister Bheki Cele says the incidents aren’t linked, the sheer brutality of the attacks – particular in Soweto, where 16 victims were killed – could point to something more sinister than coincidence.

WHY QATAR HAS REMOVED ITS STATEMENT ON THE TAVERN SHOOTINGS

Qatar removed its statement following a discussion with Clayson Monyela. He is DIRCO’s Head of Public Diplomacy, and the government official revealed that he had asked the Qatari Ambassador to take-down the post until ‘outcomes of the investigation are made public’.

“Qatar is a good friend of South Africa. The intention of their statement was to pledge solidarity, which we welcome. I have spoken to the Ambasssador of Qatar, who agrees that we should wait for outcomes of investigations before labeling the incident.”

“Our good friends within the Qatari Foreign Ministry have since withdrawn and deleted the statement on the shooting incident in Soweto. We thank them, and as always, we appreciate their solidarity and support.”

Clayson Monyela

QATAR ‘MAY KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT TERRORISM IN SA’

Senior research fellow and director at Africa-Asia Dialogues, Thembisa Fakude, has a very different take on things, though. He told EWN that there’s ‘no doubt’ a faction is trying to destabilise South Africa – and, in his book, Qatar could possibly ‘know something we don’t’…

“There’s some sort of a [faction] trying to destabilise the country, no doubt about it if you really think about it. So, maybe Qatar knows something that we don’t know in terms of the events that we have seen over the past couple of weeks.”

Thembisa Fakude

>>17478204

Is Trump then also smearing Qatar?

“Trump: Qatar Funds Terrorism at 'Very High Level'”

https://youtu.be/Iome5i3Mx5Y

>>17477474

>https://www.qatar-tribune.com/article/60430/NATION/South-Africa-can-help-Qatar-in-managing-World-Cup-crowds-stadiums-Ambassador

>20/04/2017

>Talking about the football team which is from Cape Flats Football Academy, the ambassador said that the tour is meant to introduce Qatari and South African students to each other and can lead to stronger ties between the two countries.

When South Africa introduces students from one of the most dangerous parts of the country, the Cape Flats >>17477482 , to Qatari students which “can lead to stronger ties between the two countries”, it is a red flag to me.

>>17406568

>>17523637

>>17523615

>>17521598

“WATCH | Zama zamas plugged into Lesotho’s politics”

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/sunday-times-1107/20220911/281792812867149

11 Sep 2022

Below are excerpts.

Political parties in Mountain Kingdom reportedly being funded by illegal miners.

Leaked footage of masked rifle-wielding zama zamas dancing to Lesotho folk music and displaying buckets full of cash offer a terrifying glimpse into the intricacies and influence of the mining underworld.

A TimesLIVE investigation has exposed the criminal underbelly of this parallel universe, flush in cash and stolen weapons, rife with assassinations and attacks on legitimate mines.

These Basotho gangs are said to wield considerable influence in the upper echelons of Lesotho’s government, a power base built on a lucrative network of criminal activities centred on SA’s rich gold reef.

In the past few months, the rivalry between two of the main groupings – Terene ea Khosi Mokata (Mokata’s train) and Terene ea Chakela (Chakela’s train) – has intensified, spilling onto SA’s soil.

Two leaders of Mokata’s train, Sarel Sello and Tshepho Elliot, have been named as wanted suspects for the mass shooting at a Soweto tavern in July that killed 16 People, including a Chakela gang member.

Lesotho’s national police commissioner Holomo Molibeli said he believed profits from the sale of illegally mined gold in SA were used by zama zamas to buy protection from investigations and prosecutions.

“It is clear there are direct links and arrangements of convenience between the politicians and zama zamas,” said Molibeli.

“We received intelligence that the Terene members had illegal weapons. We raided the guest house and found them with a soldier, with dozens of Lesotho Defence Force and Lesotho Mounted Police Service weapons, ammunition. We arrested them, but the next day they were each released on R500 fines.”

“We have between 800,000 and 900,000 members consisting of miners, security guards, garden and domestic workers, and informal traders in SA and Lesotho,” he [Tshepo Moshoeshoe, Terene ea Mokata’s secretary-general] said.

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And now there will be over 80 EU election ‘observers’ for the small country of Lesotho, land locked in South Africa?

“Lesotho elections I First ever EU election observation mission arrives in Maseru”

https://youtu.be/PndHuGgCA4A

The Kingdom of Lesotho has invited several observer missions for the upcoming 2022 national elections. Based on that invitation, the European Union (EU) deployed its first-ever EU Election Observation Mission in Maseru on Thursday. At least eleven teams of long-term observers, each with two members, will assess every aspect of the electoral process. This mission will be permanently present in all ten districts of Lesotho for the next six weeks. For more news, visit sabcnews.com and also #SABCNews on all Social Media platforms.

“Chief Observer Ignazio Corrao launches the EU EOM Lesotho officially - follow the press conference online”

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eom-lesotho-2022/chief-observer-ignazio-corrao-launches-eu-eom-lesotho-officially-follow-press-0_en?s=410213

13.09.2022

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to the Kingdom of Lesotho has started its work in the country. The mission is led by Mr. Ignazio Correa, an Italian Member of the European Parliament.

https://lesothotribune.co.ls/eu-launches-eom/

This is the first ever EU EOM to Lesotho; it comes after the invitation by the government of Lesotho; the mission will assess all the aspects of the Lesotho electoral processes. On election day, the Mission will have more than 80 international observers deployed in all Lesotho districts.

When addressing the media, a member of the European Parliament, Chief Observer Ignazio Corrao, officially launched the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Lesotho in Maseru. The same morning, the Mission deployed 22 observers to begin long-term observation across Lesotho ahead of the October 2022 National Assembly elections. From now, the Mission will be permanently present in all ten districts of Lesotho for 6 weeks.

According to Carrao, based on an invitation by the government of Lesotho, the EU EOM started its activities in Maseru on 27 August with the arrival of a Core Team of 9 experts.

“The mission will be reinforced around Election Day with 30 Short–Term Observes (STOs) and the delegation from the European Parliament. An additional number of EU states’ diplomatic representatives will add to this contingent. The observers come from all 27 EU member states, as well as from Norway. Their findings in the 10 districts will inform the EU EOM Core Team analysis about elections-related developments across the country,” he enlightened.

Carrao informed that the EU EOM will present its preliminary findings to the public shortly after the 7 October election day and remain in Lesotho in Lesotho until the completion of the electoral process.

The EU EOM is bound by a code of conduct, which requires strict neutrality and non-interference. It undertakes its work following the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, endorsed under the United Nations (UN) auspices in 2005.

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“Ramaphosa’s meeting with US President Joe Biden may have links to ANC elective conference in December” – Links to the CIA and SSA

https://www.iol.co.za/the-star/news/ramaphosas-meeting-with-us-president-joe-biden-may-have-links-to-anc-elective-conference-in-december-3a77968c-c705-4134-8c74-3c44f9b9040d

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent trip to visit US President Joe Biden may be linked to his plans to win the ANC elective conference in December.

Dirco (Department of International Relations and Co-operation) sources have sent an itinerary of Ramaphosa’s meetings in the US to The Star.

His programme was set to start with a meeting with a South African delegation based in the US and for two meetings at the SA consulate.

According to the itinerary Ramaphosa was only set to meet Biden a day after he had arrived but the plan was changed without the knowledge of Dirco and its representatives and no South African officials were allowed in and around the high-level meetings.

According to the sources, Ramaphosa wanted strict privacy with no minutes or records of meetings and acted outside of the embassy and against diplomatic protocol.

“It was so secret that we didn’t know how to report on the trip. There were no talks of bilateral relations, trade agreements or policy. It was like his personal trip to gain support for his party’s election,” the source said.

“Protocol was broken. The US secretary of State was recently here and shortly after, the president goes to meet Biden in the Oval Office and Pretoria doesn’t have a clue why he was there. That may be something for the portfolio committee on international relations to look into” the source said.

The highly placed sources believe that Ramaphosa may have travelled to the US to seek a favour from Biden and the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) to help him win the much-contested election.

In May The Star’s sister paper, the Daily News. exposed a clandestine document linking the CIA, Ramaphosa and the State Security Agency (SSA).

After hefty attempts, including court action, by the SSA to get Independent Media to drop story, the group proceeded to publish.

The report was allegedly compiled by CIA spies based at the US embassy in Pretoria. When the Daily News asked questions about the document, the SSA went to court and obtained an interim interdict until the matter was argued in court.

The SSA authorised its deputy director-general, Welcome Simelane, to file its court papers and was supported in his version by several officials, such as Mava Scott, a spokesperson for the agency, who alerted his bosses about this newspaper’s intention to publish parts of it.

The report showed how the US was able to infiltrate the ANC using certain leaders. As a result, the US was able to use the leaders to change the policy direction in favour of the US.

Simelane advanced a range of reasons why Independent Media should return the report.

“It implicates certain high-profile South African politicians in co-operating with the US, and specifically deals with the US’s involvement in causing conflicts and instabilities in the ANC as the ruling party, the functioning thereof, the different factions therein, who belongs to which faction and which members of the ANC pose a threat to the US interest in South Africa … the disclosure of which … may seriously compromise the peace and well-being of the people of South Africa, because it may cause civil unrest, as happened in the July 2021 uprising and subsequent loss of life and severe damage to property and infrastructure … damage the relationship between the US and the Republic of South Africa and endanger the lives of the people mentioned in the report,” he said in his affidavit.

Concerns about Ramaphosa’s links to the US came after US military jets were seen in Bloemfontein and at Lanseria airport but Dirco officials were in the dark about why they were there.

Dirco portfolio chairperson Supra Mahumapelo was not available for comment.

“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 1)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

A covert Kenyan paramilitary team armed and trained by the US and supported by UK intelligence is behind renditions and controversial killings of terror suspects in night-time raids, Declassified UK can reveal.

• Clandestine Kenyan team has been paid and assisted by the CIA to take down terror suspects since 2004. “We’re really hands-on. We don’t just hand them the money once a month”, one US official said.

• “Unconstitutional killings” include a family man wrongly slain due to mistaken identity, and allegations a terror suspect was summarily executed.

• Britain’s MI6 plays a key role in identifying suspects for a ‘kill or capture’ list and finding and fixing their location.

• Paramilitaries use covert tactics such as fake number plates and disguise themselves as aid workers on operations in refugee camps, which “shield perpetrators of abuses from any shred of accountability”.

• Killings are “radicalising” Kenya, a former US ambassador and Kenyan vice president both told Declassified.

Read Part 2 of this investigation here; https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-the-militarisation-of-us-africa-policy-how-the-cia-came-to-lead-deadly-counter-terrorism-operations-in-kenya

A day before being killed in August 2019, 45-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, Mohamed ‘Modi’ Mwatsumiro was heard arguing with his wife at their tin roof dwelling in the small town of Ngombeni, on the south coast of Kenya. Modi had ordered her to leave with their young child and stay with her family.

“Even though she really tried to resist, he was insistent that she must leave with the child. He became aggressive and she had to give in. It was as if he was expecting something to happen that night,” a neighbour told Kenya’s leading newspaper hours after Modi was killed.

It is not known whether Modi had asked his wife to leave because he feared he was a marked man, but Kenyan police suspected he was linked to a suicide bomber involved in the DusitD2 hotel complex terrorist attack in Nairobi in January 2019, which killed 21 people including a US citizen.

Somalia-based group al-Shabaab, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the US and British governments, among others, claimed it had ordered the operation in retaliation for the US decision to relocate its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Eight months later, on 30 August, the same Kenyan paramilitary team that swept in to repel the DusitD2 attackers reappeared, this time at Modi’s mud-stone home which sits among thickets of coconut palms, cashew and neem trees.

What followed took a familiar pattern for night time counter-terror raids in Kenya, many of which remain shrouded in mystery and rumour.

At just after 4am, Kenyan paramilitary commandos arrived in unmarked vehicles, armed with US-made M4 assault rifles and Glock pistols. Ordering concerned neighbours to stay indoors, the plainclothes officers stormed Modi’s home.

After the commandos breached his property, Modi hurled a grenade that failed to detonate, police later claimed. Seldom does a suspect emerge alive in such raids. Modi was no exception.

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 2)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

A covert war

The commandos who raided Modi’s home belong to the Rapid Response Team (RRT), a clandestine ‘special team’ of the Kenyan paramilitary General Service Unit’s Recce Company. The RRT was set up, equipped, trained and is guided on tactical counter-terror operations by America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a Declassified investigation can reveal.

The secretive Kenyan team is informally known as the Rendition Operations Team and is composed of around 60 police commandos.

The CIA’s covert programme, which began in 2004, is managed by a paramilitary liaison officer at the US embassy in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, but has until now successfully avoided public scrutiny.

Based on interviews with over two dozen CIA, US State Department and Kenyan intelligence, paramilitary and police officers, this investigation has found that in its 16 years of operation, the CIA-backed team has been responsible for the capture of high-value terror suspects, as well as rendition operations, killings and alleged summary executions.

The creation of the RRT was “an indigenous solution to an indigenous problem”, a former senior CIA counter-terrorism official told this investigation. “Our leadership at CTC [CIA Counterterrorism Center] and others felt that setting up these units was important: it was something that gives value to the partnership and it puts a unit under our control for when we have targets that we feel need to go down.”

Often, the paramilitary team’s raids are driven by intelligence provided by the CIA itself, as well as Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS). However, multiple current and former US and Kenyan diplomatic, intelligence and police sources said that Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, better known as MI6) plays a key role in identifying, tracking and fixing the location of targets, as well in decisions determining their fate: kill or capture.

The American and British governments provide covert support to Kenya in order to help it defeat al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-linked group that has carried out dozens of deadly attacks in Kenya. Its most high profile atrocities have been on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall in 2013, where it killed 67 people and on Garissa University in 2015 which killed 148.

Al-Shabaab and its sympathisers are also behind a number of high-profile abductions and attempts to kill foreign dignitaries, including a plot to bomb then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a visit to Kenya in 2009.

Former deputy chief (operations) of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, Henry Crumpton explained the nature of the war on terror in Kenya. “It’s a different type of conflict, a different type of war. And it is intelligence-driven.”

Crumpton, who led the CIA’s war in Afghanistan in 2001, continued, “I think that’s why the CIA really has had the lead in many areas, long before any others, because the CIA was there and the CIA was providing value to those partners and the operations, whether they are diplomatic or law enforcement or military, even economic, all those instruments of statecraft, they’re all informed and driven by the intelligence. That’s the foundation for this conflict.”

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 3)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

A former senior US official based in Africa with knowledge of US-Kenyan counter-terrorism operations said that the same agencies, CIA and MI6, also determined the fate of the target. “It’s the intelligence services identifying the threat, figuring a way out to mitigate the threat, figuring out that this is going to be a law enforcement end state [capture] or not [kill] and then dealing with it”.

The decision around the fate of a given target would be decided “between us [the CIA] and your guys on the intel side [MI6]”, the former US official continued. “We had these conversations about ‘what are we going to do with this [or that] guy?’. You know given these set of facts, what can we do with these guys?”

Modi’s post-mortem report references seven gunshot entry wounds from RRT fire: two to his left elbow, another in the right forearm, two in his chest and a further two gunshots wounds in his left upper jaw, with exit wounds in his lower jaw.

“We knew him,” Modi’s neighbour Ali Matete told reporters the day after the killing. “He conducted his prayers here, in this area, and in our mosque. But we do not know what he did. When we saw the incident today, we asked ourselves [what is going on] because we’re in darkness.”

Just over a month after Modi was killed, RRT paramilitaries were in action again, in a dawn raid on a house in neighbouring Mombasa county. Police alleged the men inside were linked to Modi and had planned to launch terror attacks. After another alleged “shootout” the three suspects emerged in body bags.

While the precise number of RRT kill or capture raids against terror suspects is unknown due to the clandestine nature of the force’s operations, Declassified has investigated over a dozen cases.

In many instances, suspects raided by the RRT have ended up dead, with a police spokesperson subsequently claiming the target was armed and dangerous. But this investigation has also found cases of mistaken killings and alleged summary executions.

Khelef Khalifa, chair of Kenyan human rights organisation Muhuri, said: “When these extrajudicial killings happen, Muslims feel they are under siege because they cannot comprehend why the government cannot arrest these people and take them to court, instead of killing them.”

Intent on remaining in the shadows, once suspects are “neutralised” – killed or captured – the plainclothes commandos of the RRT hand control of the operation to local police; typically Kenya’s Anti-terrorism Police Unit (ATPU). In doing so, the RRT successfully avoids scrutiny – let alone accountability – for operations now spanning over a decade.

So, too, does its American backers.

“The present government targets [people] in extrajudicial killings. And takes out people in Mombasa, like Rogo,” former Kenyan vice president, Kalonzo Musyoka said, referring to the late cleric Aboud Rogo who was killed by an unidentified hit squad in 2012. Police reports after Modi was killed claimed he had been radicalised by Rogo.

Describing the killings as “unconstitutional”, the former Vice President added: “This has spread bitterness…but because we are doing the bidding of the West in the war on terror, they are allowed to.”

RRT commandos and their American backers stressed that the Kenyan force is not strictly a ‘kill team’ in the way ‘Tier 1’ special force units, such as Delta Force and Seal Team 6, can and do receive express orders to take out targets. “It’s not the same as having Seal Team 6 go after a target…[but] it’s not like it’s going to be investigated if it ends up in a military end-state [killed]”, the former senior US official explained.

However, in a case investigated by Declassified, an officer confided that the unit was explicitly tasked to “eliminate” a high-value terror suspect, only to wrongly kill a family man. In two other cases, witnesses say the suspects were killed by RRT commandos without any armed resistance.

The former senior US official added, “There’s never a real investigation by the Kenyan government. They don’t want to get to the bottom of it. It’s just not going to happen.”

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 4)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

Mistaken killing

Defenders of the RRT say it has been instrumental in neutralising the threat from al-Shabaab. While the Kenyan and international press have made no mention of the RRT’s central role in counter-terrorism operations, multiple US and RRT sources confirmed that the CIA-supported team played a lead role in successfully neutralising the Garissa and DusitD2 attackers.

In another pre-dawn raid in Kenya’s coastal town of Mombasa on 28 October 2012, Omar Faraj and his wife woke to banging on their front door. Fearing that a family member had come to deliver bad news about his sick mother, Faraj rushed to answer. But before he unfastened the lock, he realised from the sound of the visitors’ voices that they were strangers.

“Open up,” the men outside demanded.

Thinking they were robbers, Faraj called his neighbour, who told him that the men were, in fact, heavily-armed plainclothes police. Unsure of what to do, Faraj, who worked as a cashier at a local butcher and as a part-time Islamic preacher, turned to his wife. She urged him not to open the door.

“He was a religious person and the Kenyan government goes after religious people,” Faraj’s wife Rahma Ali said. “Several people had died in such scenarios. I thought he’d be killed.”

Mombasa had already witnessed a string of unexplained killings of radical Muslim figures. Two months prior to Faraj’s killing, unknown assailants gunned down the radical cleric, Aboud Rogo, sparking three days of riots.

The raid that unfolded at Faraj’s home was reported as being by Kenya’s ATPU, but this investigation has learned that it was in fact led by the CIA-supported RRT.

According to a Kenyan officer briefed on the operation, on the night of the raid the team was, in fact, hunting for Fuad Abubakar Manswab, the alleged mastermind of a foiled 2011 terror attack in Mombasa, whom authorities believed to be hiding in the neighbourhood. Manswab was thought to be “armed and dangerous and someone who can engage and kill,” the officer said, noting that “he escaped a prior operation with a wound”. So the RRT were instructed to “eliminate” him.

But the Kenyan officer, corroborating further accounts obtained by Declassified, recounted how an intelligence informant mistakenly led the paramilitary team to Faraj’s home, believing that Manswab was there. “The operation’s target was somewhere else, but there was some mix-up and they headed to the wrong house,” the officer said.

Unaware they were targeting the wrong home, the commandos broke down the door and fired tear gas inside. Faraj took his wife’s hand as they climbed out of their bedroom window, hoping to scale their neighbour’s wall and reach the safety of his brother’s nearby home. They never made it.

Faraj’s wife, Rahma Ali, remembers watching the commandos open fire on her husband, who was balanced on a flowerpot trying to climb the wall. They hit him in the temple, and he fell back on top of her, blood streaming from his head.

Fearing that the commandos would kill her too, Ali, who was covered in Faraj’s blood, says she played dead next to him. In plainclothes but, according to Ali, sporting body armour and M4 carbines supplied by the CIA, the operatives approached and stood over the couple, surveying their kill.

As she lay terrified on the floor, Ali heard one of the commandos say they should make sure she was dead. But the man’s superior overruled him, declaring, “We’ve finished the job.”

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 5)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

Kill or capture

Faraj’s killing epitomised a shift in RRT priorities. Initially designed and trained to capture terror suspects for detention, interrogation and possible rendition to other countries, its objectives appear to have shifted mid-way through President Obama’s first term in office, at a time when suspects in Kenya became harder to capture.

“In the days before, these guys [terror suspects] were never violent and never armed”, explained a former ATPU officer who shadowed RRT commandos on multiple tactical operations. “So it was not hard to arrest them. It’s only after 2011, when Kenyan forces went into Somalia and Kenya became a legitimate target, so they are always armed. They brought a lot of arms into Kenya…[and] they can really give a good fight. So that is where the use of the Recce [RRT] came in.”

By 2011, America’s preferences for dealing with terror suspects had already been embraced in the war in Afghanistan in the form of the Joint Prioritised Effects List (JPEL), a US-UK secret list of priority targets designated for kill or capture, the former senior US official based in Africa said.

Describing JPEL targets as a list of problems to be “eliminated”, the former official continued, “That’s the mentality that carried over. I’m sorry to say, and it sounds obnoxious to say it, but it’s something we did there [in Kenya].”

Current and former members of the RRT stressed their objectives prioritise capture over killing. However, they all confirmed that any perceived threat or resistance from targets is to be met with lethal force.

“I don’t have to shoot if I don’t see your hand”, a RRT officer said, describing the team’s rules of engagement. “Because the hand is the most dangerous part…But if you have something in your hands, I don’t have to spare you because you mean danger to me.”

The senior US official familiar with RRT operations explained that the team’s tactical operations against terror suspects – surprise raids under the cover of darkness – did not always afford the “the good guys” a chance to be arrested, as in Faraj’s case.

“When they [RRT officers] say that the goal is to arrest, it’s to arrest somebody like a Louisiana parish sheriff would arrest somebody”, the former US official said, referring to Louisiana police’s reputation of being a law unto itself. “They [RRT] do have the ability to make an arrest but…the good guys don’t always stop exactly when most people think they should stop.”

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 6)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

Some RRT members provided a starker account.

“When we were trained on threats, we were taught human rights come later. If you have this bad guy and you cannot get him for interrogation then you’d better execute [him]”, said one of a dozen current and former Kenyan paramilitary officers who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Three ATPU officers – one former and two still serving – who had flanked the RRT on tactical operations echoed the description of RRT mission objectives. “You know the Recce Company [RRT] have been trained to take out suspects,” said a serving officer. “Their mission is just to take out suspects. You know they don’t investigate. They just identify the target, neutralise the target and then they go back.”

Sometimes, though, targets are taken alive. In 2010, Kenyan police kidnapped and rendered the suspected militants behind the al-Shabaab-inspired bombings of a rugby club and restaurant in Kampala, Uganda, to face interrogation by American, British and Ugandan agents. Though Kenya’s ATPU was widely blamed for the renditions, multiple police and paramilitary sources confirmed that RRT operatives undertook some of them, in addition to renditions from Somalia in the years before.

One RRT officer recalled a US-sponsored rendition operation to Uganda. RRT operatives captured the suspect in Nairobi, drove him overland to the western border, and then handed him over to their Ugandan counterparts. The officer recalled strong interest in the case from the RRT’s CIA handlers, explaining that “they even gave us fuel for the vehicles and our upkeep all the journey”.

But more often, RRT members set out on operations knowing the target will never be interrogated or tried. Such outcomes suited decision-makers back in Washington, according to the former senior US official based in Africa. “There’s one stat that counts more than convictions. And that’s neutralisation of a criminal organisation.”

As with the renditions, journalists and human rights activists have long blamed the ATPU for extrajudicial killings of terror suspects. But former and current US officials with knowledge of Kenyan counter-terrorism, as well as RRT officers, confirmed that the ATPU has neither the capacity, weaponry or close-quarter battle skills to undertake high-risk raids.

Additionally, the CIA has no direct relationship to the police unit; as such it cannot be tasked with neutralising high-value terror suspects. Instead, the ATPU plays an investigative role, either by claiming the arrest or handling the crime scene.

“Those guys [RRT] are highly trained and they are serious about things”, a former ATPU officer said. “Any suspect, even the amateurs, who we believe to be armed – they [RRT] are the ones to get in and neutralise [the target] then they leave us to do the investigations and collection of evidence. ATPU takes a back seat in high risk or high-value operations.”

A study by the Independent Medico-Legal Unit, a non-profit organisation that monitors misconduct by law enforcement, recorded 1,873 gun deaths in six urban areas in Kenya between 2009 and 2014. It found Kenyan police were involved in nearly two-thirds of the cases, many of them execution-style killings.

More recent IMLU figures show a decline in extrajudicial executions in the last five years but they still amount to over 100 per year.

The RRT does not account for the bulk of these alleged extrajudicial killings in Kenya, both US officials and RRT officers stressed, since its role is dedicated to targeting high-value or high-risk terror targets. But when suspects disappear or turn up dead, the Kenyan government rarely undertakes a formal investigation.

According to Maria Burnett, former East Africa director for Human Rights Watch, out of hundreds of extrajudicial killings that have taken place during counter-terrorism operations in recent years, “only a small handful” had been seriously scrutinised.

In Faraj’s case, the Kenyan government never acknowledged its role in his death, instead claiming that security forces killed “terrorists” after being fired upon. It was similarly unabashed about the fate of Titus Nabiswa, the police informant who led the commandos to Faraj’s house that night and whose body was later found dumped, killed by a gunshot wound to the head.

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 7)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

The US hand

Housed at a secretive base in the town of Ruiru, roughly 30 miles east of Nairobi, the ranks of the Rapid Response Team (RRT) have thinned in recent years as some members have decamped for Kenya’s burgeoning private security sector, which offers better pay and working conditions.

To counter these temptations, the CIA’s paramilitary liaison to the RRT provides regular financial support, including allowances for operations and bonuses for successful missions. This is designed to supplement the low wages of Kenyan police officers who make as little as $115 per month. Injured operatives are given cash payouts and treatment at Nairobi’s private Aga Khan hospital. RRT officers call these “motivation packages”.

While the amounts have varied over the years, RRT officers confirmed receiving the equivalent of a 30% “boost” to their salaries per month, paid for by the US embassy. “For a constable KSh 5,000 (US$46) is a huge amount of money”, one RRT officer said. “You could educate your child”, he added.

The RRT also receives weapons and equipment from the CIA. Initially supplied with M16 assault rifles, then M4 carbines, they have also received Glock pistols, M79 grenade launchers, body armour, helmets and M67 and Stinger CS grenades.

The RRT’s operations appear to need sign-off from the US. Multiple RRT sources independently confirmed that the team is not to be deployed by its Kenyan command for tactical anti-terror operations without the knowledge and consent of its US embassy handlers. The exceptions are for rapid response to high-profile terror attacks, such as the Westgate mall and DusitD2 attacks, and for the diplomatic protection of foreign dignitaries.

“You know, those teams are owned by their [US] trainers…They are the equippers, so they are like their bosses now. So if there is anything, they [the US] communicate direct: ‘We need this to be done’”, a Kenyan paramilitary officer with knowledge of the US embassy liaison relationship said.

Since 2004, the CIA has paid for RRT commandos to fly to the US for SWAT-style training in rendition and disruption operations, including reconnaissance and surveillance, storming a building, close-quarter battle, and weapons handling at locations that include Annapolis Naval Academy in Maryland.

But the US role goes further. The CIA paramilitary liaison, based at the US embassy in Nairobi, is directly involved in planning some of the RRT’s operations.

Occasionally, CIA operatives themselves have participated in operations, US officials and Kenyan RRT officers confirmed. “If they really, really want the results, they will even assist directly,” one mid-ranking Kenyan paramilitary officer said.

CIA paramilitary officers and contractors have also assisted the RRT by conducting surveillance and tracking of a target, either remotely or from a nearby safehouse or vehicle. However, even as they observed operations unfolding, they maintained a careful distance, RRT officers said.

Some areas, such as the slums of Nairobi’s Eastleigh district, would often prove too dangerous for US officers. “You know the Eastleigh area is dominated by Muslim guys. So they would not dare to go there and do that surveillance without the support of armed people”, one officer said.

However, for operations in other parts of Nairobi and in Mombasa, CIA officers on the ground have assisted in planning raids, having conducted surveillance on a target’s dwelling, and provided their position, often by use of mobile phone location trackers. A senior RRT officer said such intelligence support was essential to avoiding detection.

“If we don’t have something to track the phone, we go banging on other people’s houses and it’d cause an outcry, like we are robbers, the officer said. “With that [CIA] support we were able to zero in and locate the exact areas where the targets were and avoid that issue of complaint. Because once we hit the right target, we get whatever we wanted.”

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 8)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

Britain’s role

Working closely with its counterparts at the Counterterrorism Unit of Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), the CIA identifies suspects and prepares target packages – intelligence and analysis on a given suspect – that include actionable intelligence. Together they decide a given target’s fate in a so-called “disposition matrix” that includes options ranging from arrest to using lethal force, according to the former senior US official based in Africa.

A former RRT officer with knowledge of this coordination with the US embassy explained, “Sometimes we would have them [target lists] in our office: you have dealt with this one, you are remaining with these ones. All that information we are being given by the US government, not the NIS.”

A mid-ranking RRT officer familiar with the target list said it included Jeremiah Onyango Okumu (‘Dudah Black’) and Samir Khan. Both faced terror charges and were disappeared, with Khan’s body subsequently found mutilated. While the officer admitted that his team had arrested Khan on the first occasion, he denied RRT’s involvement in his subsequent disappearance.

In 2015, then CIA director John Brennan told an audience, “We exchange information with our counterparts around the world to identify and track down men and women believed to be violent extremists… Our cooperation with foreign liaison quietly achieves significant results. Working together, we have disrupted terrorist attacks and rolled back groups that plot them.”

In formulating the target packages, CIA officers in Nairobi also work closely with their counterparts at MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence service, which relies on its long-standing human intelligence network to provide actionable intelligence by finding and tracking targets and infiltrating militant circles.

“The Brits were worried”, a former senior CIA counter-terrorism official said, noting the influx of British ‘jihadi tourism’ to Somalia, via Kenya, after 2010. “Because they had a lot of British cases and I mean British citizens. In some respect I think the British kids were showing up there before some of our guys, before the American citizens started going to be suicide bombers.”

He continued: “If you’re working with the Kenyans you’re going to want to know about these British guys that are going to be coming to Kenya to get to Somalia”.

As well as long-standing colonial ties to Kenyan tribes and communities, MI6 boasts a specialism in human intelligence, tracking and infiltration operations. Such capabilities are often relied on by the CIA in Kenya and other covert counter-terrorism operations, such as in Yemen, two former senior US officials confirmed.

“We reinforced each other”, a former senior US State Department official said of US-UK counter-terrorism in Kenya. “But the US was very much in the lead and there was good cooperation between us and the UK on the ground. And [Kenya’s] NIS always understood that.”

Echoing MI6’s importance, the former senior CIA official recalled: “I’ve seen them infiltrate. When it comes to human intelligence in CT [counter-terrorism], I think they’re one of the best services in the world in terms of running penetrations of terrorist organisations.”

Leaked US diplomatic cables show that for over a decade Kenya’s intelligence service, NIS, has had “primary responsibility for CT [counterterrorism]” in the country. As lead agency, NIS is the principal beneficiary and conduit of the bulk of CIA and MI6’s efforts in Kenya, former senior CIA and State Department officials confirmed.

“They [NIS] were the meat and potatoes of everything we did”, the former senior State Department official said. “The police didn’t have much of an intel capability. Actionable information always flowed through the intelligence service.”

Unlike the CIA, actionable intelligence from MI6 does not reach the RRT paramilitaries directly, but through its CIA and NIS counterparts.

“When the British supply intel, it takes time to get down to us. The Americans come to us directly. They tell us this is what is happening and they have already informed the other authorities so we are given information to go and conduct the operation”, one paramilitary officer explained.

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 9)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

‘ARCTIC’

As well as working with the CIA on target development, MI6 also collaborates with a dedicated team of Kenyan intelligence officers, as part of a liaison cell within NIS’ Counter-terrorism Unit, codenamed ARCTIC, multiple Kenyan and US intelligence officials confirmed. At times, the NIS ARCTIC cell works directly with RRT operatives in finding targets and fixing their location before sending in the RRT.

One of MI6’s targets included British national Jermaine Grant. Grant had sneaked back into Kenya after allegedly receiving paramilitary training in Somalia and was an associate of British terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite, dubbed the ‘White Widow’.

As a British national, killing Grant would have focused scrutiny on the relationship between Britain and Kenya’s security forces. So in 2011, RRT officers, guided by NIS ARCTIC agents working in collaboration with MI6, led an operation intent on capturing him, two Kenyan officers familiar with the operation confirmed.

One Kenyan officer explained, “The Recce [RRT] and NIS were ahead of us. They arrested [him], they took away his flash disk and his purse [wallet]. After some time, they brought him to the police station but they didn’t book him in. They came and he was in the boot of the car outside the police station.”

But not all MI6 targets are as fortunate as Grant, who is now serving a 13-year jail sentence in Kenya after being convicted for possessing bomb-making material and using forged documents to obtain Kenyan citizenship.

Two years later, in June 2013, RRT commandos would kill Kassim Omollo, an alleged al-Shabaab trainer, bomb expert and an accomplice of Grant, in another pre-dawn raid. Omollo had allegedly slipped back into Kenya from Somalia and was maintaining a low profile at his family home in Mombasa.

In the aftermath, a Kenyan police spokesperson claimed Omollo was killed after refusing to surrender, stating that hand grenades, a pistol, an AK-47 assault rifle, ammunition and chemicals for making home-made explosives had been recovered.

However, independent investigations report that Omollo, his wife, and their four young children were told: “We were sent to kill you.” After Omollo kissed his son, the officers pulled his children away and proceeded to shoot him in the chest, and then a further three times in the head, a witness told researchers, https://www.justiceinitiative.org/uploads/08088935-9bbe-4504-b823-ea4b4743964f/human-rights-abuses-by-kenya-atpu-20140220.pdf.

Omollo’s killing was wrongly attributed by the press and human rights organisations to the ATPU, which handled the crime scene after the raid. An officer with direct knowledge of the operation confirmed that, owing to Omollo’s firearms training, an RRT team led the raid, having been guided to his location by the MI6-NIS intelligence liaison cell, ARCTIC.

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 10)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

‘Hands-on’

Often it is the CIA’s liaison—an officer in the agency’s paramilitary Special Activities Center (SAC) Ground Branch—who feeds the actionable intelligence to the RRT commandos, either directly or through the NIS.

One former liaison officer was known to the Kenyan operatives as “Matt”, said one RRT officer, who described him as a “down-to-earth guy who would sit with the guys and talk to them”. The officer added, “Matt made us form a family and we were really a family”.

Far from being exceptional, Matt’s approach reflected the CIA’s broader attitude towards its liaison partners, a former senior US State Department official confirmed. “When we support these kinds of units we’re really hands-on. We don’t just hand them the money once a month.”

The RRT commandos who worked with Matt explained that his CIA counterpart would prepare the team through the General Service Unit-Recce-RRT chain of command in advance of orders issued by Kenya’s Inspector General of police.

“We normally had that information ahead of time, from Matt or the NIS guys… We agreed on the number of people [to deploy] and then he [Matt] would drop the finances and tell me to wait until the time it’s official from the bosses. The Americans are the same people giving the information to NIS so we would work as one team,” the RRT officer explained.

Describing the CIA liaison’s hands-on approach to the RRT, another former Kenyan commando explained, “They will spearhead everything. They will do an operation plan, share that with you, [then] they will come take you down, sit you through it.” After the operation, he added, “they debrief you and then they’re gone.”

Five current and former senior US officials with knowledge of the CIA programme told Declassified their support was key to ensuring the RRT’s professionalism. It “gave a lot of incentive for guys to want to be in that unit and stay,” said the former senior CIA official familiar with counter-terrorism operations in the region.

RRT members, he added, receive “top-tier training from some of the best operators in the world – legends in special forces – and then you get a [financial] bonus for being on call and being part of that unit.”

During one raid, in Likoni, Mombasa in October 2012, RRT commandos surrounded a residential compound with two terror suspects inside. Officers demanded the suspects open the door, but one responded by hurling a hand grenade, killing an RRT commando and seriously injuring the officer commanding. It was the first time an RRT officer had been killed in a tactical operation.

What followed underlined the strength of relations between the US embassy and the commando team. The CIA liaison at the time, “Matt”, covered the cost of the injured officer’s six-week treatment and convalescence at the Aga Khan hospital, paying him multiple follow-up visits, officers confirmed.

On top of this, the injured officer received a one-off payment of 120,000 Kenyan shillings (then worth approximately US$1,400) from Matt, over ten times the officer’s monthly wage. “That person would know someone else is feeling his pain,” an RRT officer said.

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 11)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

Commenting on US support to the RRT, former US ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, who left office in 2011, said, “That kind of support is critical to making them a professional force. If you’re really trying to set up a professional unit that will respect human rights and be effective in carrying out its operations, our support is critical.”

While neither the US government nor the US embassy in Nairobi has previously commented on its role in supporting the Kenyan commando team, former CIA director John Brennan did admit to knowledge of abuses by partners.

Responding to concerns raised by US Senator Ron Wyden over the CIA’s support to abusive foreign security forces in 2015, Brennan said: “We strive to identify and, where possible, avoid working with individuals whom we believe to be responsible for such abuses. In some cases, we have decided to continue those relationships, despite unacceptable behaviour, because of the critical intelligence those services provide, including information that allows us to disrupt terrorist plotting against the United States.”

However, members of the secretive Kenyan team say their American handlers have done little to hold it accountable. Moreover, targeted killings, rendition operations and other tactics barred by Kenyan law became routine for the unit, whose operational tempo increased dramatically after Kenya’s 2011 invasion of Somalia provoked a wave of domestic terror attacks.

Avoiding detection

For 16 years, RRT operatives have managed to avoid detection and public scrutiny. Multiple RRT officers, who operate in plainclothes when on tactical counter-terror assignments, admitted using unmarked cars hired from private companies and swapping between private or unregistered number plates, in order to avoid identification.

A single RRT vehicle typically carries at least three plates which are swapped at least once on operations, upon departure from a target’s location.

The vehicles used vary but former RRT officers confirmed that the US had supplied a stock of at least six white Toyota Landcruisers (76 model), specially ordered with blacked-out windows and a custom cabin to accommodate the commandos’ needs.

Kenyan officers conducting surveillance in urban areas sometimes also appear in less conspicuous Toyota Premio sedans, while in high value operations, their CIA handlers would occasionally join them but remain at a safe distance in black, fully tinted Landcruiser Prado SUVs (J120 model).

Declassified has also learned that since 2004, RRT operatives have disguised themselves as aid workers when on operation in refugee camps such as Dadaab in eastern Kenya or Kakuma in the northwest.

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 12)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

In Dadaab, concerned by al-Shabaab’s infiltration of the camps, weapons smuggling and attack plans on Kenyan soil, the officers used United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) vehicles and wore WFP t-shirts while posing as aid distributors, as they sought to identify those suspected of bringing in weapons and collaborating with the militant group.

Once the suspects had been identified, and reports filed on the targets, a second team would then be sent in to “mop up” and neutralise the targets, a former RRT officer familiar with the operations said. Declassified understands that the RRT continues to send undercover officers to the camps on rotation.

A UN WFP spokesperson said the agency had no knowledge of the covert operations within the refugee camps. The UNHCR, which administers the camps, did not answer questions as to whether it had any knowledge of or involvement in facilitating the covert operations, instead noting that the Kenyan government retained responsibility for their security. The Kenya Police Service, under which the Recce Company RRT falls, did not answer requests for comment.

In another raid, on 18 May 2013, RRT operatives surrounded an apartment building outside Nairobi, according to an officer with knowledge of the operation. The target and his wife were killed after they violently resisted capture, a police spokesman would claim, and their baby was taken into custody.

The man killed was later named as Hassan Omondi Owiti, a terror suspect the police had allegedly been trailing for months. Also killed was his wife, Shekha Wanjiru.

Four witnesses told Human Rights Watch that the police had not encountered any armed resistance, contrary to the claims of Kenyan police. https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/18/kenya-killings-disappearances-anti-terror-police

But, despite the evidence compiled by the human rights organisation, there has been no known official Kenyan investigation into whether the RRT’s deadly raid was based on mistaken identity, whether excessive force was used in killing Owiti, or why his wife was also killed.

An RRT commando familiar with the incident explained that his squad operated in secret in order to avoid scrutiny and protect the team’s morale. “The work our special team does needs a lot of secrecy. If I expose myself and my team, we will become weak,” he said.

Maria Burnett, formerly of Human Rights Watch said she had “long-standing concerns that some Kenyan security forces make considerable efforts to conceal their identity, especially during counter-terrorism operations.” She added: “Such efforts are not only contrary to Kenyan law; they ultimately work to shield perpetrators of abuses from any shred of accountability.”

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 13)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

Successes

Current and former senior US officials with knowledge of the CIA programme in Kenya pointed to the RRT’s success in disrupting attacks.

The year 2018 witnessed one of the lowest death tolls from terror attacks in the past decade in Kenya. And while 2019 witnessed a 20% increase in casualties on the year before, the bulk of this difference was due to a single incident: the DusitD2 attack. On the whole, and with significant assistance from the CIA, Kenya has made substantial strides in disrupting terrorism.

However, while al-Shabaab’s attack on DusitD2 claimed fewer casualties than the earlier Westgate and Garissa attacks, experts described the raid as “representing a new and dangerous phase in the group’s evolution”, since it was the first major operation relying on Kenyan nationals of non-Somali descent.

Capitalising on the DusitD2 attack, in September 2019 al-Shabaab car bombers hit US and European military bases in Somalia. While the operations missed their targets, within two months a group of UN experts declared that al-Shabaab’s use of improvised explosive devices reached its “greatest extent in Somali history”.

For critics of the West and Kenya’s war on terror, recent events are ominous. “We are being hit all the time. Because we are being seen as pro-American, pro-West”, former Kenyan vice president Kalonzo Musyoka said. “It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when we get attacked again. For as long as we have our troops inside Somalia.”

All US diplomatic and intelligence sources interviewed by Declassified expressed concern about Kenya’s abuses in the war on terror. Nonetheless, former US ambassador William Bellamy, who served in Nairobi from 2003-06, said that American-backed teams like the RRT should be “safeguarded and preserved”.

“That is the kind of CT [counter-terrorism] relationship where you feel your partner is accountable and responsive and where you have some correlation between your inputs and their outputs that you can point to”, he said.

But others say that in addition to flouting Kenyan law, the killings carried out by the RRT — and the culture of impunity it exemplifies — can breed extremism.

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“Revealed: The CIA and MI6’s secret war in Kenya” – (Part 14)

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-28-revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

28 Aug 2020

“Heavy-handed tactics seem to have become more pronounced in response to the terrorist threat following [the] Westgate [attack],” another former US ambassador Michael Ranneberger said. “All of this, of course, is linked to the culture of impunity, and heavy-handed tactics contribute towards radicalisation.”

Musyoka provided a starker assessment. “Extrajudicial killings push people underground. People say ‘OK, this is how our relatives have been killed. We shall take revenge!’…There is nothing that really radicalises [more] than taking somebody out in a manner that is not in accordance with the law.”

Khelef Khalifa of Muhuri, which advocates for justice on behalf of victims of the war on terror, expressed similar concerns. “There is a lot of anti-American feeling because of everything they [the Kenyan police] do, people say ‘it is the Americans who fund the police to do this!’ Even when they [the Americans] know something is wrong, they don’t speak up.”

For Omar Faraj’s family still living on Kenya’s coast, every new killing or disappearance is a reminder of the night their son was murdered. In 2019, their region reportedly witnessed 43 extrajudicial killings by Kenyan police, an increase of almost 50% on the previous year.

As an elected member of the county assembly, Faraj’s brother Saad’s status brought him into contact with US ambassador to Kenya, Robert Godec, who departed in 2019.

He says he asked Godec why his government was supporting abusive units such as the one that killed his brother. “He appeared shocked when he heard the news so he gave me his contact,” Saad told Declassified. He says he reached out to Godec but never received a response.

Saad, his voice choking as he fought back tears, said: “If they are truly working to defeat extremism, they need to be sure before they take drastic decisions to eliminate people, because I’ve lost a very important person in my life. The least they can do is to come clean and say they apologise and admit the killing was a mistake.”

___Former CIA deputy Henry Crumpton, dubbed a ‘master’ of covert operations, said respect for rights was key to winning the long war. “You’ve got to win allies in this kind of war and human rights abuses have no part in that. When you look at the counterterrorism programme in Kenya, it’s been successful…but I haven’t seen anything about winning the peace, and that is where the policy issue is essential.”__

He added: “You can have great covert action, great law enforcement, great military cooperation, but if you don’t have a policy where you think about the long-term, then you’re just going to be engaged in the same operations, in the same districts, in the same border areas, in the same valleys, again and again.”

The US embassy in Nairobi, the Kenya Police Service and the Kenyan Ministry of the Interior did not respond to requests for comment. The CIA declined to comment while the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which oversees MI6, said: “We don’t comment on intelligence matters.” DM

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Dear American, British and other citizens. If you do not reign in your intelligence agencies, all I can say is –“Welcome to the 3rd world”–.

“The current goverment of Ukraine which the CIA, MI6 and Mossad helped put into power”, “Ukrainian government backed Hillary Clinton” election – 2017 post

https://opingsoc.weebly.com/propaganda05.html

[by OpINGSOC, Feb.03.2017]

Below are excerpts

The current goverment of Ukraine which the CIA, MI6 and Mossad helped put into power are composed of OUN [Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists] members and their descendants. The majority of which are OUN-B members, or followers of Bandera.

In fact the major Ukrainian organizations in the US are also OUN-B, including the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA). The Ukrainian-American organizations and the Ukrainian government backed Hillary Clinton this election. They also tried to sabotage Trump's campaign by pushing the Russian spy narrative - perhaps even starting the rumor. Why? One reason is Hillary's promise for more financial and military aid to Ukraine. [and now they are being showered with aid.]

–Clinton urges more financial, military aid to Ukraine: https://archive.fo/B6Jql

"Politico reported that the Ukrainian Government worked to aid Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential elections. The actions taken by government officials included disseminating “documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they helped Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers.”

"Those documents implicated Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, who worked as an adviser for now-ousted Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovych. However, the concerns that the documents raised weren’t in fact over any quasi-Russian ties, though partisan reporting pushed this narrative. Rather, the documents raised the question of whether Manafort declared the income that he had received from the position. The Podesta Group, a lobbying firm co-founded by Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta, also conducted work for Yanukovych. However, the Manafort narrative not only painted Trump as pro-Russian, but also provided the Clinton campaign with a smear campaign while reaffirming its stance against Russia."

"Politico noted that Alexandra Chalupa, a Ukrainian-American working as a consultant for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), met with top Ukrainian Officials in Washington D.C. about forcing Manafort’s resignation in order to perpetuate the narrative that Trump is connected to Russia. Both Chalupa and her sister Andrea have strongly pushed the anti-Russian narrative on social media, in addition to advocating that the electors of the electoral college defect from Trump. The report added, “Politico’s investigation found evidence of Ukrainian government involvement in the race that appears to strain diplomatic protocol dictating that governments refrain from engaging in one another’s elections.”"

"In addition to the Chalupas, the co-founder and CTO of Crowdstrike, the cyber security firm that the DNC hired to investigate the alleged hacks, Dmitri Alperovitch, also serves as a senior fellow to the Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council, which is an openly anti-Russian organization. The Atlantic Council is funded by Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk, who also happens to be one of the most prolific donors to the Clinton Foundation. The DNC denied multiple requests from the FBI to access their servers, effectively forcing the FBI to rely on CrowdStrike’s assessment of the hacks."

"The Atlantic Council has propagated anti-Russian sentiment and advocated for bolstering NATO forces in anticipation of a military conflict between with Russia longbefore Wikileaks released emails from the DNC and Clinton Campaign Manager John Podesta. In 2013, the Atlantic Council awarded Hillary Clinton its Distinguished International Leadership Award. In 2014, the Atlantic Council hosted one of several events with former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who took over after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was removed in early 2014.""

–Ukraine Tried to Tip the Electionin Clinton’s Favor: https://archive.fo/DKDSy

–Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump backfire: https://archive.fo/85xYq

“Sex work will be decriminalised by 2024: Bogopane-Zulu” - https://youtu.be/PCQdgvQgj5g

“Government wants to decriminalise sex work by 2024”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/decriminalise-sex-work-south-africa-2024-social-development-29-september/

29-09-2022 11:03

‘…Why is it when I choose as a woman to use my body as my business there is an issue,’ said the Deputy Minister of Social Development.

The government plans to decriminalise sex work in South Africa by March 2024, according to the Deputy Minister of Social Development (DSD), Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu. She spoke to sex workers and other civil society groups in Kimberley, Northern Cape on Wednesday, 28 September.

SEX WORK COULD BE DECRIMINALISED BY 2024

According to SABC News, sex workers in the province said the delay in decriminalising how they earn a living places their lives in danger.

Bogopane-Zulu said the decriminalisation “must have happened” by March 2024. The ball is rolling and discussions between the different sectors that are involved, including sex workers and the church, are underway.

“…at the end of the day, if men can have sex with men who are not gay, who go back to their wives and then it is understood. Why is it when I choose as a woman to use my body as my business there is an issue,” said the deputy minister.

The sex workers’ input will be used in a draft Bill, which will be sent to Cabinet later this year or in early 2023. Thereafter, it will be put out for public comment.

“And then when it comes back in 90 days we will consolidate and send it back to Parliament. So, the timeline is that by 2024 March, decriminalisation must have happened,” said Bogopane-Zulu.

CRIMINALISATION ENDANGERS LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS

Selling sex has been illegal in South Africa since the early 1900s and buying sex was also criminalised in 2007, per Human Rights Watch.

The country’s laws also prohibit other parts of sex work, including running or owning a brothel, living off the earnings of prostitution and enticing women into prostitution.

“The criminalisation of sex work has not deterred people from selling sex to make a living. Criminalisation has, however, made sex work less safe. It undermines sex workers’ access to justice for crimes committed against them and exposes them to unchecked abuse and exploitation by law enforcement officials, including police officers,” said the organisation in a report titled Why Sex Work Should be Decriminalised in South Africa.

Sex workers in the Northern Cape told the public broadcaster that they suffered abuse at the hands of violent clients and suffered secondary abuse and discrimination when they attempt to report incidents to the South African Police Service (SAPS).

“Intercape: Bus companies under siege” - https://youtu.be/h-UVwh1alwM

“Court orders Mbalula, MEC to take steps on EC Intercape attacks”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/court-orders-mbalula-mec-to-take-steps-on-ec-intercape-attacks-latest-01-october-2022/

01-10-2022 05:35

The High Court found that Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula and the MEC had done nothing to ensure the safety of Intercape buses.

Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula and Eastern Cape MEC of transport are ordered to take positive steps when it comes to Intercape bus attacks in the province.

INTERCAPE GOES TO COURT AGAINST MBALULA AND EASTERN CAPE GOVERNMENT

The long-distance transport service had no option but to go to the courts. This follows numerous complaints and calls for safety and security. These numerous calls have been ignored.

Intercape has been subject to about 130 attacks, intimidation, extortion and violence in the past 18 months. A bus driver was shot dead during one of these attacks in April.

But Judge John Smith of the Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda ordered Mbalula and the MEC to take this matter seriously.

Smith ordered for “positive steps to ensure that reasonable and effective measures are in place”. This is to provide for the safety and security of long-distance bus drivers and passengers in the Eastern Cape.

The court found that Mbalula and the MEC had failed to do so.

BUS SERVICE FEELS VINDICATED AFTER YEARS OF PLEAS

The ruling left Intercape feeling vindicated for years of long pleas for intervention, said CEO Johann Ferreira.

The judge found that it was unlawful for axed MEC of Transport Weziviwe Tikana-Gxothiwe when she directed Intercape to negotiate with the minibus taxi industry. She also suspended the long-distance bus services in certain towns in the province pending the outcome of these negotiations.

The court further ordered practical measures to be implemented. These include the formulation of an action plan with the South African Police Service. Mbalula and the MEC should present steps on how they intend on taking to provide for reasonable and effective safety and security of long-distance bus drivers in the province.

They have until 28 October to deliver the action plan, said Ferreira.

“It is our hope that this court order will be the spur for government, through the ministers of transport and police, to take decisive and meaningful action to stop this criminality and to bring those responsible to book. We are ready to work with government.”

>>17602422

>“Land Expropriation Bill approved by the National Assembly”

>https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/land-expropriation-bill-passed-national-assembly-breaking-29-september-latest/

>29-09-2022 12:45

“A BAD WEEK for property rights in SA | Gabriel Crouse” – “The Expropriation Bill and the Land Courts Bill have been passed”

https://youtu.be/2xHzk4uHnQ4

The Expropriation Bill and the Land Courts Bill have been passed by the National Assembly . David Ansara of the CRA speaks with Gabriel Crouse of the IRR about the growing threat to property rights in South Africa.

>>17602405

>The DA says history will judge every MP who voted against the formation of an ad hoc committee to investigate Phala Phala farm scandal.

>The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused the African National Congress (ANC) in Parliament of failing in its Constitutional obligations by protecting President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet from accountability and scrutiny about alleged abuse of public resources and institutions on his Phala Phala game farm.

“Phala Phala: Ramaphosa interfering in Public Protector’s probe”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-phala-phala-ramaphosa-2-october/

02-10-2022 15:49

One of the investigators of the Phala Phala case is reportedly being managed by two people linked to President Cyril Ramaphosa

Several associates of President Cyril Ramaphosa have been unduly interfering in the Public Protector’s investigation into the robbery on his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo, Sunday Independent reports. https://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/news/the-truth-is-a-stubborn-stain-dbdcf637-b425-42a8-aacc-62b928dc698c

RAMAPHOSA’S ‘HANDLERS’ INFLUENCING PHALA PHALA PROBE?

According to the publication, one of the investigators of the Phala Phala case is being managed by two people, on behalf of President Cyril Ramaphosa himself.

The investigator is alleged to have met Ramaphosa’s handlers in Gqeberha [formerly Port Elizabeth] in the Eastern Cape. He was allegedly told how to deal with investigations involving the president and his close associates.

Former spy boss Arthur Fraser, who reported the Ramaphosa robbery, reportedly revealed some of this in his response to the public protector’s office that was submitted this week.

–“The record will show that I raised this issue squarely and frontally without attacking (investigator’s) integrity. I deemed it prudent that we are open and frank with each other. Such integrity will ensure that this investigation doesn’t become yet another scandalous exercise in subterfuge, and its report, yet another sinister document designed to pull the wool over society’s eyes. The truth is a stubborn stain,” Fraser wrote.—

BACKGROUND: Back in June, Fraser laid criminal charges against Ramaphosa, claiming that he concealed the theft of R62 million that had been kept on his farm in Phala Phala, Limpopo two years ago. He also alleges that the suspects were kidnapped and interrogated, before being offered money for their silence. Ramaphosa has admitted there was a robbery on his property, but denies being criminally liable and says the monies stolen were proceeds from the sale of cattle on his farm.

“Jet-setting Ramaphosa to ‘play a small part’ in British history…”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-cyril-ramaphosa-visit-uk-britain-king-charles-why-what-dates-monday-3-october/

03-10-2022 09:20

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been given a very prestigious reason to go and visit Britain next month – we’ve got the details here.

After recently making the trip to London to pay his respects to the late Queen Elizabeth, Cyril Ramaphosa will soon play a small part in British history. The President will be the first world leader to make an official state visit to the country under the leadership of King Charles III.

RAMAPHOSA TO VISIT KING CHARLES

It means there will be more jet-setting for Cyril Ramaphosa, just weeks before the ANC Elective Conference gets underway. Our head of state has been clocking up the air miles recently, and November will see him add another 12 000 through this return trip.

The state visit will be hosted by Buckingham Palace, allowing Mr. Ramaphosa and the First Lady to meet with King Charles on a more personal basis. The ANC leader did attend a reception at the royal home last month, ahead of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.

WHEN WILL CYRIL RAMAPHOSA LEAVE THE COUNTRY?

Ramaphosa will have to settle for a midweek appointment, however. As per the official Royal Communications channel, Cyril will be in the UK from Tuesday 22 November to Thursday 24 November, clocking up three days of official state duties.

King Charles is an active leader of Commonwealth Nations, and has visited South Africa many times over the years. His first official visit took place in 1997, where he attended events in Cape Town, Nyanga, Kirstenbosch, and Johannesburg.

KING CHARLES PICKS SA PRESIDENT FOR HIS FIRST STATE VISIT

However, it will be the ANC leader who does the travelling this time. Ramaphosa has previously been criticised for focusing too much on jet-setting, rather than tackling a myriad of domestic issues. But that negative attention hasn’t done anything to alter his future plans.

“The President of Thee Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, accompanied by First Lady Tshepo Motsepe, has accepted an invitation from King Charles III to pay a state visit to the United Kingdom, from Tuesday 22 November to Thursday 24 November.” | Royal Communications

“WATCH: Community storms cash van following CIT heist”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/sebokeng-cit-heist-community-loots-cash-van-4-october-2022/

04-10-2022 15:05

Sebokeng community members were filmed storming a cash van searching for money that was possibly left following a CIT heist.

Community members in Sebokeng, Gauteng stormed a cash van searching for money that may have been possibly left by criminals following a Cash-in-Transit (CIT) heist on the R553 in Vaal.

The heist reportedly happened on Monday, 3 October late in the day and community members combed the scene after robbers had left.

WATCH: SEBOKENG COMMUNITY COMBS SCENE FOR CASH

There have been a number of such incidents recently and police have warned communities that such looting is a crime.

Police have urged members of the public not to contaminate crime scenes in any way and advised the community that they are obligated to report the criminal activity.

Following another CIT heist where community members combed the scene for leftover cash, the South African Police Service (SAPS) sent out a stern warning to community members that looting at cash-in-transit crime scenes is a crime.

SAPS said it is often seen in videos posted on social media platforms that money at CIT heist crime scenes is being looted. It further appealed to community members to refrain from such criminality.

“We have noted such acts of criminality playing out at the latest CIT heist that took place in Dobsonville on Monday morning and of another CIT that took place two weeks ago in Kagiso. In both incidents, dozens of community members accessed the crime scenes and looted scattered money that was found to be lying on the ground, with some still in the cash van,” SAPS said at the time.

“When a crime is committed, it is the responsibility of the community to report the incident to the police by immediately calling the Crime Stop Number on 086 00 10111 and/or to report the matter to their nearest police station.”

“Google to build South African cloud as part of $1 billion Africa plan”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/google-build-south-africa-cloud-part-of-1-billion-africa-plan-breaking-5-october-2022/

05-10-2022 16:04

Google on Wednesday, 5 October said it will set up an African cloud service, as part of its $1 billion investment plan for the continent.

Google on Wednesday, 5 October said it will set up an African cloud service, as part of its $1 billion (R17.8 billion) investment plan for the continent, that will allow users to store their data in-country.

According to Bloomberg, the cloud infrastructure will be based in South Africa, but will give users the options on where to store their data, said Niral Patel, the director of Google Cloud Africa.

“We are giving customers and partners choice, they then have the choice where they would like to store data and where they would like to consumer cloud services from,” Patel said.

African countries have a patchwork of laws on data sovereignty, with some requiring companies to store data within their borders, increasing demand for a more flexible regional cloud service.

For example, in Nigeria, phone companies are prohibited from sending government or customer information outside of the country, part of a push to encourage the development of local companies to store and manage the data.

The Alphabet Inc unit will compete with Microsoft Corp and Amazon Web Services in Africa’s most developed economy.

Google estimates that the South Africa cloud region could contribute more than $2.1 billion to the country’s economy, and support the creation of more than 40 000 jobs by 2030, Patel said.

GOOGLE BUILDING OUT ITS EQUIANO SUBSEA CABLE

Meanwhile, Google also said it’s building out its African subsea cable and cloud interconnect sites to provide full cloud capability for the continent.

Equiano is now running through Togo, Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa and is expected to deliver faster, lower cost internet to the continent by connecting St. Helena, Togo, Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa with Europe.

A recent economic impact assessment conducted by Africa Practice and Genesis Analytics found that by 2025, the cable is set to accelerate economic growth with GDPs of Nigeria rising by $10.1 billion, South Africa $7 billion and $260 million in Namibia.

During the same time, Equiano should indirectly create 1.6 million jobs in Nigeria, 180 000 in South Africa and 21 000 in Namibia, driven by the expansion of the digital economy and peripheral sectors.

“Three suspects robbed Devon Police Station – 10 firearms taken”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/devon-police-station-gauteng-robbed-10-firearms-latest-5-october/

05-10-2022 12:22

Three suspects pretended they wanted to report a hijacking before disarming the members on duty at Devon Police Station.

Another South African Police Service (SAPS) station was robbed early on Wednesday, 5 October. The suspects allegedly pretended to report a crime before the robbery.

DEVON POLICE STATION ROBBED

SAPS Gauteng Commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, is putting the maximum resources behind the operation to catch the three suspects responsible for the attack on Devon Police Station in Ekurhuleni.

A manhunt has been launched and Mawela and his management team visited the station on Wednesday.

“According to a preliminary investigation, three suspects entered the station during the early hours of Wednesday morning under the pretence that they were reporting a hijacking incident,” said the police.

The trio disarmed the police members on duty and fled the scene with 10 firearms, including three rifles and seven pistols “that were also in the safe.”

The Employee Health and Wellness (EHW) unit were sent to Devon Police Station to provide the affected members with psychosocial support.

Last month, Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Selvy Mohlala, said the robbery of police stations for weapons and ammunition could be an inside job after a third station was robbed in two years in that province.

The modus operandi mirrors what happened in Gauteng on Wednesday. According to City Press, two suspects arrived at the Grootvlei Police Station and pretended they wanted to report a domestic violence incident before the robbery.

“9th session of the South Africa-Saudi Arabia Joint Economic Commission” - “South Africa wants Saudi Arabia to help with load shedding”

https://youtu.be/SeUjGUNaKpk

Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef will shortly address the trade and investment forum about to begin in Pretoria. Both ministers will witness the launch of the South Africa-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council. The objective of the forum is to provide South African and Saudi Arabian companies with a strategic platform to engage in bilateral trade and investment opportunities in both markets, while simultaneously affording them access to senior decision-makers and stakeholders. Saudi Arabia continues to be SA's strategic partner in the Middle East. It is South Africa's second-largest trading partner in the Middle East and the largest source of imports from the region.

“South Africa wants Saudi Arabia to help with load shedding”

https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/630945/south-africa-wants-saudi-arabia-to-help-with-load-shedding/

4 October 2022

South Africa wants to attract investment and developments from Saudia Arabia that can assist in domestic energy challenges, says Ebrahim Patel, the minister of trade and industry of South Africa.

Speaking to SABC News ahead of the 9th session of the South Africa-Saudi Arabia Joint Economic Commission (JEC) in Pretoria this week, Patel said that government thinks there is an enormous opportunity on the energy front to do deals with Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia has been investing in renewable energy as a significant part of moving away from an oil-based economy…the opportunity is in these discussions to try and see how South Africa can have and attract more investment from Saudi Arabia.”

The minister said that the biggest immediate challenge to international trade is South Africa’s energy supply, which needs to be made more stable. He added that in regard to renewables, some Saudi Arabian companies are already in discussions.

South Africa’s national power utility Eskom has plagued the nation with rolling blackouts, disrupting business and livelihoods. According to the popular load shedding notification app, EskomSePush, as of the start of this week (3 October), the country has experienced the equivalent of 81 days of national load shedding so far this year.

This is already higher than what was recorded over the whole of 2021 (48 days) and 2020 (35 days). Stage 3 load shedding will continue this week.

According to Patel, South Africa’s major offerings to the middle eastern country include vast quantities of citrus and other agricultural goods alongside automobiles, of which the country is a large exporter.

Exports from South Africa to Saudi Arabia amount to R5.5 billion, while imports reach R60 billion. The government would like Saudi Arabia to join in the $65 billion of foreign investment that flows into the country.

The Saudi Arabian Minister of Energy Akram Jadawi told the SABC that the region is also exploring gas. He said it will continue having a dialogue with South Africa and help it resuscitate its energy sector.

“Definitely, when it comes to energy, we have South Africa on the top of our priorities, we are both members of the G20 countries, and we complement each other.”

“There is lots of potential, lots of opportunities, and there are a lot of hanging fruits, and we are trying to seize these opportunities. We talked about signing a memorandum of understanding on renewable energy. This is one of the trends around the globe to reduce carbon monoxide, and we in Saudi Arabia are very much active in that.”

Stravos Nicolau, a co-chair of the SA-Saudi Arabia Business Council, said that in the upcoming discussions, there would be a significant focus on energy and other renewable energy sources.

South Africa’s shift to renewables

South Africa has been pushing for the procurement and development of major wind and solar farms. This follows the introduction of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s energy crisis plan that sought to fast-track such kinds of developments and allowed for independent power producers.

Eskom, however, has fallen short in adding renewables. According to Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso, only three projects outlined in the country’s renewable produce program have reached financial close.

She said that government delays, corruption and red tape have all contributed to this failure. Mavuso added that with the global demand for renewables picking up, it might be a little too late for South Africa.

“Expropriation Bill passed, R5-billion looted from Skill Fund & Malema beats assault charges | VN |45”

https://youtu.be/8VnD2YNkYRs

“‘Kill the Boer’ hate speech case ruling – AfriForum granted leave to appeal”

https://southafricatoday.net/south-africa-news/kill-the-boer-hate-speech-case-ruling-afriforum-granted-leave-to-appeal/

October 5, 2022

The Equality Court on 4 October 2022, granted leave to appeal in the civil rights organisation AfriForum’s Kill the Boer hate speech case against the EFF, Julius Malema and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.

This application comes after the Equality Court declared in August that the chant Kill the Boer is not hate speech.

Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer for strategy and content at AfriForum, says that this case is of great importance, as a message must be sent loud and clear that chants that incite violence is unacceptable and will have consequences.

“Today’s decision is only a single step forward in AfriForum’s great fight against the incitement of violence against farmers and minority groups. We will do everything in our power to ensure we defeat this dangerous, hateful behaviour,” concludes Van Zyl.

>>17476104

“IFP to lodge grievance with SAHRC on behalf of KZN flood victims”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/ifp-lodge-grievance-sahrc-behalf-kzn-flood-victims/

06-10-2022 23:50

“The ANC should be ashamed” – says the IFP after receiving reports of KZN flood victims that have been subjected to appalling conditions

The IFP says it will be lodging an official grievance with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) against the ANC government in KwaZulu-Natal.

IFP TAKES THE FIGHT FROM KZN FLOOD VICTIMS

This follows reports of flood victims subjected to appalling and dehumanising conditions.

According to the IFP, they were allegedly forced to sleep outside last night near Lamontville Police Station, in a place known as eNkanjini in uMhlongo Road in Lamontville, south of Durban.

ALSO READ: KZN flood victims EVICTED from Transnet building they illegally occupied, https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/kzn-flood-victims-evicted-transnet-building-illegally-occupied/, https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/da-describes-living-conditions-kzn-flood-victims-community-halls-inhumane/

“Women, children, and senior citizens were forced to spend the night out in the open, after they were evacuated from Tehuis Hall in uMlazi yesterday.”

Blessed Gwala – Chief Whip of IFP Caucus in the KZN Legislature

THE NUMBER OF AFFECTED WOMEN AND CHILDREN

About 100 flood victims from Mega Village informal settlement were left homeless after the devastating April floods that battered KZN.

“According to the victims, they were dispatched from Tehuis Hall by eThekwini Municipality in two buses. As they feared losing their belongings, they loaded them into the buses and slept in an open field,” said Gwala.

“The ANC should be ashamed,” he lashed.

“They have further stripped these vulnerable people of their dignity and exposed them to danger.”

Gwala

ALSO READ: [PICS] DA describes living conditions of KZN flood victims as ‘inhumane’, https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/da-describes-living-conditions-kzn-flood-victims-community-halls-inhumane/

He says this incident happened despite the promise made by MEC for Human Settlements, Hon. Ntuthuko Mahlaba, that he had concluded a contractual lease with Transnet to house these flood victims at a Montclair property. He also said Mahlaba even went on to promise that he planned to build houses for the victims in the next six months.

“The IFP suggested months ago that government should identify vacant flats, refurbish them and house the people. Unfortunately, this call fell on deaf ears,” said Gwala.

PARTY CONVINCED THAT THE ANC HAS NO PLANS FOR THE VICTIMS

He went on to say: “While we applaud Disaster Management for their efforts in saving lives, it, unfortunately, seems that there are no plans or budget in place to deal with the after-effects of disasters”.

Six months ago, approximately 6 000 flood victims across KZN were left homeless, and they were subsequently housed in over 80 temporary shelters.

“Now, two months before Christmas, some of these victims are sleeping in an open field. We would like to ask the MEC: what is his plan for these people? Did he expect them to sleep in the buses, packed like sardines? How would MEC Mahlaba feel if he were subjected to these inhumane conditions, without food and or even basic ablution facilities?” Gwala asked.

He further said the ANC has dismally failed KZN. “It is time for people of this province to wake up and punish this selfish organisation at the polls in 2024,” he concluded.

“SAA sale latest: Concerns raised over Takatso Consortium’s ANC links”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/saa-sale-latest-south-african-airways-takatso-consortium-anc-links-novick-harith-lift-gordhan/

11-06-2021 15:10

The DA believe that selling 51% of SAA to the Takatso group comes far too late, and are suspicious of government’s motives.

Following Friday’s bombshell announcement that 51% of South African Airways (SAA) will be sold off to private ownership, the Democratic Alliance (DA) have poured cold water on the plan, saying that the privatisation of the failed SEO has happened far too late, leaving the public with more questions than answers.

SAA will soon be majority owned by the Takatso consortium, which is comprised of Johannesburg-based Global Airways – which owns recently launched domestic airline Lift – and private-equity firm Harith General Partners. It has pledged to invest over R3.5 billion into SAA over the next three years as a majority, black-owned shareholder.

TAKATSO CONSORTIUM’S ANC LINKS QUESTIONED

Alf Lees, the DA’s Member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, said in a statement on Friday that despite the party having called for SAA to be sold off to the private sector to remedy the airlines shambolic financial position, the move remains questionable.

Lees said that Harith has strong ties with the African National Congress (ANC), leading him to believe that there might be more to the deal than simple equity interest.

“The first major concern is the fact that the board of Harith General Partners is chaired by Jabu Moloketi, who chaired the Public Investment Corporation and was also Deputy Finance Minister when Harith was granted R17 million in seed funding back in 2006,” he said.

“It is noteworthy that, whenever the ANC engages in public-private partnerships, it is almost always ANC bigwigs that benefit most.”

SAA DEBT IN QUESTION

On top of political scepticism, Lees said that the move remains unfinalised, given Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhans admission that the Takatso Consortium must still undertake a normal due diligence exercise before the definitive sale and purchase agreement is completed.

“This is worrying in light of the fact that Minister Gordhan seems confident that the Consortium will provide R3 billion in capital for the ‘revitalised’ SAA,” he said. “Clarity is needed as to what will happen should the Consortium not go through with the purchase of the majority-shareholding in SAA.”

He said that Government is still responsible for the historic liabilities of SAA and requires R14 billion in this regard, “R10 billion of which will come from the Special Appropriations Bill currently in front of Parliament”.

“Minister Gordhan has, after all, promised that the new SAA will be independent from the fiscus and thus taxpayers, so it is crucial that this promise be fulfilled lest even more taxpayer money is required for SAA in future.”

WHAT ABOUT MANGO?

The DA are also concerned about the vision to list SAA on the stock exchange through an initial public offering. He said that clarity is needed with respect to the shareholding that the Consortium will maintain if SAA is publicly listed on the JSE.

“Last but not least is the concerns around the subsidiaries of SAA, most notably Mango. The Minister only stated that the future of the subsidiaries is still to be determined through a joint assessment with the Consortium, without giving any further detail,” said Lees.

“The DA fears that the Department of Public Enterprises has jumped the gun on the matter in a vain attempt to placate taxpayers whose monies are being wasted on an airline that should have been sold off in its entirety long ago.”

>>17683140

>“SAA sale latest: Concerns raised over Takatso Consortium’s ANC links”

>>17520102

>President Ramaphosa said in his court papers that cadre deployment is also practiced in the private sector and this was in my view an incredible revelation.

And they want to take the land as well.

>>17602422

>“Land Expropriation Bill approved by the National Assembly”

>‘It’s a big victory for land justice in our country. We can now return the land to our people,’ said an ANC MP after the motion passed.

“Public Service Commercial Union welcomes court ruling to compel Gordhan to provide confidential documents on SAA sale [to Takatso]”

https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/public-service-commercial-union-welcomes-court-ruling-to-compel-gordhan-to-provide-confidential-documents-on-saa-sale-49628388-261b-473f-bc00-76782e3121cb

Oct 5, 2022

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has 20 days to provide both confidential and non-confidential records to the parties that hauled them to court over the controversial sale of SAA.

Pretoria - The Public Service Commercial Union (PSCU) has welcomed the court ruling that compelled Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to provide the confidential documents on the sale of a 51% stake in SAA.

The Western Cape High Court dismissed Toto Investment Holdings’ application to stop the sale of SAA to Takatso with costs on Monday.

Toto is a losing bidder in the sale of the government’s 51% majority stake in the struggling national carrier.

Toto required the disclosure of all documents related to the sale on a non-confidential basis, and wanted to interdict the implementation of the transaction pending the finalisation of the review application.

But the court ordered that certain documents should be disclosed on a confidential basis while others should be disclosed on a non-confidential basis.

The PSCU said the principles of the ruling would go a long way to ensuring that corruption is minimised in the country.

“The PSCU will continue to do everything in its power to confront all vehicles that house, transport and deliver corruption, irrespective of who is the driver.

“No-one is above the law and this democracy, it will not be a credible democracy if it fails to protect our people. This judgment against Mr Gordhan will send a strong message to those who believe they are above the law and their deeds will remain sealed,” said the PSCU’s secretary-general, Tahir Maepa.

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) said on Monday that the confidentiality regime was suggested by the State Attorney before the matter went to court, but Toto had rejected it.

Gordhan had refused to share details on the deal. He told the MPs that by the end of the year or soon afterwards, the partnership between the government and Takatso would be formalised and commercialised.

After the judgment was delivered, Gordhan said it paved the way for his department to proceed with the implementation of the transaction.

“We welcome the judgment as we have stated in our affidavit that the transaction is governed by confidentiality undertakings and the department was not at liberty to disclose to third parties certain documents related to the transaction, unless under a confidentiality regime,” Gordhan said.

“It is unfortunate that Toto had to press ahead with this ill-fated strategy after we discussed with them at length about the confidential nature of the transaction.”

“Lesotho elects new parliament amid unresolved political crisis”

https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/africa/2022-10-09-lesotho-elects-new-parliament-amid-unresolved-political-crisis/

09 October 2022 - 08:49

Lesotho citizens voted in a parliamentary election on Friday that political analysts said could see the ruling party lose power after years of political instability that the southern African mountain kingdom's lawmakers have failed to resolve.

The election has gone ahead despite a deadlock in parliament on a whole gamut of major constitutional reforms that were meant to be enacted ahead of the vote in order to bring order to Lesotho's fractious politics.

The All Basotho Convention (ABC) has run the country of 2.14 million people since 2017, but divisions within the party have given it two prime ministers over five years.

Defections have left the party vulnerable to its opposition rivals, the Democratic Congress (DC), and the upstart Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) which is led by millionaire diamond magnate Sam Matekane.

"The future of Basotho (the people of Lesotho) is in their hands. RFP is ready to govern," Matekane said while casting a vote in his hometown of Mantsonyane.

"We await eagerly (to find out) … who they want to lead them."

Speaking to Reuters before polls opened, Lesotho political analyst Lefu Thaela said he thought the ruling ABC would lose the elections and that "the DC and RFP will be neck-and-neck".

Thaela said the DC was likely to get the most votes but if it didn't win an outright majority, the outgoing ABC could emerge as kingmaker.

'I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED'

Despite the vibrant range of parties, some voters were decidedly unexcited by the options open to them at the ballot box.

"Truth be told, no government has ever fulfilled my aspirations and I am very disappointed," Semoko Monare, who has been voting since 1993, said.

Surrounded on all sides by South African mountains, Lesotho's high-altitude springs provide vital freshwater to its parched neighbour, supplying the commercial hub Johannesburg.

In 2020, ABC leader Thomas Thabane stepped down as prime minister after being charged with the murder of his ex-wife. He denied any wrongdoing, and the charges were later dropped.

His successor, Moeketsi Majoro, declared a state of emergency in August after lawmakers failed to pass constitutional reforms to amend everything from the role of political parties and rules on floor-crossing in parliament to the appointment of senior officials and the prime minister's role.

The reforms were meant to make Lesotho less prone to political logjams but got stuck in one themselves.

Lesotho has seen four coups since independence from Britain, and occasional bouts of unrest have forced South Africa to send in troops to restore order - most recently in 2014 and 1998.

However, analysts and participants expect these elections, even if close and highly contested, not to trigger street battles.

"These have been very peaceful elections and we are not expecting any violence but for everyone to accept the results," deputy DC leader Motlalentoa Letsosa said. [Yet, “Maseru – The Kingdom of Lesotho heads into a high-stakes election this morning amid a biting economic meltdown and a spike in violent crimes.” https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/africa/2022-10-07-field-wide-open-for-high-stake-lesotho-elections/]

Last month, Lesotho's highest court ruled that the state of emergency was unconstitutional. The ABC has selected another leader, former health minister Nkaku Kabi, to contest its ticket.

>>17683160

>Defections have left the party vulnerable to its opposition rivals, the Democratic Congress (DC), and the upstart Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) which is led by millionaire diamond magnate Sam Matekane.

“New party [RFP] wins most seats in Lesotho's election” - https://youtu.be/Oad-KeZ2C5I

“Diamond magnate’s party in Lesotho set for election win” – “The Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party, formed by Sam Matekane”

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2022/10/09/lesotho-election/

11:05pm, Oct 9, 2022

A recently founded party led by a millionaire diamond magnate looks set to win Lesotho’s parliamentary election, having secured enough for a simple majority, according to preliminary results from the election commission.

By Sunday afternoon, results from the October 7 vote were in for 49 out of a total of 80 constituencies.

The Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party, formed by Sam Matekane in March, had secured 41 seats, the minimum required to reach a simple majority.

The current ruling party All Basotho Convention (ABC), which has run the country of 2.14 million people since 2017, was faring badly with no seats won so far, the tally showed.

The Democratic Congress (DC), the main opposition party and member of the coalition government, is running a distant second to the RFP in the race, having secured at least six seats.

A victory for the RFP paves the way for a change in government in a southern African country marred by political upheaval, stalled reforms under the ABC and widespread exasperation of people over political wrangling, corruption and policy paralysis.

RFP has promised to usher in a new era of governance and prosperity in the country by exploiting its natural resources and its commercial competitiveness, drawing from its founder’s experience in running businesses.

The party has also promised to strengthen the state institutions.

Lesotho is a small land-locked mountain kingdom that is ringfenced by South African Drakensberg range on all sides. It has close ties with its neighbour commercially and has often relied for its military support to quell coups and political unrest.

Lesotho’s national assembly comprises a total of 120 seats, of which 80 are subject to ‘first-past-the-post’ voting, meaning whoever gets the maximum number of seats wins the election.

The remaining 40 seats are allocated using the proportional representative system, under which voters cast vote for a party instead of a candidate and the party is assigned seats in the parliament in proportion to the votes won.

>>17683160

>>17683165

SAMUEL NTSOKOANE MATEKANE Biography

https://sammatekanefoundation.org.ls/?page_id=12

From 1980, through the support of his mentor, Mr Nhlapho, Mr. Matekane started commercial livestock farming of donkeys. He bought the donkeys from our neighbouring country, South Africa and traded them for cash or sheep. In 1986, he diversified his business interests into brick manufacturing. As the business grew, he bought his first truck for the transportation of bricks to customers. His brick manufacturing business expanded into mining and selling sand. Over the years the business grew and was formally registered as Matekane Transport and Plant Hire (Pty) Ltd. The growth of Matekane Transport and Plant Hire saw its entry into bigger jobs in the construction of roads, dams and reservoirs. Later in 1992, he registered an umbrella company named Matekane Group of Companies (MGC) to accommodate further expansions and diversifications into other business ventures. Since then, MGC became a home to many business ventures initiated by Mr. Matekane. Mining is one of the biggest ventures, which led him to register Matekane Mining Investment Company in 2004. The Company is sub-contracted to carry out transport and haulage at Let’seng Diamond Mine based in Mokhotlong, Lesotho. Mr Matekane’s businesses have footprints in several counties including South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, and India.

In 2009, he ventured into a ground–breaking aviation business as the first Lesotho citizen to own an aircraft which operated as a commercial helicopter. Later, Matekane Aviation expanded with the addition of a private jet. Today, Matekane Aviation owns a helicopter, a private jet and a Bombardier CRJ200’s. In March 2016, the Company registered an Airline trading as Maluti Sky, flying between Maseru and several of South Africa airports. Maluti Sky experienced operational challenges that led to its closure in 2017. Today, Matekane Aviation continues to operate a charter.

Matekane Properties is another arm of the MGC. Housed at the six (6) storey MGC Park in Maseru, Matekane Properties has developed several properties in Maseru city and in several towns of South Africa. The most popular of the properties in Maseru are Mpilo Boutique Hotel (closed in January 2021) and Mpilo Estate.

To cater for his businesses in Farming, Mr. Matekane registered another arm named MGC Express in 2006, which owns commercial farms in South Africa.

MGC has grown tremendously over the past thirty years under Mr. Matekane’s visionary leadership and dedication. The company is a home to several subsidiaries that are growing steadily, namely MGC Mining, Matekane Transport, MGC Aviation, MGC Properties, MGC Express and Verve Dynamics, which deals with producing and processing medicinal cannabis. The recent innovation is a new company named Organica, which provide quality Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical and Cosmeceutical products made through the union of cutting-edge scientific methods and ancient natural healing practices. The total workforce under MGC is over 1300 people as of November 2021. Unfortunately, due to the detrimental effects of COVID-19, the company has had to downsize its workforce. The division of civil works and the hotel have since been closed due to the pandemic.

Mr. Matekane is well recognised for his achievements in business in Lesotho and outside of the country. In August 2021, he was awarded a prestigious title as Forbes Best of Africa Entrepreneur Award by the Foreign Investment Network (FIN) in partnership with Forbes. His other accolades include the following: Business Excellence and Philanthropy Award from Canada-Africa Chamber of Commerce; Winner of PMR Awards Africa since 2010 to date in their performance in the Mining, Aviation and Construction Sectors and for their role in Social Responsibility.

https://sammatekane.com/

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Sam got MGC involved in helping the government in the fight against the virus. He ensured that ICU beds were purchased for a number of hospitals in different districts. When this pandemic was still at its earliest phase, Sam committed resources to buying testing equipment for the government as a national plan to assist in testing all Basotho. He further assisted those stranded in Lesotho’s neighbouring country with food parcels, transportation and other needs. MGC has built a hospital wing at Paray Hospital and expanded their wards, ensuring they will be ready for any pandemic even beyond COVID-19. Above all, Sam is resolute that the priority should always be the welfare of the nation. Sam has ensured the procurement of a number of vaccines with the aim of assisting the government in vaccinating the nation. Through the MGC, he has also facilitated the procurement of PCR testing equipment and helped set up the national laboratory in the aim of combating the spread of the virus.

>>17527730 - This may be the reason why the EU was there.

>>17406568

>“The Letšeng mine pipes (the Main Pipe and Satellite Pipe) were discovered as a weathered outcrop in a stream by British Geologist, Peter Nixon in 1957. In 1959, the area was declared a government digging. Hundreds of small-scale miners started to excavate the near-surface weathered kimberlite until 1968. During this time, approximately 1.5 Mt of alluvial gravel was treated. In 1968, the property was acquired by Rio Tinto and explored through a series of underground tunnels. Nevertheless, the prospect was abandoned in 1972. De Beers subsequently acquired the deposit and mined the Main Pipe from 1973 until 1982.” https://stormmountaindiamonds.com/downloads/Lesotho-Diamond-Mining-Industry-2016-18-Performance-Report.pdf

>>17683167

>The growth of Matekane Transport and Plant Hire saw its entry into bigger jobs in the construction of roads, dams and reservoirs. [think Lesotho Highland Water Project, >>17543917, >>17543936]

>Since then, MGC became a home to many business ventures initiated by Mr. Matekane. Mining is one of the biggest ventures, which led him to register Matekane Mining Investment Company in 2004. The Company is sub-contracted to carry out transport and haulage at Let’seng Diamond Mine based in Mokhotlong, Lesotho.

>>17683165

>“Diamond magnate’s party in Lesotho set for election win” – “The Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party, formed by Sam Matekane”

“Sam Matekane, a partner in Gem Diamonds' lucrative Lets'eng diamond mine”

“Mining magnate Sam Matekane launches his political career”

https://www.africaintelligence.com/southern-africa-and-islands/2022/03/24/mining-magnate-sam-matekane-launches-his-political-career,109762910-art

24/03/2022

Sam Matekane, a partner in Gem Diamonds' lucrative Lets'eng diamond mine and who is reputed to be the richest man in the Kingdom of Lesotho, is now entering politics, with an eye on the premiership in this October's elections.

https://www.gemdiamonds.com/

Gem Diamonds is a leading producer of high-value diamonds

The Group owns the Letšeng diamond mine in Lesotho and the Ghaghoo mine in Botswana, with Head Offices in the United Kingdom and Sales and Marketing capabilities in Belgium and Innovation Solutions in Cyprus.

The Letšeng mine is renowned for its production of large, top colour, exceptional white diamonds, making it the highest average dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world.

>>17683165 - Updated

“Lesotho millionaire Sam Matekane wins vote but no majority”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/lesotho-millionaire-sam-matekane-wins-vote-but-no-majority-breaking-10-october-2022/

10-10-2022 16:29

Revolution for Prosperity, set up only six months ago by Lesotho businessman Sam Matekane, 64, won 56 out of 120 seats in parliament.

A millionaire political novice won the most votes in legislative elections in Lesotho but fell short of securing a parliamentary majority that could have ended long-running political gridlock, officials said on Monday.

Revolution for Prosperity, a party set up only six months ago by businessman Sam Matekane, 64, won 56 out of 120 seats in parliament, according to final results published by the southern African country’s electoral commission.

The small mountain kingdom has been governed for the past decade by a string of coalition governments that have proved fractious and frail, and no premier has served out a full five-year term.

Matekane, who styles himself as a champion of the country’s business community and was considered an outsider in the vote, came close to an outright win but will now have to secure the support of smaller parties to form a government.

The Democratic Congress party led by Mathibeli Mokhothu came in second securing 29 lawmakers, according to the Independent Electoral Commission.

The All Basotho Convention party, which led the outgoing government, suffered a sharp drop in support, securing only eight seats.

>>17696123

>“Lesotho millionaire Sam Matekane wins vote but no majority”

“Lesotho: Revolution For Prosperity (RFP), Alliance of Democrats (AD) and Movement for Economic Change (MEC) New Coalition Government”

https://www.africa-newsroom.com/press/lesotho-revolution-for-prosperity-rfp-alliance-of-democrats-ad-and-movement-for-economic-change-mec-new-coalition-government?lang=en

This is the 5th Coalition government since 2012 when the first coalition government was formed in the country

MASERU, Lesotho, October 11, 2022/APO Group/ –

The Revolution For Prosperity (RFP), Alliance of Democrats (AD) and Movement for Economic Change (MEC) have formed a coalition government following the announcement of the 2022 National Assembly Elections results.

This was announced by the Leader of the RFP Mr. Sam Ntsokoane Matekane at the press conference held on Tuesday in Maseru.

According to Mr. Matekane, the coalition government has been formed with AD and MEC because the trio has similar agendas in their manifestoes which is to deliver services for a better Lesotho.

He said RFP has 56 seats while AD has 5 seats and MEC 4, therefore the new government has 65 seats in the National Assembly.

In order to achieve their mandate thus delivery of services for a better Lesotho, their manifestoes will be put together to ensure that they complete the reforms, improve agriculture, generate electricity, build roads and speed up the supply of water and electricity in the country.

Mr. Matekane pledged that as soon as they resume work, they will fulfil commitments and promises they made to the public, adding that within 100 days, they will deal with the downsizing of government ministries, passing the reform bills in Parliament and fighting crime and corruption.

Yet even on his website, https://rfp.org.ls/, it states;

Lesotho has a new political party, Revolution for Prosperity, led by businessman Sam Matekane

by SABCNews

Apr 2, 2022

Lesotho has a new political party. Businessman Sam Matekane says if elected into power, his party – Revolution for Prosperity – will focus on building the economy of the Mountain Kingdom.

The country has experienced instability due to coalition governments since 2012. [Sam Matekane stated this at 4:18 at https://youtu.be/6Wq71ovdi28 (embedded)]

>>17683183

>“Sam Matekane, a partner in Gem Diamonds' lucrative Lets'eng diamond mine”

Soon after the Lesotho elections

“With 36% stake, Gem Diamonds Limited (LON:GEMD) seems to have captured hedge funds investors' interest”

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/36-stake-gem-diamonds-limited-080552562.html

Tue, 11 October 2022 at 10:05 am

A look at the shareholders of Gem Diamonds Limited (LON:GEMD) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 36% stake, hedge funds possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, hedge funds ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

Our data shows that Sustainable Capital Ltd is the largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 15% and 14%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

>>17696155

>Our data shows that Sustainable Capital Ltd is the largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding

Sustainable Capital based in Mauritius

https://www.sustainablecapital.mu/governance/

Ian Andrew Chambers (Chairperson)

Ian has extensive experience in the property, industrial and financial services sectors in Africa. Ian is the CEO of an international consulting company providing advice on business advisory, tax and exchange control matters. Ian is a consultant to numerous management and trust companies in Mauritius and also sits on the board of more than 20 companies ranging from oil and gas operations, power and financial companies including 2 listed companies in Mauritius.

Maharishi Ramkorun

Maharishi overseas the operational, investment and financial functions for Sustainable Capital. With over 19 years of experience in the industry and holding a BBusSc in Quantitative Management from the University of Cape Town, he has been involved in African and Global equities since 2000.

Greg Barker

Greg Barker is the co-founder and Director of the Company. He is a CFA Charterholder with over 18 years of industry experience. Greg is a graduate of the University of Cape Town, having completed a Masters Degree in Sustainability and subsequently an MBA from the Graduate School of Business.

Kevin Macdonald

Kevin Macdonald is the co-founder and Director of the Company. Kevin has an Honours degree in Economics from Rhodes University, South Africa and has over 21 years of investment industry experience in Africa.

Thomas Fritz van Heerden

Thomas van Heerden is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Sanlam Investment Group, a position he has held since June 2019. Mr van Heerden holds a Ph.D. Engineering from the Cambridge University and a Civil Engineering (Cum Laude) from Stellenbosch University.

Christian Avrillon

Mr. Christian Avrillon has more than 12 years’ experience in the financial services industry and joined Mauri Experta in January 2012. Christian has a bachelor of accounting science degree from the University of South Africa and is a Fellow Certified Chartered Accountant. He is also a member of the Mauritius Institute of Professional Accountants (MIPA) and a Fellow of the Mauritius Institute of Directors (F.MIoD).

Kiran Kumar Seechurn

Kiran Seechurn has worked in the fund accounting and administration industry for more than 12 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Curtin University of Technology in Australia and is a Fellow Member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (FCCA). He is also a member of the Mauritius Institute of Professional Accountants (MIPA).

Guy Horace Jacques Borel-Saladin

Guy Borel-Saladin graduated from University of Miami and previously worked as a strategist in a diamond mining company. Guy currently runs the Borel-Saladin single family office. He has significant interests and experience in international equities, agriculture, commercial and residential property investments.

Sustainable Capital has chosen strong local partners in the areas of administration, legal, compliance and accounting services.

Mauri Experta - https://www.mauriexperta.com/

BDO Mauritius - https://www.bdo.mu/en-gb/home

EY - https://www.ey.com/en_mu

HSBC - https://www.hsbc.co.mu/

Apex - https://www.apexgroup.com/

Bowmans - https://www.bowmanslaw.com/ [there are plenty of posts above regarding Bowmans and its connections, like Patrice Motsepe, etc.. >>17447308]

“Cyril BETRAYS South Africans (Again).” - https://youtu.be/M0W5ohGcp4k

“South Africa’s ministers have generators funded – and don’t pay for water!”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/south-africa-ministers-have-generators-funded-dont-pay-for-water-breaking-10-october-2022/

10-10-2022 07:26

South Africa’s ministers – who draw a salary of between R2 million and R2.5 million a year – do not have to pay for water and electricity.

South Africa’s ministers and deputy ministers – who draw a salary of between R2 million and R2.5 million a year – do not have to pay for water and electricity thanks to changes to the ministerial handbook earlier this year.

While the rest of the country is experiencing the worst load shedding – including hospitals, schools and other critical services – the same ministers enjoy uninterrupted power in their private residences in Pretoria, City Press reported.

The weekend paper pointed to changes made to the ministerial handbook in May 2022, which removed the R5 000 cap on municipal utilities covered by the government.

Previously, ministers were only exempt from paying their bills so long as they remained below this amount.

However, the new handbook reads: “The department responsible for public works shall be responsible for the costs associated with the provision of water and electricity to official residences”.

The previous version stated: “The department responsible for public works shall be responsible for the costs associated with the provision of water and electricity to a state-owned residence, provided that such cost is limited to R5 000 per month per state-owned residence.”

According to BusinessTech, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed off on these changes in May this year, which also included a R100 000 increase in the limit for minister to purchase cars.

Ministers and their deputies can currently spend up to R800 000 on vehicles.

The Department of Public Works pays for ministers’ utilities – so in effect taxpayers are footing the bill for these privileges.

According to the City Press, cabinet members are also exempt from load shedding as their private residences in Pretoria are on the same grid as the union buildings, which cannot be powered down due to its status as a national key point.

For ministers who do not reside in load shedding-free areas, the department will fund generators, the paper added.