“WATCH | July Unrest: A recap of the events as they unfolded 1 year ago” - https://youtu.be/RajqciQHjLI

Last year’s riot was a test run and a smoke screen to steal strategic items but my sense is that it is much bigger than Zuma and he is made the scapegoat… Could it be orchestrated by the state government in order for them to have an excuse to transform South Africa into a totalitarian state? This article is good summary of events which unfolded in 2021…

“Cash/Guns/Ammo/Comms: SA on the verge of another insurrection, security experts warn” Part 1

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-07-cash-guns-ammo-comms-sa-on-the-verge-of-another-insurrection-security-experts-warn/

7 July 2022

The government was warned about the July 2021 riots months in advance. They didn’t listen. Daily Maverick spoke to several sources with ties to the State Security Agency, Police Crime Intelligence, the military and the Hawks. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of their positions. They predict a terrifying scenario: a repeat insurrection, likely driven by the pro-Zuma RET faction and marked by guerilla-style sabotage. The aim: to keep Jacob Zuma — and his allies implicated in the State Capture inquiry — out of jail.

It’s the night before Christmas for the thieves. Tomorrow, on 13 July 2021, looters will strip bare the Massmart warehouse on Queen Nandi Drive in Durban. But tonight, a band of men secretly break into the facility, shut off the CCTV cameras and escape with survival gear.

“Tents, generators, stuff you need to live rough for weeks,” explains a source in the security sector with knowledge of police operations who spoke to us on condition of anonymity. Then, the source says, word went out on WhatsApp that the building was unguarded and open for business; chaos ensued on the 13th as looters ransacked the store, carrying off large appliances by the truckload in broad daylight. With all the attention on the blatant looting, the theft of the previous evening went unnoticed.

Three independent sources with ties to the police, the Hawks and the State Security Agency told us about the quiet break-in. Sources explained that it was one of five events that took place around the time of the 2021 unrest that were probably aimed at laying the groundwork for a future insurrection. The 2021 looting, says the security sector source, was a “dry run”, and the thefts that took place during the riots were a part of gathering supplies and weapons to equip a small army.

Cash and guns, ammo and comms

The first event took care of the gear.

Event number two was all about the guns: two containers of AK-47-type rifles not destined for South Africa went missing during the chaos that ensued at the Durban harbour when Transnet suffered a cyberattack, sources say. A source with ties to state intelligence explained that the rifles utilised 7.62mm rounds similar to those used in the Russian AK-47 and its Chinese knock-off, the Type-56. Those guns are yet to be found, but, said an intelligence specialist with ties to the public and private security sector who also confirmed the theft, “I’m telling you: those guns are in KZN.”

Number three: The bullets. More specifically, the million-plus rounds of ammunition stolen during the July 2021 riots after it was moved, under suspicious circumstances, to a depot near the Durban harbour with scant security measures in place. According to the sources, the vast majority of the bullets still haven’t been retrieved, despite numerous media reports. “Where’s the manifest? If they had retrieved them, the photos would have been on the front page of every newspaper.”

The intelligence specialist also said that the bullets were still in circulation.

Number four: The comms. During the 2021 looting, several radio stations were stripped bare of their equipment. On the surface, this might seem like straightforward looting, or an attempt to disable communications within the community and disrupt daily life.

But there’s a more sinister element, explains the intelligence specialist. The looters also made off with repeaters — devices that capture fading radio signals, boost them, and then transmit them again.

They are necessary to communicate over long distances and could be used to set up an alternative communications system — exactly what insurrectionists would need if the government shuts down the major providers’ cellular and fixed-line networks. And, explains the source, disabling communications infrastructure is a common technique used by guerilla fighters in Africa.

>>16717045

“Cash/Guns/Ammo/Comms: SA on the verge of another insurrection, security experts warn” Part 2

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-07-cash-guns-ammo-comms-sa-on-the-verge-of-another-insurrection-security-experts-warn/

7 July 2022

But, says the security sector source, another scenario is far more likely, since setting up your own communications network is an intricate process that may be overly visible. The repeaters could more likely be used to tap into the police’s encrypted radio communications over the Tetra system. That would give insurrectionists a bird’s-eye view of the police actions.

And, finally, number five: The cash. Around the time of the riots, R120-million in cash was stolen from more than 1,200 ATMs in just one week. That money still hasn’t been retrieved, sources say. Of the massive operation, the source in the security sector says: “They [the ATMs] were bombed, ripped out of the wall. What you have is enough cash to pay an army.”

All of this, our sources say, points to one thing: An organised insurrection driven by guerilla tactics. “It’ll only take the slightest spark now,” says the intelligence specialist.

That, says the source in the security sector, is because strike season, the rising petrol price, Eskom outages, power struggles in the ANC, and former president Jacob Zuma’s upcoming trial in August are all converging to form a political pressure cooker:

“We’re on a knife’s edge. We’re a country on the verge of tearing itself apart.”

The gift of cadre deployment

The stolen guns and ammunition, say sources, indicate some level of organisation at play. A former employee of a major shipping company with knowledge of the South African port environment explained that if the containers’ arrival at the harbour was illegal, it must have been carefully orchestrated.

“You need a logistical structure and custom and clearance agents’ cooperation. I remember these guns going missing. It had to have been with the assistance of whoever despatched the weapons and Transnet agents in the harbour. You need quite a few parties working together. It wasn’t an impulsive theft.”

According to the source in the security sector with knowledge of police operations, the movement of the container of ammunition to a non-secure depot indicates that someone from within the SAPS’s ranks was involved.

The intelligence specialist explained that weapons are normally smuggled into the southern African region through Cabo Delgado in Mozambique, but with the Isis terror campaign in the north of that country, the port had garnered unwanted attention. The result is that Durban became an alternative entry point. Those benefiting from this type of smuggling are terror groups and highly placed government officials.

But the people who shipped the weapons and ammunition to South Africa, whether legally or not, aren’t necessarily those who took them; the original senders may have been one-upped by the thieves, as one risk analyst explained.

“The fact is, even if it is a legit import, key people have been placed through cadre deployment in key posts all over the place, and with the breakdown of the ANC into two factions, at least half of those people are with the one side and half with the other. So there are people inside key entities like ports, airports and border posts, who have a clear line of sight and control over things that are happening. That’s an issue.

“We’ve got insider threats in National Key Points and in key infrastructure entities all over the place. That’s the gift of cadre deployment and the meltdown of the ANC that created this toxic issue.”

And, says the source, it’s a “legacy” problem, not easily solved: “You can’t just fire everybody. You’ve got to actually prove they’ve done something wrong. You can’t just fire someone because you know he’s a Zuma man. Cadre deployment worked for them when the ANC was of one mind. But now they’re at war with each other. Literally.”

>>16717045

>>16717054

“Cash/Guns/Ammo/Comms: SA on the verge of another insurrection, security experts warn” Part 3

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-07-cash-guns-ammo-comms-sa-on-the-verge-of-another-insurrection-security-experts-warn/

7 July 2022

The source in the security sector agrees, remarking that during Zuma’s tenure, the Cabinet ballooned. “He basically cut several ministries in half. That’s twice as many ministers, twice as many deputies, twice as many DGs — twice as many people who have to kneel down and kiss the ring.”

The security sector source and another person in the security industry with inside knowledge of state intelligence operations believe that it would have been government insiders who deliberately allowed the movement of containers from the Durban harbour to locations with less stringent security where they could be easily stolen.

“It doesn’t say ‘guns’ on the outside” of the container, explains the security sector source, and added to that, says the source close to state intelligence, they are stored amid dozens of other containers. However, an insider would know what to look for. With all the hallmarks of an inside job, the theft points to a division within the ranks of state officials responsible for the cargo’s safety, the sources say. It’s a division along the factional lines of the ANC: those for Zuma, and those against. This division is not only probably within the Transnet staff, but also within the police and the State Security Agency, the sources say.

It’s this division that very likely led to the event that would have made possible the alleged weapons theft: the cyberattack on Transnet’s port systems in the Durban harbour. (During the hack of Transnet’s systems, the management of freight containers was in disarray, and processing slowed down drastically.) All of our sources are convinced that the correlation of events was no accident, but rather specifically orchestrated to facilitate the theft of the weapons. But the hack doesn’t necessarily point to insurgents with sophisticated cyber capabilities; rather, it’s likely to be another inside job.

A cybersecurity expert who spoke on condition of anonymity explained that the hack could be due to the simple installation of malware purchased from one of many “hacking-as-a-service” outlets — people selling computer viruses to those unable to brew their own. Placing it on a USB stick and getting an insider to do the job is “easy as pie” says the expert. “Have you ever been asked (upon entering a building) if you’ve got a USB in your pocket? No. Better still, have a workshop on the ground floor and hand out a free branded USB stick to everyone as part of the swag for the day. You don’t have to hack your way into a system. Just hand out some free stuff.”

In this way, an insider would easily have been able to plant malware. The risk analyst explains that this is a realistic scenario given Zuma’s background and connections in intelligence, and estimates there is a high likelihood that supporters of Zuma and the Radical Economic Transformation (RET) faction would have been involved in such actions, even if attribution of the attack is near-impossible due to the opaque nature of cyber warfare.

“They [the RET faction] will have their sleepers all over the place. Those guys, because of cadre deployment, are sitting in every single key state infrastructure entity, from Eskom to Transnet, to all over the place. When they were appointed in the early 2010s, Zuma’s camp was in charge and they were put into key positions.”

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“Cash/Guns/Ammo/Comms: SA on the verge of another insurrection, security experts warn” Part 4

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-07-cash-guns-ammo-comms-sa-on-the-verge-of-another-insurrection-security-experts-warn/

7 July 2022

Blunt force, with a chance of sophistication

Despite the level of organisation displayed with the stolen gear and guns, a coup — which is defined as a government being removed with the help of its own military — is highly unlikely, according to our sources. There are several reasons for this. For one, the risk analyst said, President Cyril Ramaphosa has made some deliberate moves to gain control over the military and security services.

“He put Thandi Modise in there [as defence minister] when he changed his Cabinet. He’s brought the minister of state security into the Presidency.” Says the intelligence specialist: “Ramaphosa has put his greatest confidants in charge of the military.”

To boot, says the analyst, the military still has a culture of loyalty to the commander-in-chief — the democratically elected president. “There was a lot of talk, in 2017, that the generals went to tell Zuma, ‘Look, you need to stand down.’ There was talk that Zuma had an idea that the generals would back him up. And they didn’t. Military discipline is a big thing. I think there are a lot of senior officers in the SANDF who just want to do their job.”

Rather, all our sources agree, an insurrection is highly likely. Whereas a military coup requires precision and a near-instant transition of power, an insurrection is a blunt-force instrument aimed at destabilising a country over a period of time to gain leverage to force the government to negotiate with you. And a repeat of last year’s events is bound to be more violent and involve more firepower.

The intelligence specialist maintains that Zuma would use intelligence and guerilla tactics to make the country ungovernable. Says the risk analyst: “You manipulate the population into doing your dirty work. You stay behind the scenes, and you have plausible deniability, and there’s no clear attribution — a clear trail can’t be proven. And that’s exactly where we are, after last year’s insurrection.” Adds the intelligence specialist: “The 12 that were arrested for organising the riots — they were [part of the] RET, but they’re just pawns.”

According to the source with knowledge of state intelligence operations, the looting of 2021 was an example of manipulating ordinary people (who aren’t in any faction) to serve your political purpose. Many of the looters only stole food: “Our people are hungry. There are millions of people who go to bed hungry, tired and cold every night in this country.”

This destabilisation, says the source with knowledge of state intelligence, has one simple goal: Keeping people out of jail, especially Zuma. “Zuma is extremely powerful. People don’t realise this.”

His incarceration in 2021 all but assured an insurrection, says the source. And now, with the Zondo Commission’s reports into State Capture released, there is even more at stake.

Says the risk analyst: “Already on the table, you’re beginning to see talk about amnesty for State Capture people because we need to move on and we need stability.

“These guys will take us all down with them rather than go to the slammer. To stay out of jail — that is the goal.” And, says the security sector source, things aren’t looking good for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) anyway: “Zuma knows where all the bodies are buried and he’s got the shovel. The NPA has to decide: How far down the rabbit hole do they want to go?”

>>16717045

>>16717054

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>>16717073

“Cash/Guns/Ammo/Comms: SA on the verge of another insurrection, security experts warn” Part 5

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-07-cash-guns-ammo-comms-sa-on-the-verge-of-another-insurrection-security-experts-warn/

7 July 2022

They were warned

The government, thus far, has been slow to react to warnings from observers in the security field. It’s a near-repeat of their reaction last year, explains the security sector source.

The source says that private intelligence firms constantly observe the security situation in Africa; they are paid by large corporations that want to protect assets. These observers knew that the riots would happen in July 2021. But the government wouldn’t listen.

According to one such observer, they had warned the government several “months before the riot” with multiple reports, but to no avail: “There were more than enough red flags.”

According to the source with knowledge of state intelligence operations, the government was warned as early as March, yet did nothing: “They told them not to lock up Zuma.” The source in the security sector also says that private sector security firms warned the government, but to no avail: “The government waited until KZN was burning.”

The government’s response to a new insurrection is anything but coordinated.

This time around, sources say things are not looking much better; police are still outmanned, outplanned and outgunned. Says the intelligence specialist: “Even if we had 10,000 extra policemen, it wouldn’t be enough.”

The source said their intelligence last year revealed that there was an appetite for violence and looting countrywide following the KZN and Gauteng unrest: “It’s as if people were just waiting for something to set them off.” Next time, says the source, violence may well spread to other parts of the country.

The source in the security sector said that 2021 proved that “security forces were not prepared and aren’t prepared”. In 2021, the key targets were already struck before the looting, and private security firms could only protect small enclaves. The source close to state intelligence said that preparations to handle the scale of insurrection seen in 2021 take several months, and preparations on that scale have not happened.

One thing that the state has done, the sources say, is to beef up VIP protection for top government officials. The security sector source says that the reaction is very similar to the government’s response during the flooding in KZN, when a water tanker was allegedly purposely sent to the home of KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala and not to the local community (although this was later officially written off as a misunderstanding).

“They are making sure to protect the fat cats,” says the source.

In June this year, discussions in Parliament saw the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants question the R1.7-billion allocated to VIP protection.

None of this is reassuring, especially not when taking into account the nature of guerilla insurgency. Warns the risk analyst: “The state needs to position itself to respond accordingly now, because the essence of guerilla warfare tends to be regrouping, learning from mistakes and coming back stronger.”

>>16717045

>>16717054

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>>16717075

“Cash/Guns/Ammo/Comms: SA on the verge of another insurrection, security experts warn” Part 6

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-07-cash-guns-ammo-comms-sa-on-the-verge-of-another-insurrection-security-experts-warn/

7 July 2022

The responses

We asked the Hawks a series of specific questions about investigations into the missing R120-million in ATM cash, the alleged theft of the automatic weapons and the actual theft of the ammunition, as well as the potential threat posed to the police’s Tetra system following the theft of the radio repeaters.

We also asked them to comment on the potential link between a future insurrection and the missing items. They did not answer our questions specifically, but spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo did confirm the following:

“Our major investigations led by two brigadiers, one of whom was solely dedicated to the task have wrapped their major part and the matters are being assessed by the NPA for decision [sic]. So far eight cases have been successfully investigated and accused identified and arrested. Two of the cases have been struck off the roll due to insufficient evidence, whilst two have been withdrawn for further investigation. Four cases are trial-ready and will be heard in July, August and September. As such we cannot confirm details of any ongoing investigation until the DPP has given a decision on those matters. The investigations are still continuing.”

We asked the SAPS similar questions, but did not receive a response despite repeated requests for comment and an extended deadline.

We asked Transnet whether the alleged moving of the shipping containers carrying automatic weapons and ammunition was being investigated, and if they suspected a link between the thefts and the cyberattack on July 22. Transnet spokesperson Ayanda Shezi said there was no reported incident of theft within its “operating environment”.

“Containers are coded according to the United Nations cargo classification of International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) and the declaration of all dangerous goods is compulsory as per the National Ports Act 2005 and the Port rules. This cargo classification prescribes the handling and ensures the transaction adheres to a specified standard operating procedure.

“In the case of ammunition or automatic weapons, the classification would be Class 1 because the material is explosive in nature. Three approvals are required in this instance, and include the SAPS Explosives Unit, Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), the harbourmaster and the South African Maritime Safety Authority.

“Class 1 cargo is offloaded only if a container road haulage vehicle is waiting as per the standard operating procedure because evacuation is immediate. The cargo cannot be kept in the vicinity of the port. The contents of all containers loaded or offloaded are not disclosed to the terminals/operators to ensure cargo safety and minimise incidents of theft.

“Once the cargo leaves the port, TNPA does not have any authority to oversee or control the cargo, it becomes the responsibility of the SAPS Explosives Unit and traffic departments to ensure the safety of the public and security of the cargo. The cargo owner is also responsible for ensuring the security of their cargo throughout the logistics chain.

“According to Transnet records, the containers in question were declared and handled as IMDG Class 1 cargo. Transnet has not recorded an incident of either stolen automatic weapons or stolen ammunition within its operating environment. There were no investigations related to this matter within Transnet.

“The KZN unrest commenced on 12 July 2021. The Transnet cyberattack occurred two weeks after this event on 22 July 2021. The cyberattack had no impact on the evacuation of the IMDG container referred to above.”

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>>16717087

“Cash/Guns/Ammo/Comms: SA on the verge of another insurrection, security experts warn” Part 7

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-07-cash-guns-ammo-comms-sa-on-the-verge-of-another-insurrection-security-experts-warn/

7 July 2022

The State Security Agency’s Mava Scott said:

“Most of these questions relate to police and I suggest you make contact with them. There are also operational issues that you are raising which the law prohibits us from discussing with third parties.”

The National Prosecuting Authority referred us to the Hawks for comment.

Asked about Zuma’s potential role in the insurrection, the Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Jimmy Manyi went straight for the jugular:

“Even before I trouble H.E Zuma, the Foundation responds as follows:

“1. H. E President Zuma does not engage in wild speculation based on insecurities of others. If anyone is known to be breaking the law, the one who is aware has a duty to report. Let’s not repeat Phala phala Farm where criminality is left unreported.

“2. The Independent Panel of Experts said the Convenor of National Security Council, President Ramaphosa FAILED to convene meetings and thus the intelligence information could not be processed and acted upon. Right now you should be directing your questions to Ramaphosa and ask him if he has been convening any of these meetings since July 2021. If Ramaphosa has been doing his job, there should be no anxiety.

“3. Typically, the Deputy President of the ANC is the traditional chair of the Deployment Committee. During the reign of H.E President Zuma, Cyril Ramaphosa was the chair of the Deployment Committee. Any questions related to shenanigans of Ramaphosa’s deployees must be directed to him.

“In addition, it’s curious that Daily Maverick has not followed up on the perjury by Ramaphosa in the Zondo Commission where he said the Deployment Committee does not involve itself with the appointment of judges. This was later exposed to be a lie through the minutes of the Deployment Committee that the DA managed to source.”

We raised the issues pointed out by Manyi with Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, along with a number of other questions. The Presidency recommended we attend a press conference scheduled to take place after the publication of this article.

The ANC did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Numerous attempts to contact Massmart for comment were unsuccessful. DM

Heidi Swart is a journalist who reports on surveillance and data privacy. This report was commissioned by the Media Policy and Democracy Project, an initiative of the University of Johannesburg’s Department of Journalism, Film and TV and Unisa’s Department of Communication Science.

>>16717045

>Sources explained that it was one of five events that took place around the time of the 2021 unrest that were probably aimed at laying the groundwork for a future insurrection.

To think, this is what South Africa has become [watch video]. The people are already desperate. Do you want to be caught up in the middle when further desperation sets in?

“Hillbrow between heaven and hell VIDEO”

https://youtu.be/hHk7h71hGxw [Posted Feb 28, 2012]

https://southafricatoday.net/media/south-africa-photo/crime/hillbrow-between-heaven-and-hell-video/

2 July 2016

Murders, rape, theft, drugs and human trafficking, are the average daily occurrences in the dodgy city of Hillbrow. The city was home to mainly white residents before the 1994 democratic elections, and due to the poor infrastructure could not cope with the influx of migrants from African neighboring countries and rural people who were seeking to live under the new democracy. A mass exodus of whites left the city in a slum condition. Overpopulated, unemployment, crime and poverty are the current crisis, and a rapid increase of health concerns are the major problems.

Hillbrow was known as a trendy, cosmopolitan city and a safe place to live, with striking tall buildings and clean streets. Today, the degradation continues to rise out of control. It is a city where people dare not walk around, as hijackings, rape and murders happen all the time. The criminals, and in particular the drug lords, maintain a thriving business within the boundaries of Hillbrow.

>>16717050

>>16569271 Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One

>>16569275 Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part Two

>>16435509 – Glencore; Gary Nagle was on the Board of Lonmin

>>16473729 – Lonrho/Lonmin Bun

“Trident Royalties appoints ex Glencore Senior Exec” – Paul Smith [Xstrata, Lonmin, Katanga Mining Limited, etc.] Part 1

https://www.fmp-tv.co.uk/2021/06/18/trident-royalties-appoints-ex-glencoe-senior-exec/

18th June 2021

Appointment of Ex-Glencore Senior Executive as Chair & Board Changes

Trident Royalties Plc (AIM: TRR, FSX: 5KV), is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Smith as Non-Executive Chair with effect from 21 June. James Kelly will step down as Chair from that date but will remain on the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Additionally, Mark Potter will step down from his position as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect, to pursue other business interests. As set out in more detail below, Mr Smith has indicated a willingness to make an equity investment in the Company and it is intended that Mr Smith will today subscribe for new shares in Trident with a value of £1 million at a price of 40p per share (the “Subscription Price”) and up to a further £1 million at the Subscription Price within the next 12 months.

Paul Smith worked for Glencore Plc from 2011 until 2020. As Head of Strategy, his principal areas of focus were capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and capital allocation. During this period Glencore successfully completed numerous large scale corporate and capital markets transactions, most notably the $90bn merger with Xstrata Plc.

While at Glencore, Paul was also the CFO of Katanga Mining Limited, Glencore`s TSX listed subsidiary from 2019 until its de-listing in 2020. In addition, he represented Glencore as a non-executive director of Lonmin Plc and Glencore Agriculture Limited.

Prior to Glencore, Paul was an analyst and fund manager at Marshall Wace Asset Management, where he focused on cyclical sectors, including mining. Paul qualified as a Chartered Accountant before working in investment banking at Close Brothers and Credit Suisse. He has an MA in Modern History from Oxford University.

Paul Smith, commented:

“I am delighted to have been asked to become the new Chairman of Trident Royalties at what is an exciting time in the Company’s development. Under James’s leadership, Trident has quickly established itself as a credible provider of metals royalties and streams, with 12 royalties already in place and others under consideration. Trident is well positioned to grow through a combination of primary issuance of royalties and streams and by consolidating the extensive pool of existing ones.

“De-carbonising the global economy will require material increases in the production of enabling metals, such as copper. The cost of building the associated incremental mine capacity will be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. This will lead to an increasing demand for alternative sources of development capital, including royalties and streams.

“Trident’s goal is to build a large-scale royalty and streaming company which is also diversified by the commodity, geography and maturity of the underlying projects. I look forward to helping Adam and his team to maximise the value of this opportunity for our shareholders.”

James Kelly, commented:

“I am exceptionally proud that in a little over 12 months, we have rapidly executed on our strategy and built Trident into a diversified mining royalty company with a portfolio of attractive assets, operating cash flow and a board and management team of the highest calibre. We have enjoyed strong growth in both the share price and market capitalisation; testament to the strategy and the hard work of all involved.

“We now have a solid platform for further growth, and I am delighted that Paul will be joining us as our new chairman. I believe that Paul, with his experience and network, is well qualified to lead Trident for this next phase as we look to rapidly scale the business.

“I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Mark for his contribution to Trident; his royalty and investing experience has been invaluable to both the board and the Company as a whole and we wish him well in his future endeavours.”

>>16724611

“Trident Royalties appoints ex Glencore Senior Exec” – Paul Smith invests through Collingwood Capital Partners AG Part 2

https://www.fmp-tv.co.uk/2021/06/18/trident-royalties-appoints-ex-glencoe-senior-exec/

18th June 2021

Proposed investment of up to £2 million

Paul Smith, through Collingwood Capital Partners AG, a Company of which Paul Smith is the sole shareholder, intends to invest up to £2 million in the Company. It is proposed that this will comprise an initial subscription for 2,500,000 new ordinary shares of £0.01 each in the capital of the Company (“Ordinary Shares”) at a price of 40p per share for aggregate proceeds of £1,000,000. This subscription is expected to take place prior to his appointment to the Trident board. The Subscription Price represents a premium of 4% to the volume weighted average price for the Ordinary Shares in the 5 trading days prior to the date of this announcement.

In addition, Collingwood Capital Partners AG will have the right, exercisable at any time up to 17 June 2022 to subscribe for an additional 2,500,000 Ordinary Shares at the Subscription Price, such period being extended where any exercise would be prohibited by law on the business day prior to the expiry of the right.

The investment agreement is expected to be signed with Collingwood Capital Partners AG later today and a further announcement will be made in due course.

>>16724611

>James Kelly will step down as Chair from that date but will remain on the Board as a Non-Executive Director.

Emmerson Plc Non-Executive Chairman – James Kelly [Xstrata, Glencore, founder of Trident Royalties]

https://www.emmersonplc.com/about-us/board-management/

James Kelly has nearly 20 years’ experience in the mining and natural resource industry, with extensive experience in corporate finance, strategy and capital allocation. James is non-executive chairman and founder of Trident Royalties plc, a growth focused, diversified mining royalty and streaming company. Prior to founding Trident, James was a senior member of the Xstrata Plc group business development team and following the merger with Glencore Plc, was part of the team which founded Greenstone Resources LP, a mining private equity fund focused on post-exploration development assets. James served as an Executive Director of ASX listed Cradle Resources Limited from May 2016 to July 2017 having been appointed a Non-Executive Director in February 2016. James is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and holds a BA (Hons) from University College London.

“Emmerson welcomes James Kelly to its Board as Non-Executive Director”

https://talent4boards.com/emmerson-welcomes-james-kelly-to-its-board-as-non-executive-director/

March 23, 2021

– ISLE OF MAN, Douglas – Emmerson plc (LON: EML), the Moroccan-focused potash development company, today announced the appointment of James Kelly to its board of directors, effective from 22 March 2021.

Mr. Kelly has nearly 20 years of experience in the mining sector, particularly in the areas of corporate finance and financing strategy.

“I would like to welcome James to the Emmerson team and very much look forward to working with him. We are particularly pleased to welcome James to the Board at this time with Emmerson reaching an important stage, as it prepares for the project financing. James has just the experience in mining finance which will be very relevant to the options that the board will be asked to assess in the coming months as we work to put the funding in place to enable us to continue driving the project forwards.” said CEO, Graham Clarke.

About James Kelly

Before its merger with Glencore Plc, James was a senior member of the business development team of Xstrata Plc. He went on to help found the mining private equity company, Greenstone Resources LP, which takes strategic equity positions in post exploration and development stage assets in both OECD and Emerging Market geographies. James is also the founder and non-executive chairman of Trident Royalties Plc, a rapidly growing, diversified mining royalty and streaming company.

James Kelly said: “I am delighted to be joining the board of Emmerson. The quality of the Khemisset potash project is apparent for all to see and I believe that it is well placed to contribute new supply into a secular growth of demand for fertilizer, especially in Africa. We know that high quality and dependable source of potash is a critical pillar in food security which in turn has an outsized positive effect on the developing world. I look forward to working with Graham and his team and playing my part in bringing the project into production.”

About Emmerson

Emmerson’s primary focus is on developing the Khemisset project located in Northern Morocco. The Project has a large JORC Resource Estimate (2012) of 537Mt @ 9.24% K2O and significant exploration potential with an accelerated development pathway targeting a low CAPEX, high margin mine. Khemisset is perfectly located to capitalize on the expected growth of African fertilizer consumption whilst also being located on the doorstep of European markets. This unique positioning means the Project will receive a premium netback price compared to existing potash producers. The need to feed the world’s rapidly increasing population is driving demand for potash and Emmerson is well placed to benefit from the opportunities this presents. The Feasibility Study released in June 2020 indicated Khemisset has the potential to be among the lowest capital cost development stage potash projects in the world and also, as a result of its location, one of the highest margin projects. This delivered outstanding economics including a post-tax NPV10 of approximately US$1.4 billion using industry expert, Argus’, price forecasts.

>>16724611

>>16569269 – Gencor and Gill Marcus Bun; 1998 Gencor merged with Gold Fields to form Gold Fields Ltd.

“Trident Royalties Team - Helen Pein [“recipient of the Gencor Geology Award”] and Peter Bacchus [sits on Gold Fields Limited board], there are others==

Helen Pein

Mrs Pein has had a successful career spanning more than 30 years as an economic geologist in the natural resource sector. Helen is currently a director of Pan Iberia Ltd. (UK) and founder member of Panex Resources Pty. Ltd. (Mauritius and SA) a private company focusing on finding and developing global mining projects.

Helen was formerly a director and shareholder of Pangea Exploration (Pty) Ltd for 20 years. She was part of the executive team which was directly responsible for the discovery and evaluation of a number of world class gold and mineral sands deposits throughout Africa. (Burnstone, Tuluwaka, Buzwagi, Corridor Sands and Kwale). From 2012, Pangea was affiliated to Private Equity Company, Denham Capital International, providing asset analysis and technical evaluation of mining investments in Africa.

Helen is a recipient of the Gencor Geology Award and Fellow of the Geological Society of South Africa and member of the International Society for Economic Geologists. She holds a B.Sc. Geoscience and a B.Sc. Geology (Hons) (Cum Laude), from the University of Stellenbosch SA.

Helen sits on both the Nomination and Remuneration Committees.

Peter Bacchus

Peter Bacchus is currently Chairman and Chief Executive of Bacchus Capital, an independent investment banking boutique with particular expertise in the natural resources sector. Peter has over 25 years of experience as a leading global M&A adviser, with particularly deep experience within natural resources having advised some of the largest companies in the sector. Throughout Peter’s career he has been at the forefront of several large and transformative M&A transactions, financed substantial deals, and advised on development projects worldwide.

Peter previously acted as the Global Head of Mining and Metals at Morgan Stanley and European Head of Investment Banking at Jefferies. Before relocating to London in 2006, he was based in Australia and Indonesia, where he was Asia-Pacific Head of Industrials and Natural Resources investment banking at Citigroup. Peter currently sits on the boards of New York and Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed Gold Fields Limited, London Stock Exchange listed Kenmare Resources Plc and Australian Stock Exchange listed Galaxy Resources Limited. He is also Chairman of Africa-focused conservation charity, Space for Giants.

Peter holds an MA from St John’s College, Cambridge and is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

>>16724762

Here is the link, https://tridentroyalties.com/about/board-and-management

>>16724762

>Burnstone

“Successful Southgold business rescue precedent-setting – lawyer” – Burnstone; Cut over $200 million in debt to save about 2 000 jobs?

https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/successful-southgold-business-rescue-precedent-setting-lawyer-2014-07-03

3 July 2014

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The successfully concluded business rescue of Southgold Exploration this week has set a precedent in the South African debt restructuring landscape, demonstrating that ailing businesses had a vehicle through which they could potentially avoid liquidation.

“This is probably the biggest and most complex business restructure the country has seen. The implications are that the mining industry can now see business rescue as a possible alternative through which businesses can be saved. It's a true success story,” Webber Wentzel litigation practice partner Lara Kahn told Mining Weekly Online on Thursday.

Southgold’s turnaround story began in 2012, when it filed for bankruptcy protection under South African business rescue procedures after suspending all mining operations at its Burnstone mine, in the country’s Witwatersrand basin, citing its inability to afford the mine’s required working capital to reach cash-flow breakeven by May 2013.

Mining Weekly Online reported at the time that the insolvency filings were intended to allow Southgold time to seek buyers and partners for its two gold mining projects, or corporate-level financiers, in an effort to return to solvency.

The bankruptcy protection proceeding constituted a default under the company's TSX-listed unsecured convertible debentures, which had a principal amount of $126-million.

Business Day Live (BDLive) reported in July last year that Southgold’s total debt ran to $400-million, comprising $235-million owed to lenders, $127-million to bondholders and $37-million to creditors.

This prompted Southgold to bring in business rescue practitioner Peter van den Steen, who tabled a revival business plan for the mine, which entailed the restructure of the company’s debt and the sale of Burnstone to Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources – now Sibanye Gold.

The Southgold business rescue plan would see Southgold’s debt cut to $177.35-million, with Sibanye paying only $7.25-million, BDLive reported.

Sibanye had also agreed to invest R950-million into Southgold over three years as working capital to resuscitate and expand the mine.

Khan added that the deal would see some 2 000 people, who were initially retrenched in 2012 when Burnstone went into care and maintenance, re-employed at the mine.

“One thing that differentiates this rescue from others is that it was very well planned, it had funding, and it had the support of its lenders from the outset. People often say that the legislation is inadequate, because there are lots of examples of these kinds of things failing, but often it has to do with timing and planning,”Khan commented.

Had Southgold’s business rescue plan failed, the company would likely have gone into liquidation, rendering the mine’s total staff complement permanently jobless.

“I hope that the Southgold restructure is a shot in the arm for the debt restructuring industry as a whole and not just for the mining industry, because it has resulted in jobs being saved. It's a good example of creditors and employees being patient,” Kahn asserted.

Kahn, in collaboration with Webber Wentzel colleagues Etienne Swanepoel, Mareli Vermeulen and Crystal McIntosh, advised Van den Steen on all aspects of the rescue.

>>16730086

“Business rescue of Southgold gives mine a new lease on life” – “Bowman Gilfillan acted for the secured lenders”

https://www.polity.org.za/article/business-rescue-of-southgold-gives-mine-a-new-lease-on-life-2014-08-07

7th August 2014

One of the biggest and most complex business rescues brought under the new Companies Act of 2008 has come to a successful conclusion, in the process saving jobs and highlighting the important role that banks play in business rescue proceedings.

Southgold Exploration, which filed a resolution in 2012 placing itself in business rescue, had its business rescue plan approved by creditors on 11 July 2013, which ultimately resulted in the company terminating its business rescue on 1 July 2014 so that it could continue to operate.

Claire van Zuylen, Partner at pan-African corporate law firm, Bowman Gilfillan, which acted for Standard Chartered Bank in London and Credit Suisse (AG), commented, “The restructuring will result in some 2 000 employees, who were initially retrenched in 2012 when the Burnstone mine went into care and maintenance, being re-employed at the mine when operations re-commence.

“Without the input of the secured lenders, Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered Bank, in terms of advancing post-commencement financing and permitting the unsecured creditors a dividend that they would not otherwise have obtained, Southgold would have been forced to commence liquidation proceedings.”

South African company Southgold Exploration is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toronto-based Great Basin Gold (GBG) Limited, which is an international mining company engaged in the exploration and development of gold properties. Southgold’s principal asset is the Burnstone mine in Mpumalanga.

During August 2012, GBG suspended active production at Burnstone in the hope of selling the mine in order to settle creditors. Seeking protection from creditors in the interim period, Southgold filed a resolution in 2012 placing itself in business rescue, and commenced proceedings under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, which is the equivalent of South Africa’s business rescue proceedings.

Standard Chartered Bank and Credit Suisse worked closely with the business rescue practitioner appointed to supervise Southgold, and advanced significant post-commencement financing to enable the successful business rescue, which included restructuring Southgold’s debt and equity.

According to Ms van Zuylen, “The restructuring had cross-border implications in that it involved the restructuring of debt owed to Canadian, Swiss and English creditors in addition to South African creditors.”

The restructuring involved banking and finance law, insolvency and restructuring law, corporate law, litigation and mining law issues. Documents were governed by English law and South African law (prepared by Bowman Gilfillan), and Cayman and Swiss law (drafted by local counsel).

The Bowman Gilfillan team comprised: Lionel Shawe and Lisa Botha (Banking and Finance), Claire van Zuylen and Sizwe Msimang (Insolvency and Restructuring law), Alistair Collins, Marc Pinchuck, Candace Hennessey, Johan de Wet, Ingrid Sinclair, Claire Tucker (Mining and Regulatory), and John Sahli and Clement Mkiva (Litigation).

>>16569271 Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One

>>16569275 Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part Two

>>16650472 Lonrho Bun | Oppenheimer Bun

“Lonmin shares collapse as Glencore completes stake divestment” – "Glencore came to own its stake in Lonmin through its $68bn acquisition of Xstrata in 2013”, Xstrata owned it since 2008, Marikana massacre occurred in 2012

https://www.mining.com/lonmin-shares-collapse-as-glencore-completes-stake-divestment/

June 11, 2015

Shares in Lonmin (LON:LMI), the world’s third-largest platinum producer, dropped as much as 7.3% on Thursday as mining giant and commodity trader Glencore (LON:GLEN) completed the distribution of its 23.9% stake in the South African miner to shareholders.

The troubled platinum producer saw its stock hitting a low of 128.7 p in early trading, the biggest loss in three months, and was trading at $136.0, or 1,16% lower than the previous session at 2:15 pm London time.

Glencore came to own its stake in Lonmin through its $68bn acquisition of Xstrata in 2013, and chief executive Ivan Glasenberg had on several occasions described the venture as a “non-core” one.

In fact, the company is believed to have been opposed to Xstrata’s decision to buy the stake in two market transactions back in 2008.

Plans to spin off the stake came to light a year ago, when Glencore announced it would slash spending on its mines in 2015 to between $6.5bn and $6.8bn — down from a previously expected $7.9bn.

As a result of the move, the Swiss-based firm’s shareholders have received Lonmin stock in proportion to their stakes in Glencore, an option that Glasenberg considered better than a straight market disposal.

Three years of falling platinum prices and a five-months strike last year have left Lonmin near an all-time low and valued at just $1.2 billion. That’s down from a peak of more than $12 billion in 2007 for the miner of the metal used in cars and jewellery.

According to market analysts, such as Investec [>>16567352, >>16567460, >>16567583, >>16567690, >>16567701 Investec, Hendrik du Toit, Naspers, and Koos Bekker (videos)], the distribution of Glencore’s shares completed today may create a group of sellers that want to dispose of their holding. It also could create an opportunity for a buyer, it added.

Take note:

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/marikana-what-did-cyril-ramaphosa-do/

In August 2012, workers at the Marikana mine in Rustenburg staged a protest regarding their rights for a pay rise. After a week of demonstrations, the situation spiralled out of control, as police opened fire on the protesting miners, killing 34 of them.

___At the time, Cyril was a non-executive director of Lonmin. His company Shanduka was a minority shareholder in Lonmin, so this meant their profits were very much part of his business too.__

A series of emails shared between Ramaphosa and Lonmin’s board just a day before the massacre shows how eager he was to end the conflict. However, the language he chose seemed to indicate he favoured a heavy-handed approach.

Ramaphosa demanded that “concomitant action” must be taken against the miners (the action ‘naturally associated’ with a situation like this). He also referred to them as “plainly dastardly criminals”.

He sent his emails on 15 August 2012, just a day before the 34 were gunned down. His choice of language – and subsequent suggestion that then-minister of police Nathi Mthethwa would be getting involved – has always been a sticking point for his critics.

>>16730086

>the restructure of the company’s debt and the sale of Burnstone to Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources – now Sibanye Gold.

>>16569269 – Gencor and Gill Marcus Bun; 1998 Gencor merged with Gold Fields to form Gold Fields Ltd.

Sibanye Stillwater History – Formerly Sibanye Gold Limited. (Mentions Gold Fields, Anglo American, etc.) Part 1

https://www.sibanyestillwater.com/about-us/history/

Since its initial establishment in 2013, Sibanye-Stillwater has grown and diversified significantly – both geographically and by metal produced. The Group has advanced from its fledgling years as a single commodity, South African gold mining company to become an internationally competitive, diversified precious metals producer of gold and the suite of platinum group metals (PGMs). Most recently, the Group has entered the battery metals industry by investing in a lithium hydroxide project in Finland.

2013-2014

Established as Sibanye Gold Limited in February 2013, the company was created through the unbundling of Gold Fields Limited’s 100% owned subsidiary GFI Mining South Africa Proprietary Limited which owned the Kloof, Driefontein and Beatrix gold mines. Upon completion of that transaction, our common shares and American depository receipts were listed on the JSE and the New York Stock Exchange, respectively.

A strategy of organic and acquisitive growth was subsequently adopted, which resulted in the acquisition of the Cooke operations from Gold One International in 2013 and Wits Gold, which owned the Burnstone project, in 2014. These two acquisitions helped create a more sustainable gold business. It was at this time that our unique cost optimisation and operating model was implemented across the business.

2016

In 2016, we achieved a major milestone with our entry into the PGM space. It was in that year that we completed the acquisition of Aquarius Platinum Limited, which included its interests in the Kroondal mine (50%) and the Platinum Mile retreatment facility, both in the Rustenburg area, South Africa, as well as the Mimosa joint venture with Impala Platinum in Zimbabwe. This move into the PGM space was cemented later that same year with the acquisition of Anglo American Platinum Limited’s Rustenburg operations.

2017

The following year, in May 2017, we completed the transaction to purchase the Stillwater Mining Company, based in Montana in the United States, for US$2.2 billion. This transaction was a significant achievement for the company for not only did it constitute the largest PGM transaction globally in over a decade, it facilitated the geographic diversification of our operational portfolio to the Americas. Subsequently, the company was rebranded and formally began trading as Sibanye-Stillwater in August of that year.

2018

Three more significant transactions were concluded over the next two years beginning with the purchase of a 38.05% stake in DRDGOLD Limited, a world leader in the retreatment of gold tailings, in July 2018. With this deal, Sibanye-Stillwater successfully established an industry-leading surface mining tailings retreatment partnership. Our shareholding in DRDGOLD would subsequently be increased to 50.1% in January 2020. Also in 2018, a US$500 million stream financing deal was concluded with Wheaton International, significantly strengthening our balance sheet and reducing net leverage.

>>16730329

Sibanye Stillwater History – Formerly Sibanye Gold Limited. (Mentions Gold Fields, Anglo American, etc.) Part 2

https://www.sibanyestillwater.com/about-us/history/

2019

In early 2019, we acquired of SFA Oxford, a leading metal market analytical consulting company and globally recognised authority on PGMs, to provide in-depth market intelligence on battery materials and precious metals for industrial, automotive and smart city technologies.

Later that same year, in June 2019, we acquired the entire share capital of Lonmin Plc. Lonmin’s assets included the Marikana PGM mining operations and associated retreatment, smelter, base metal refinery and precious metal refinery assets in South Africa. The completion of the Lonmin transaction constituted the fourth step in the implementation of our strategy to become an integrated, mine-to-market producer of PGMs in South Africa.

2020

In February 2020, an internal restructuring process was concluded which changed the group holding company from Sibanye Gold Limited to Sibanye Stillwater Limited (Sibanye-Stillwater). Following that restructuring, Sibanye-Stillwater began trading under the tickers JSE: SSW and NYSE: SBSW.

2021

In March 2021, we acquired a 30% stake in Keliber Oy, which owns the Keliber lithium project in Finland that is currently in development, with an option to increase our holding to more than 50% once certain conditions and deliverables are met. This transaction marked a new milestone in the Group’s history signalling our much-anticipated initial expansion into the battery metal space and further geographic diversification in an attractive mining destination. This strategy was further advanced with the acquisition in December 2021 of a 19.99% stake in New Century Resources Limited and its zinc tailings reprocessing facility in Australia.

2022

More recently in February 2022, we completed the transaction to acquire a 100% stake in Sandouville, a nickel hydrometallurgical processing facility in France. This followed the acquisition in January 2022 of the remaining 50% in Kroondal, bringing our stake in that operation to 100% and enabling us to implement plans to double its operating life.

>>16730332

>Later that same year, in June 2019, we acquired the entire share capital of Lonmin Plc. Lonmin’s assets included the Marikana PGM mining operations and associated retreatment, smelter, base metal refinery and precious metal refinery assets in South Africa.

“Sibanye-Stillwater defeats mining communities challenging R5.4bn Lonmin merger” Part 1

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-09-09-sibanye-stillwater-defeats-mining-communities-challenging-r5-4bn-lonmin-merger/

9 September 2019

Sibanye-Stillwater might have won in court, but the six mining communities on the platinum belt of Rustenburg are not backing down. The communities will write to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, asking him to clarify the Constitutional Court’s order that dismissed its application to have the Sibanye-Stillwater and Lonmin merger declared unlawful.

Sibanye-Stillwater might have won in court, but the six mining communities on the platinum belt of Rustenburg are not backing down. The communities will write to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, asking him to clarify the Constitutional Court’s order that dismissed its application to have the Sibanye-Stillwater and Lonmin merger declared unlawful.

The Greater Lonmin Community, which represents six mining communities on the platinum belt of Rustenburg, launched a legal challenge on 18 July 2019 against the Sibanye-Stillwater and Lonmin merger because they were allegedly excluded from merger talks. Accordingly, the six mining communities – Marikana, Mooinooi, Majakeng, Tornado, Nkaneng, and Bapo Ba Mogale – wanted the merger to be reversed and declared unlawful by the court.

In a brief order dated 28 August, the Constitutional Court said it considered the Greater Lonmin Community’s appeal application but decided that it “bears no reasonable prospects of success”. The Greater Lonmin Community was also refused direct access to the court as it has “not made out any case for direct access”. The court gave no further reasons for its decisions.

In the same order, the court granted the Greater Lonmin Community’s request for condonation regarding its more than three-month delay in launching its appeal application.

The Greater Lonmin Community brought its application months after the Competition Appeal Court ruled on 17 May against the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union in its appeal against a tribunal decision that conditionally approved the merger. This cleared all hurdles for Sibanye and Lonmin to put the merger through a shareholders’ vote on 10 June.

In other words, the Constitutional Court forgave the Greater Lonmin Community for its tardiness but rejected its bid to have the Sibanye-Stillwater and Lonmin merger declared unlawful and have both companies restart merger talks that involve Rustenburg mining communities.

Louwi Mogaki, the legal representation of the Greater Lonmin Community, said the court’s order is “problematic” and questioned how it can grant condonation but reject the entire merits of its case. Mogaki told Business Maverick that the community will write to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, asking him to further clarify the court’s decision.

He is hoping Mogoeng will ask the community to “properly articulate” its case for direct access, which might pave the way for the community to bring a fresh application to the court. But the court has already refused it direct access.

>>16730358

“Sibanye-Stillwater defeats mining communities challenging R5.4bn Lonmin merger” Part 2

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-09-09-sibanye-stillwater-defeats-mining-communities-challenging-r5-4bn-lonmin-merger/

9 September 2019

Sibanye-Stillwater said the court’s decision brings “an end to all proceedings” regarding the merger, which has faced fierce opposition from labour and mining community circles since it was announced on 14 December 2017.

Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman described the Greater Lonmin Community’s court application as “frivolous”.

“It is unfortunate that certain stakeholders seem unable to recognise the plight that faced the Lonmin operations and, instead of engaging with us, continue to pursue spurious and expensive legal alternatives,” he said.

Lonmin was on the brink of collapse before Sibanye-Stillwater rescued it.

Froneman added that Sibanye-Stillwater is committed to complying with Lonmin’s social and labour plan, a five-year plan that is governed by the Department of Mineral Resources and outlines the social and developmental obligations that mining companies must deliver to communities. Lonmin is now a subsidiary of Sibanye and the latter has taken over the former’s obligations to mining communities.

The Greater Lonmin Community believes that the Competition Appeal Court allegedly approved the Sibanye-Lonmin merger despite the Competition Commission’s “lack of competence” to “conduct a proper investigation of Lonmin’s failure to comply with its social and labour plan”. Mogaki said Lonmin has failed to comply with its obligations of building 5,500 houses for its workers over five years (between 2008 and 2013) as it has only built three houses to date. Read more here.

However, Sibanye-Stillwater said Lonmin had complied with its social and labour plans since the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act came into effect in 2008. Since then, two of Lonmin’s social and labour plans had been renewed and approved by the government after the company consulted with affected mining communities. Read more here. BM

“Latest case against president involves brother-in-law Patrice Motsepe”

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2022-06-19-latest-case-against-president-involves-brother-in-law-patrice-motsepe/

19 June 2022

Complainant wants police to check financial records between the families for fraud, corruption, racketeering, bribery or other economic crimes

The latest criminal case opened against President Cyril Ramaphosa by the leader of civil rights organisation Really Democracy involves his brother-in-law, business mogul Patrice Motsepe.

Ramaphosa is married to Motsepe’s sister, Dr Tshepo Motsepe.

The case is one of two opened against Ramaphosa in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday by Srinivasen Naidoo of Really Democracy.

On Sunday TimesLIVE saw the affidavit Naidoo filed with police.

Naidoo said he became aware of a cattle auction by Ramaphosa on March 5 where Motsepe paid R4.7m for four Ankole female cows. He allegedly bought one of them for R2.1m.

The auction was held at Ntaba Nyoni, another of Ramaphosa’s farms.

Naidoo said the sale was “suspicious” and say this sale was not for cattle but for “favours” as Motsepe is a businessman involved in mining and energy and is in business with the government.

“The Ankole cattle are rare and have a high breeding value but the price paid in this particular transaction is particularly high and makes no economic sense.

“The suspicion is that the sale of the cattle is being used to pay bribes and kickbacks for favourable government contracts and easing of regulations in the mining and energy, banking and other sectors in which Motsepe is involved,” said Naidoo.

Naidoo wants police to cheque the financial records between the Ramaphosa and Motsepe families, saying they should probe whether there is fraud, corruption, racketeering, bribery or any other economic crimes involved.

Another auction was held at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo on Saturday. At the auction, the highest bid was for an Ankole bull which sold for R1.65m.

Meanwhile, Nkosenhle Shezi, a known Zuma backer, opened the other case, which involves alleged gender-based violence in connection with a scandal at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Waterberg, Limpopo.

Former correctional services commissioner Arthur Fraser brought to light the crime which had unfolded at the farm in 2020 when he laid criminal charges of money laundering, kidnapping and corruption against the president for a burglary, which occurred on the game farm on February 9 2020.

Fraser said Ramaphosa concealed the theft of about $4m at the farm and instead used his own connections to track the alleged culprits.

Shezi wants the police to probe a gender-based violence incident which he alleges occurred. It relates to a domestic worker who he say was kidnapped and assaulted as the investigations into who stole money from the property unfolded.

“In 2020 certain money was stolen [from Ramaphosa’s farm after an auction on the premises] and as a result of that, a domestic worker of the president was captured illegally because there was never a case of a break-in that was reported to the SA police. Throughout that interrogation the lady was kidnapped, was assaulted and that is the travesty of justice that we cannot tolerate as the citizens of the country and we have logged that case with the SA Police Service,” alleged Shezi.

Ramaphosa, through his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, said he did not have a say on these allegations but that he would co-operate with any investigation against him.

>>16731550

>>16731557

“DR. DAVID MARTIN - FOLLOW THE PATENTS, THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND COVID” [VIDEO] – Revealing names which includes Patrice Motsepe

https://www.bitchute.com/video/002twteL0LQT/

Dr. David Martin is a professional physician, developer of advanced computer systems, advisor to industry & governments.

Other than that, he also has engaged as an author, professor, public speaker, business visionary and researcher.

Part 1 at Wise Traditions Conference 2021 on November 5, 2021

https://www.bitchute.com/video/fHhniBm4cyiM/

LINKS TO THE DOCUMENTS REFERENCED BY DR.DAVAID MARTIN:

1. Fauci/Covid 19 Dossier was written by Dr. David Martin - Please share this Dossier with your governors, sheriffs, local elected officials:

https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/8079569/The%20FauciCOVID-19%20Dossier.pdf

1. Slide - "A key driver is the media, and the economics follow the hype" …Investors will respond if they see profit at the end of the process, Daszak stated"

Here is the article in the medical journal where you find this statement:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK349040/

1. Slide - quote referencing Executive Order by D. Trump, September 19, 2019. The link is to Fauci's presentation in November 2019. He expanded on this Executive order, which has been presented on the slide by Dr. David Martin

Read on page 4 the same statement:

https://science.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Fauci%20Testimony.pdf

1. Episode 89 in which Dr. David Martin explains how Senator Rand Paul could have put an end to Antoni Fauci

https://rumble.com/vowz25-dr.-david-martin-political-theatre-with-rand-paul-who-tries-to-expose-fauci.html

Images of the slides can be viewed at the below link.

https://bluecat.media/the-covid-orchestra-names-and-faces-dr-david-martin-delivers-red-pill-revelation-at-redpill-expo/

>>16731550

>Dr Motsepe is a member Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum (WEF)

>>16705474

>International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva

>>16751618

“World Economic Forum Appoints Two New Members to Board of Trustees” [24 January 2020, about the beginning of COVID] - Kristalina Georgieva and Patrice Motsepe

https://www.weforum.org/press/2020/01/world-economic-forum-appoints-two-new-members-to-board-of-trustees

24 January 2020

Geneva, Switzerland, 24 January 2020– Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Patrice Motsepe, Founder and Executive Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), will join the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum. Both have a track record of thought leadership and long-term success in their field, which will contribute to strengthening the Forum’s platform for public-private cooperation.

“The World Economic Forum, as the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation, is delighted to welcome Kristalina Georgieva and Patrice Motsepe to its Board of Trustees. We look forward to working together to deliver positive, transformative solutions to our most critical global, regional and industry challenges,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

As of 24 January 2020, the Members of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum are:

Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited, India

Marc BENIOFF, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce, USA

Peter BRABECK-LETMATHE, Vice-Chairman, Board of Trustees, World Economic Forum

Mark CARNEY, Governor of the Bank of England

Laurence D. FINK, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BlackRock, Inc.

Chrystia FREELAND, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada

Orit GADIESH, Chairman, Bain & Company, USA

Kristalina GEORGIEVA, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, Washington DC

Fabiola GIANOTTI, Director-General, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva

Al GORE, Vice-President of the United States (1993-2001); Chairman and Co-Founder, Generation Investment Management, USA

Herman GREF, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Sberbank, Russian Federation

Angel GURRÍA, Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris

André HOFFMANN, Non-Executive Vice-Chairman, Roche Holding Ltd, Switzerland

Christine LAGARDE, President, European Central Bank, Frankfurt

Jack MA, Alibaba Board of Directors, Alibaba Group, People’s Republic of China

Yo-Yo MA, Cellist

Peter MAURER, President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Switzerland

Luis MORENO, President, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington DC

Patrice MOTSEPE, Founder and Executive Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals, South Africa

H.M. Queen Rania AL ABDULLAH, of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

L. Rafael REIF, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA

David M. RUBENSTEIN, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chairman, Carlyle Group, USA

Mark SCHNEIDER, Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé SA, Switzerland

Klaus SCHWAB, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, World Economic Forum

Tharman SHANMUGARATNAM, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies of Singapore

Jim Hagemann SNABE, Chairman, Supervisory Board, Siemens AG, Germany; Chairman, A.P. Møller-Maersk, Denmark

Feike SYBESMA, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Managing Board, Royal DSM, Netherlands

Heizo TAKENAKA, Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy of Japan (2002-2006)

Min ZHU, President, National Institute of Financial Research, People’s Republic of China; Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, Washington DC (2011-2016)

“Gates Foundation Profits From Controversial South African Mines” [also Wellcome Trust]

https://www.newsmax.com/MatthewKlynsmith/Bill-Gates-Wellcome-trust-South-Africa-Mining/2015/05/29/id/647577/

29 March 2015

In case you missed what drives South Africa’s economy, it’s the mining industry.

But as is usual with any dangerous industry, there are the large-scale health and social issues that come with it. Thankfully there are organizations that work to address the health issues in mining areas. Here’s a paradox that’s not quite so well-known: The philanthropic organizations that sometimes commit to solving associated problems are also some of the biggest investors in the problems that cause them.

The Guardian released a report explaining that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome trust — responsible for saving countless lives through scientific research and healthcare programs — are also heavily invested in fossil fuel industries that have profound impacts on the health of local communities.

Both organizations are invested in the Rio Tinto mines, where employees and nearby residents complain that crowded mine shafts and dust pollution cause a host of respiratory diseases including silicosis, tuberculosis, and lung cancer. Locals who contract these diseases are directed to clinics and hospitals that are supported by the Africa Centre — whose primary donors include the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation.

On the one hand these organizations are providing aid to people who desperately need it. On the other, they are making money off of the mines that bring about disease and destroy communities and the natural landscape.

This is an ethical debate with many arguments but one would find it hard to believe that either of these foundations truly believes in improving the lives of impoverished and ailing people when they are reaping the rewards of inflicting harm on them. If the Gates Foundation, and others like it, truly wants to impact the locals, maybe an investment in crucial safeguards is in order.

Matthew Klynsmith earned a business administration diploma at CTI in Cape Town, South Africa. He now works at Strategic Options as an associate partner. To read more reports from Matthew Klynsmith, Go Here Now.

“South Africa has entered a new phase of the COVID pandemic: what that means” – Take note; authors, funders and partners [Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO, Wellcome Trust, etc.]

https://theconversation.com/south-africa-has-entered-a-new-phase-of-the-covid-pandemic-what-that-means-183255

May 18, 2022

Confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 have been increasing in South Africa in recent weeks. This has been largely driven by two offspring – known as the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages – of the Omicron variant first identified in South Africa late last year.

What’s notable about the most recent spike is that there are a number of differences between what the country is currently experiencing and the first four waves of COVID-19 in South Africa.

Firstly, nearly all South Africans now have some form of immunity. This is due to either having been exposed to the virus, or being vaccinated, or a combination of both .

Secondly, the current resurgence has only seen a small increase in hospitalisations. And, so far, a very minor increase in excess mortality.

Thirdly, the current resurgence is the result of a sub-lineages of the variant (Omicron) that caused the fourth wave. The shift to resurgences driven by sub-lineages rather than new variants potentially heralds a change in the evolutionary pattern of the virus and a move to it becoming endemic.

Lastly, the country currently has the lowest level of restrictions in place compared to any period since the start of the pandemic.

These differences matter because they have important implications for interpretation of COVID-19 trends and the associated response. They show that South Africa appears to have entered a new phase of the epidemic.

Disclosure statement

Michelle J. Groome receives funding from the South African Medical Research Council and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Juliet Pulliam receives funding from the South African Department of Science and Technology-National Research Foundation Centres of Excellence Programme, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Wellcome Trust. She serves on the South African National Department of Health's Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 and is a core team member of the South African COVID-19 Modelling Consortium.

Sheetal Silal receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Health Organisation. She serves on the South African National Department of Health's Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 and is a core team member of the South African COVID-19 Modelling Consortium. She is a member of the WHO Immunization and vaccines related implementation research advisory committee (IVIR-AC)

“Serbian Gangsters’ Deadly South African Connection” Part 1

https://balkaninsight.com/2018/11/12/serbian-gangsters-deadly-south-african-connection-11-08-2018/

November 12, 2018

When four Serbian criminals with South African links were murdered in interlinked shootings, media speculated it was revenge for the killing of wartime paramilitary boss Arkan, but the murders actually showed how violence follows Serbian gangsters wherever they go.

Dobrosav Gavric is spending his days behind bars in South Africa, a long way from his homeland, awaiting a final decision on whether he will be sent back to Serbia to serve a prison sentence for killing the most notorious paramilitary leader of the 1990s wars – Zeljko Raznatovic, alias Arkan.

Gavric was convicted of murdering warlord Arkan in 2000 in Belgrade, but fled to South Africa to avoid serving his sentence. He is now facing extradition after South Africa’s Constitutional Court decided in late September that he could be sent back to Serbia, where he had argued that his life would be in danger.

He was caught after being wounded in a drive-by shooting in 2011, but despite his predicament, Gavric might consider himself lucky – several other Serbs who were convicted of involvement in the killing of Arkan or had relocated to South Africa to pursue their criminal activities have been murdered this year. Three were shot in South Africa, and another in Belgrade.

Some of the victims had fled Serbia to avoid going to prison, but the country in which they hoped to enjoy refuge from the law became the place where they met their violent deaths. Only Gavric survived, but now a Serbian jail seemingly awaits him – showing how Serbian gangsters’ dreams of operating freely abroad can deliver the same fate that they sought to escape at home.

Criminal fugitive finds African haven

On October 9, 2006, a court in the Serbian capital sentenced Gavric to 35 years in prison for shooting Arkan in the lobby of Belgrade’s Intercontinental Hotel. Two accomplices were given 30 years each.

Arkan had been the leader of the Serbian Volunteer Guard, also known as the Tigers, one of the most feared Serb paramilitary units of the Balkan wars, and had been indicted the previous year by the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia, which accused him of committing war crimes in north-west Bosnia in 1995.

During the trial, it was not established who ordered and organised his murder. Some believe that Arkan was shot as a result of a conflict over money with a gangster called Zoran Uskokovic ‘Skole’. Others believe that he was killed because he had begun to collaborate with the UN prosecutors in The Hague.

Court proceedings were restarted several times, but all the while Gavric regularly attended the proceedings – until the day of sentencing came, when he didn’t show up.

Gavric had fled Serbia, and was not heard of again until almost five years later, when it was discovered that he was living in South Africa. By that time, he working as a driver and bodyguard for a Cape Town underworld boss, Cyril Beeka, it eventually emerged when the South African gangster was shot dead in March 2011.

Mandy Wiener, a South African investigative journalist, told BIRN that after the murder of Beeka, local media reported that he had been accompanied at the time of his death by a bodyguard called Sase Kovacevic, a Serbian who had been in South Africa for a few years and was fairly well-known in Johannesburg poker circles.

Kovacevic co-owned a few businesses in the city, according to Wiener, and had also got to know a crime boss of Czech origin, Radovan Krejcir, and his circle of Eastern European associates.

“The incredible truth about Kovacevic’s real identity only emerged after the shooting [of Beeka], although South African police had been aware of it for around six months,” Wiener recalled in her book ‘Ministry of Crime’.

“Kovacevic was, in fact, Dobrosav Gavric, a Serbian fugitive.”

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“Serbian Gangsters’ Deadly South African Connection” Part 2

https://balkaninsight.com/2018/11/12/serbian-gangsters-deadly-south-african-connection-11-08-2018/

November 12, 2018

After Beeka’s killing, Gavric was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of 9.524 grammes of cocaine and with having false documents – a driver’s licence, a passport and a firearms permit under the name of Sasa Kovacevic.

It turned out that Gavric had obtained a passport from Bosnia and Herzegovina under the name of Sasa Kovacevic and fled Serbia via Croatia, Italy and Cuba to Ecuador. In 2007, he travelled to South Africa, where he kept using the alias of Kovacevic.

He came on a three-month visitor’s visa, then brought in his wife and two children, and bought a luxurious apartment overlooking the Cape Town waterfront.

He obtained a business visa under his wife’s name, which enabled him to open a restaurant in Johannesburg. He was also able to set up an import-export business and began to establish relationships with local crime boss Beeka and his network.

“So it was that for over three years, a highly sought-after international fugitive was living under an alias in South Africa with no one any the wiser. He was even able to secure business, driving and gun licences by using his fake passport. But towards the end of 2010, his identity did become known to intelligence agents and some suggest he might even have been working with the state to provide information,” Wiener wrote in her book.

A source close to Beeka told the Mail and Guardian newspaper: “Gavric came to South Africa’s underground and when he got here he was offered protection by Cyril Beeka in return for intelligence on Eastern Europe, gangs, drugs, etc. The deal was that he would get protection about his identity from ‘the [South African state] agencies’ and in return he promised them information on all the organisations from Eastern Europe and Serbia.”

On the day of the murder, Beeka was chatting to Gavric, reminiscing about his youth, when gunmen opened fire as they stopped at a traffic light.

“I was the driver and Cyril was seated in the front passenger seat. I saw something stop, but it was out of the corner of my eye,” Gavric said in a statement to police after the shooting.

“The next thing I recall was hearing two loud bangs going off. I was hit in my right arm as well as my left one and I noticed that Cyril had been hit in the chest. It sounded like a shotgun went off. There was smoke and glass and I was confused,” he added.

Gavric fought back, opening fire on the assailants, Wiener wrote in her book. He slammed the car into reverse, then pursued the motorbike, firing several shots at the hitmen, despite having taken a number of bullets to his own body.

“The next thing I recall was my motor vehicle lifting from the ground and I lost control,” he said in the police statement. Beeka died at the scene and Gavric was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.

Gavric’s present whereabouts are unknown. Some sources told BIRN that he has been in custody at Goodwood Correctional Facility near Cape Town since December 2011, while others said that he is being kept hidden under a state protection programme.

Beeka’s murderer was never caught, but Wiener said she thought Gavric was probably not a target in South Africa: “I don’t know if anyone is after Gavric here. Maybe from Serbia but I don’t think from the South African side. Unless he saw who killed Cyril Beeka when he was driving the car and he could testify against them.”

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“Serbian Gangsters’ Deadly South African Connection” Part 3

https://balkaninsight.com/2018/11/12/serbian-gangsters-deadly-south-african-connection-11-08-2018/

November 12, 2018

Serbian gangsters ‘feared and respected’

The two men convicted in 2006 as accomplices to Arkan’s murder were Milan ‘Miki’ Djuricic and Dragan ‘Gagi’ Nikolic.

Djuricic also went on the run and there was no information about his whereabouts for many years after he fled Serbia – until April 25, 2018, when he was murdered in Johannesburg in South Africa.

He was driving a jeep when three men attacked and killed him. He had a fake Belgian passport at the time.

A BIRN source in South Africa said that Djuricic had been living in Johannesburg for the previous three years and had a small business involving hotels, but that he was mostly involved in human trafficking and the drug trade. The source said that he was a “small fish” compared to Gavric.

Mile Novakovic, the former chief of Serbia’s Criminal Police Administration, said that both Djuricic and Gavric did not have a major role in criminal circles in the Balkans. He believes that their lowly status was why they were chosen to assassinate Arkan. “No one from high criminal circles would dare to take part in the execution of the number one state criminal,” Novakovic said.

But foreign criminals like Gavric are regarded as useful resources by local gangs, said South African security expert Mark Bolhuis.

“If you are an established mafia guy, especially if you are a Serb, you are automatically feared and respected in the underworld. There is information that you can be very dangerous, or very useful, or you can be a hitman or be part of a mafia organisation,” Bolhuis told BIRN.

“Once a gangster from overseas comes over they are accepted amongst gangs with open arms. Local gangs believe they can learn a lot from them and get lots of money. And then they hire them for different jobs – especially murders,” he added.

Bolhuis said that Serbian gangsters made contacts with local crime chiefs like Gavric’s employer, Cyril Beeka, and Radovan Krejcic, the underworld boss who originally came from the Czech Republic.

Krejcic is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence in South Africa after being found guilty of attempted murder, assault and kidnapping, amongst other things.

“In Africa, there was no bigger gangster than Krejcir,” Bolhuis said. “Many people got hurt by him and because of him. He did not work alone, of course, but he brought in people from abroad who were trained to kill. He had great ties to all the police chiefs, customs, municipality, government officials. But primarily with police chiefs.”

However Vojislav Tufegdzic, the author of ‘See You in the Obituaries’, a well-known book and documentary about the underworld in what was Yugoslavia during the 1990s, believes that media outlets in Serbia can be prone to exaggerating the importance of Serbian criminals abroad.

“Gavric was wounded in South Africa once again as a driver or bodyguard to a South African major criminal, certainly not as a person who had any bigger role on his own than in this country,” Tufegdzic said.

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“Serbian Gangsters’ Deadly South African Connection” Part 4

https://balkaninsight.com/2018/11/12/serbian-gangsters-deadly-south-african-connection-11-08-2018/

November 12, 2018

Death of an ‘information whore’

The third Serbian with South African connections who was killed this year was George Darmanovic, a South African state security agent and mafia mediator.

He was shot outside a court in the New Belgrade district of the Serbian capital by two men on a motorcycle in May, less than two weeks after Djuricic was killed.

Darmanovic was well-connected all the way to the top in South Africa, and played a crucial role that crossed over between official intelligence structures and people in the criminal underworld, said Wiener.

“He obviously had his own motives and his own political agendas but he was very successful at working both sides and passing intelligence from organised crime to the state and back again,” she claimed.

Bolhuis said this could have been the reason for his demise: “Darmanovic had a target pinned to his back for the last three years because he was a man with a very bad reputation,” the security expert explained.

“We use the term ‘information whore’ for such people. He sold information to anyone he could – whether the authorities, the police, one gang, the other gang, within the gang,” he added.

Bolhuis explained that Darmanovic worked by collecting information for whoever hired him, but at the same time he delivered information to the other side as well, and then also sold that information to the police.

Wiener said that Darmanovic always seemed to have the inside scoop on anything that happened in South Africa and lots of people spoke to him, from Crime Intelligence officers to private investigators. He was a nodal figure who peddled information, although it wasn’t always accurate, sources in South Africa said.

Darmanovic had been living in Serbia for the last four years before his death but he always had his finger on the pulse in South Africa, according to Wiener. “He was often the first one to let me know about a local development. Recently I had been receiving a flurry of messages for him in response to info that had come out in the Ministry of Crime. He knew everything about everything but often I struggled to make sense of all he had to say and there wasn’t always clarity.”

She said that she did not expect that Darmanovic to be killed, however.

“I wasn’t aware of any kind of hit that had been ordered on him here and I think a lot of people were very surprised,” she said.

“There is a lot of talk here in South Africa about who could be responsible and could it be linked to turf wars in the security industry in Cape Town. But to be honest I think it must have something to do with his business in Serbia. I don’t believe someone in South Africa would have been able to carry out the hit in Serbia,” she added.

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“Serbian Gangsters’ Deadly South African Connection” Part 5

https://balkaninsight.com/2018/11/12/serbian-gangsters-deadly-south-african-connection-11-08-2018/

November 12, 2018

The elusive Arkan connection

On July 17 this year came a third killing of a Serbian expatriate criminal in South Africa, Darko Kulic, who died in a drive-by shooting in Johannesburg. South African media have reported that it appears that the three victims were acquainted.

A source from the South African police told BIRN that they are “investigating whether the murders of Miki Djuricic, Gorgi George Darmanovic and Darko Kulic are connected to each other”.

Then on September 24, a fourth man was killed. Djordje ‘George’ Mihaljevic, a well-known businessman of Serbian/Montenegrin origin with ties to the Serbian underworld in South Africa, was shot dead in Johannesburg by two men on motorbikes. Mihaljevic was apparently best friends with the murdered Kulic, and also knew Darmanovic.

Serbian media have suggested the spate of murders was belated revenge for the killing of warlord Arkan in 2000, but South African experts believe that the criminals who fled Serbia died because they came into conflict with local gangsters after setting themselves up in business in their adopted country.

Mile Novakovic, former chief of Serbia’s Criminal Police Administration, said he thinks that the murders of Djuricic and Kulic in Johannesburg and Darmanovic in Belgrade had nothing to do with Arkan’s death.

“It’s been 18 years since Arkan’s murder and there is no one who would now care to avenge the ‘Commander’, as they called him. The murder of Djuricic in Johannesburg was a local showdown,” Novakovic insisted.

Tufegdzic also said he was sure that the murders were not revenge for Arkan’s death. “These fairy-tale theories are without merit,” he declared.

Bolhuis said that the Serbian gangsters came to South Africa because it is a “lucrative country for crime”, with “corrupt police and other officials” – but sometimes find that their safe haven from the judiciary at home can be more dangerous than a Serbian prison sentence.

“I expect more people will get hurt. There is no fairness or honour among criminals. At one point they will go for one another,” the South African security expert said. “If anyone touches their money, their families or disrespects them, they will make sure that these persons are punished, usually with a murder, in order to intimidate people who are cooperating.”

“Among criminals, there is no honour,” he added. “Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.”

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“Whistle-blower links Serbian drug lords, SA gangs” - Dobrosav Gavric

https://www.iol.co.za/news/whistle-blower-links-serbian-drug-lords-sa-gangs-1213613

January 16, 2012

The head of a Balkan cocaine and crime syndicate is hiding out in South Africa under the protection of local gang bosses, underworld sources reveal.

Fugitive Darko Savic – one of the world’s most wanted drug smugglers – is living under a different alias here, right under the noses of the authorities.

And local crime bosses are helping him avoid detection by using their network of corrupt cop contacts.

The revelation comes after the Daily Voice last week revealed how Serbian hitman Dobrosav Gavric lived in the Mother City for three years under the protection of slain crime boss Cyril Beeka.

Beeka’s murder lifted the lid on the shadowy links between international crime syndicates and local mobsters.

Today in an exclusive interview with the Daily Voice, a veteran former gangster turned whistle-blower confirms long-suspected links between SA crime gangs and Serbian drug lords.

And he provides a chilling insight into a series of high-profile murders – including Beeka’s killing in March last year.

In an interview with the Daily Voice, the terrified ex-dik ding reveals how:

n He is now on the run and fears for his life after his mob bosses turned against him;

n Someone “very near” to Cyril Beeka would have murdered him if the other attempt on his life failed;

n Hitmen use their cop contacts to confirm the identities of targets before having them whacked;

n International fugitive Darko Savic is hiding out in Gauteng with the help of local crime bosses.

In an interview with the Daily Voice from his hideaway in George, Eastern Cape, the whistle-blower who identifies himself only as “Uncle Sam”, says Gavric is not the only wanted Serbian using this country to escape justice.

He was also able to provide exact details about the cold-blooded murder of Yuri “The Russian” Ulianitski who was gunned down outside a restaurant in May 2007.

But he has kept a detailed diary of his criminal activities and those of his former mob colleagues.

And he has threatened to use the 116-page hand-written diary to put them behind bars if they come after him.

“I’ve got nothing to lose,” he says.

“I need to warn the public that the mafia is running the country with the help of cops and top politicians and that they have ruthless killers who will take out anyone who threatens them.”

*This article was published in the Daily Voice

“South Africa Raises Profile as Cocaine Trafficking Hub” – “Serbian traffickers, who have used their strong presence in both South Africa and Brazil’s port of Santos to import cocaine”

https://insightcrime.org/news/south-africa-major-cocaine-transit-hub/

14 September 2021

South Africa has made a rapid succession of large cocaine seizures in recent months, illuminating how the country and region now play a significant role as transit points for Latin American cocaine.

The largest such seizure came in August when police found one ton of cocaine in a shipping container at the port of Durban, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest seaport, that had arrived from Brazil’s port of Santos.

The confiscation raises to four tons the amount of cocaine seized in the country since March 2021: around 1000 kilograms from a fishing vessel on March 1, 800 kilograms from a towed jet ski on June 2, 541 kilograms from a container depot on June 22 and as well as 715 kilograms from police vehicles on July 9 [about the time of the riots].

All of the drug loads traveled from the Brazilian port of Santos and all but one entered in shipping containers at Durban, according to the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Furthermore, one criminal syndicate is reportedly behind at least three of the seized shipments, though news outlets claim the group has been linked to additional shipments in South Africa and Australia.

Local media have identified the suspected head of the recently dismantled cocaine syndicate as an Israeli national and known fugitive with an Interpol Red Notice issued in Antwerp for cocaine trafficking. Six others are currently on trial for their supposed membership of the drug trafficking ring.

Most of the cocaine then transits onwards, however, facilitated by the country’s excellent transport infrastructure, high-level police corruption and resource shortages in the area of drug control, according to a 2019 country profile by the ENACT Africa project. https://ocindex.enactafrica.org/assets/downloads/ocindex_profile_south_africa.pdf

The majority goes to Europe, mostly by shipping container and, to a lesser extent, by air with individual smugglers. This represents the so-called “Southern Route” that has long exported Afghan heroin to western European seaports.

Some of the shipments head for Hong Kong, a cocaine hotspot where Latin American traffickers are aggressively attempting to grow demand. South Africa is also a primary departure point for cocaine heading to Australia, where a single kilo fetches anywhere between $90,000 and $300,000, according to the government’s latest Illicit Drugs Data Report.

Finally, as evidenced by the alleged Israeli head of the recently dismantled trafficking ring, South Africa is also a midway point in terms of criminal migration, according to Richard Chelin, Senior Researcher at the Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies.

“[It] is a prominent settlement destination for foreign criminal actors, particularly from Nigeria, China, Pakistan, Israel and Southern and Eastern European nations,” he told InSight Crime.

Particularly important are Serbian traffickers, who have used their strong presence in both South Africa and Brazil’s port of Santos to import cocaine for domestic distribution and re-export to Australia, according to a 2020 report by the GI-TOC. https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Transnational-Tentacles-Global-Hotspots-of-Balkan-Organized-Crime-ENGLISH_MRES.pdf

“Powerful Serbian-American Drug Traffickers May Have Ties to Intelligence Agencies” Part 1

https://www.courthousenews.com/powerful-serbian-american-drug-traffickers-may-have-ties-to-intelligence-agencies/

September 1, 2020

A low-profile U.S.-Serbian gang has trafficked cocaine to Europe for decades. Some credit its longevity to friends in the shadows.

This article from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is part of an investigation with Jan Kuciak Investigative Center. Courthouse News Service is partnering with OCCRP on other investigations.

Mileta Miljanić, a Bosnian-born U.S. citizen, is a wanted man in Italy and faces arrest if he so much as changes planes there.

In New York, a 2003 federal indictment of Miljanić remains inexplicably open, with no apparent move to take him to court.

So it’s easy to find the leader of “Group America,” a brutal cocaine trafficking network that operates on at least four continents and is said to be responsible for a dozen murders.

He keeps an apartment in a neat townhouse in the Ridgewood section of Queens, New York.

His surname is on his doorbell.

Sometimes he even appears on television.

After a fire gutted the St. Sava Cathedral, Manhattan’s landmark Serbian Orthodox church in May 2016, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić flew to New York to see the damage. As he spoke to television reporters, viewers in Belgrade spotted a familiar face in the tour entourage: Mileta Miljanić.

Facing criticism, Dačić said he was told Miljanić was a church benefactor “who gave more money than all the other donors put together.”

Records from dozens of countries examined by OCCRP reveal decades of drug seizures and murders linked to Miljanić’s organization. Since the late 1990s, Group America associates have been arrested and charged in Serbia, Montenegro, Germany, Italy, Greece, Poland, South Africa, Argentina and Peru. More than five metric tonnes of Group America cocaine has been seized.

But Miljanić remains safe from arrest, at least in New York and in Serbia, where he made a visit in August, as shown in posts to an Instagram account used by his wife.

In Italy, where investigators have aggressively pursued Group America, authorities say they have been continuously hamstrung by the gang’s connections to the Serbian law enforcement — and perhaps beyond.

“Someone in the United States protects them,” a senior Italian police official told OCCRP in 2015.

“Powerful Serbian-American Drug Traffickers May Have Ties to Intelligence Agencies” Part 2

https://www.courthousenews.com/powerful-serbian-american-drug-traffickers-may-have-ties-to-intelligence-agencies/

September 1, 2020

A former senior police officer in Belgrade independently offered the same theory.

“I believe the CIA stands behind them, that is why we gave them the name Group America,” he said.

CIA officials declined comment, as have all other U.S. law enforcement or intelligence agencies contacted for this article.

Group America’s astonishing story is grounded in New York City’s Serbian-American immigrant community and in Serbia’s political history, but its operations were largely unknown to authorities in any country until 2001, when a gang insider codenamed Srećko – “Lucky” in Serbian – volunteered to tell the police what he knew.

For hours, stunned officers listened to the story of Yugoslavians who became criminals on the streets of New York, immersed themselves in Serbian politics and graduated to the world of high-volume international drug trafficking.

The police wrote reports, but their attempts to investigate went nowhere.

What is Group America?

The story of Group America begins in 1970, when a young Serb, Boško “The Yugo” Radonjić, emigrated to the United States from what was then Yugoslavia.

Radonjić was both a criminal and a strident opponent of his country’s communist rulers. A supporter of Serbia’s exiled royal family, he did prison time in the United States for a series of bomb plots targeting Yugoslav diplomatic missions.

In the 1980s, Radonjić was an acolyte of Jimmy Coonan, the leader of an ultraviolent Irish-American gang called the Westies that dominated New York’s old Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. He became head of the infamous gang after Coonan and other leaders went to prison. Under Radonjić, the Westies grew closer to the Gambino Mafia family, led by the infamous “Dapper Don” John Gotti. When Gotti faced racketeering charges in 1986, Radonjić helped tamper with the jury.

Two young Serbs in Radonjić’s entourage would eventually make Group America what it is today.

Mileta Miljanić was born in 1960 in Gacko, a bleak town in the dry grasslands of southeast Bosnia. It’s unclear when he left the Balkans, but he was issued a U.S. Social Security Number in New York City between 1982 and 1984.

He and his best friend, Zoran Jakšić, likely an emigree from Zrenjanin, a small city near Belgrade, worked as Radonjić’s bodyguards in New York. In the 1980s, both were convicted of crimes related to credit card fraud and spent time in federal prisons.

Miljanić served just 20 months of his three-year sentence. Jakšić was also paroled after serving some of his five-year sentence, but ended up back inside for a parole violation. He spent much of the early 1990s behind bars.

The gangsters returned to the Balkans as Yugoslavia disintegrated and Serbian nationalism led by President Slobodan Milošević surged in the early 1990s. Radonjić won support from elements in Serbia’s security service, which provided weapons and shielded them from both local and international investigations.

Around that time, Radonjic’s younger associate, Vojislav “Voya the American” Raičević, joined him in Belgrade and was given control of the gang.

“Powerful Serbian-American Drug Traffickers May Have Ties to Intelligence Agencies” Part 3

https://www.courthousenews.com/powerful-serbian-american-drug-traffickers-may-have-ties-to-intelligence-agencies/

September 1, 2020

Raičević oversaw the group’s transformation into Group America, a disciplined and secretive international criminal organization focusing on trafficking cocaine from South America to Europe. Authorities also attribute multiple contract killings to members, though they have never won a murder conviction.

The gang maintained its deep ties with the Serbian security service. In a 1997 conversation attributed to a Croatian secret service wiretap, Slobodan Milošević’s son, Marko, and another man were heard discussing Group America leader Raičević, who is described as “working for Boško Bojović,” a senior Montenegrin spy loyal to Milošević.

That was the year Raičević vanished.

In his lengthy confession to the police years later, Srećko said that after the missing Group America leader’s presumed murder, his brother, Veselin Vesko “Little Bear” Raičević, called a meeting to plan a campaign that would root out traitors and exact revenge.

Among the attendees, Srećko said, was Boško Bojović, who was then living in Belgrade as a top associate of Serbia’s intelligence chief.

Srećko said he was told that Raičević’s suspected assassin, Miša Cvjetičanin, was taken to a Belgrade villa and tortured until he named his conspirators. He was then dismembered with a chainsaw.

The subsequent bloody revenge spree against Raičević’s killers saw the murder of two rival gang heads, a police general, two Group America turncoats, and one of their fathers.

After the killing was done, Group America had a new leader: Mileta Miljanić, the man who today lives comfortably in New York.

Then in his late 30s, Miljanić had a reputation as a man capable of both incredible loyalty and calculated cruelty. When police asked Srećko to name gang members they could exploit as weak links, the informant said Miljanić was out of the question.

“Psychologically, he’s really prepared. He knows how to assess people through their feelings, their stories,” Srećko said. “He’s untouchable.”

Miljanić would lead the gang to more complex, and more lucrative, criminality.

Local Terror and Global Reach

Slobodan Milošević was driven from office in October 2000 after mass protests. The reformist government of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić that followed his ouster cautiously reached out to the West, instituted democratic reforms, and — in contrast to Milošević — was seen as hostile to organized crime.

Group America responded with domestic terrorism.

“Powerful Serbian-American Drug Traffickers May Have Ties to Intelligence Agencies” Part 4

https://www.courthousenews.com/powerful-serbian-american-drug-traffickers-may-have-ties-to-intelligence-agencies/

September 1, 2020

In 2002, the group was accused of orchestrating the nighttime assassination of police general Boško Buha on the banks of the Danube. In subsequent raids, police recovered a number of weapons, including two pistols and an assault rifle registered to Serbia’s Security Service (now Security Information Agency, or BIA) from the home of a Group America member. Two state security officers were charged, but the case has languished in the courts ever since.

In an indictment, prosecutors accused five group members of planning to kill senior government officials to “create fear among citizens and an atmosphere of inviolable power,” which would allow the gang to operate with impunity in a new political order.

Among Group America’s planned high-profile targets, prosecutors said, was the prime minister himself.

Months later, in March 2003, Đinđić was assassinated by a sniper.

Radonjić, by then no longer actively involved in gang leadership, was held by police for several weeks but was charged only with illegal possession of ammunition. The Đinđić hit was eventually credited to a rival gang, the Zemun clan. Radonjić died of natural causes in 2011.

In 1998, one year into Miljanić’s tenure as head of Group America, police in Peru arrested Jakšić and seized 1.22 kilograms of Group America cocaine hidden in spray cans destined for Miami. It was a taste of things to come.

In 2000, police in Bosnia seized a 164-kilogram consignment also linked to the gang.

By some estimates, the gang may have no more than 15 core members and perhaps 100 regular associates scattered across several continents but who travel internationally as needed. The group’s membership is fluid, often expanding by associating with other gangs in different regions and hiring freelancers for short-term work.

For example, Group America typically hires Serbian and Montenegrin sailors to smuggle shipments of less than 100 kilograms on commercial vessels and cruise ships sailing from South America to Europe, paying them on delivery. This approach reduces the cost of lost shipments and offers less incentive for authorities to spend time and money going after the group’s leaders.

In an assessment written by Italian investigators who tailed the gang in 2008 and 2009, detectives said they were impressed by its efficient management and ability to react quickly when threatened.

“The group is very strong economically and is able to create a base of operations in any city, but can also disappear or dissipate quickly in emergency situations,” they wrote.

‘Spies Deserve to Die’

That appraisal came after police in Milan stumbled across something big while monitoring routine cocaine sales around Northern Italy.

Curious detectives followed a drug dealer to a meeting with Mileta Miljanić’s nephew, Mladen Miljanić, who was in Italy to prepare for a cocaine delivery.

The police followed Mladen Miljanić to a room in the Gran Duca di York, a stately boutique hotel, and traced his associates to short-stay apartments and hotel rooms across the city. They deployed hidden cameras, concealed microphones, and telephone taps to learn more.

“Powerful Serbian-American Drug Traffickers May Have Ties to Intelligence Agencies” Part 5

https://www.courthousenews.com/powerful-serbian-american-drug-traffickers-may-have-ties-to-intelligence-agencies/

September 1, 2020

What they saw and heard was staggering.

“These are hardcore criminals, very dangerous ones,” Marcello Musso, the prosecutor who handled the probe, told OCCRP in 2016. “They have their own paramilitary structure with a clear chain of command and a lot of weapons. They easily changed apartments, places where they lived, phone numbers. They acted like police would, which made the investigation much harder.”

The group’s activities were clearly profitable. One surveillance video shows Jakšić in a Milan hotel room, nonchalantly stacking more than 1 million euros on the table in front of him.

Over several months, the Italians filled out a picture of Group America as a “services agency” in the international drug trade, buying cocaine from Latin American producers and selling it to European wholesalers, but staying away from street-level sales.

The police surveillance also revealed a global network with distribution channels in the Americas, Africa, and Europe – and indications of friends in important places.

“I can say some serious information came to me,” said Musso, who died in a traffic accident last year. “Horrible information about corruption, about ties between narco-traffickers and the Serbian police.”

In early 2009, the Italians listened as Mileta Miljanić told Jakšić that a member of Serbian intelligence had tipped him off to a rat in Group America’s ranks. He named Milenko Lasković, also known as Laki, as the informant who told police about the group in 2001. The accusation fit: Lasković’s nickname, “Laki,” is a variation of “Lucky,” the English translation of Srećko.

It was heartbreaking news for Miljanić. Lasković was an old friend, though it didn’t mean he would overlook the transgression.

“He needs to be eliminated,” Miljanić told Jakšić in a telephone conversation.

After police in Buenos Aires seized more than $6 million worth of Group America cocaine, Miljanić told his second-in-command that he had grilled Lasković about past seizures and was unsatisfied with his answers.

The conclusion, overheard by police, was inescapable.

“Spies deserve to die,” Jakšić told Miljanić.

A year later, on the evening of January 18, 2010, Lasković was shot three times in the head while parking his Mercedes in a Belgrade suburb.

His murder remains unsolved.

“Powerful Serbian-American Drug Traffickers May Have Ties to Intelligence Agencies” Part 6

https://www.courthousenews.com/powerful-serbian-american-drug-traffickers-may-have-ties-to-intelligence-agencies/

September 1, 2020

Hiding in Plain Sight

On a surveillance tape transcribed by Italian police, Miljanić is heard offering life advice and tips on how to manage the gang and avoid arrest. His audience was his Jakšić, whose looks, vices, and love of nightlife tended to attract attention.

“Everything should be relaxed, simple and normal,” Miljanić told him. “Zoran, please, take care. Don’t step into shit, and don’t take risks — and we will never be hungry. But if we fall, everything is over…”

Like the Dons of America’s traditional five New York mafia families, Miljanić himself leads a quiet life in New York. His primary residence appears to be the plain six-flat brick row house in Ridgewood, a working-class Queens neighborhood. His only known extravagance is a villa and acreage in Serbia.

Miljanić could blend easily into a crowd of accountants, but Jakšić — 6 1/2 feet tall, athletic, and with striking brown eyes — tends to get noticed.

While Miljanić stays close to home, Jakšić was a frequent flyer, often switching among 40 known false identities as he fronted for Group America around the world. At various times, authorities in Italy, Greece, Germany, and Argentina have issued warrants for his arrest.

For a decade, Jakšić’s primary base of operation was South America. Police in Peru say he did everything from negotiating deals with cocaine suppliers to handling payments and arranging shipments, often in bold and novel ways.

In Argentina he once planned to start a business that would smuggle cocaine to Spain in wine bottles. Police grew wise to the scheme and were about to arrest him but he fled the country.

Even when caught, Jakšić has managed to continue work and even gain advantage while in prison. Authorities say that after his 1998 arrest in Peru he made ample use of his prison term, forging strategic relationships and developing contacts with other inmates that later proved essential in the cocaine trade.

But Jakšić eventually fell hard, again in Peru. Police there arrested dozens of his associates and seized more than 854 kilograms of cocaine in a series of raids in 2016. Jakšić slipped away, likely thanks to a tip, but was arrested in the seaside city of Tumbes as he crossed the border from Ecuador.

While awaiting trial in Lima, Jakšić continued running Group America’s cocaine business from his cell at Miguel Castro Castro prison. In 2019 he was implicated in an escape plot and moved to the maximum-security Ancon 1 prison, where he is now serving a 25-year sentence for drug trafficking.

“Powerful Serbian-American Drug Traffickers May Have Ties to Intelligence Agencies” Part 7

https://www.courthousenews.com/powerful-serbian-american-drug-traffickers-may-have-ties-to-intelligence-agencies/

September 1, 2020

Closing In — and Slipping Away

Italian police in 2009 interrupted Group America’s drug delivery, but Miljanić andJakšić left the country before they could be arrested. Fearing the gang’s ties to intelligence services and links to the U.S. would prevent international cooperation, authorities decided to wait for them to return.

As they waited, the Italians kept monitoring the gang’s cell calls. A senior law enforcement official told OCCRP the wiretaps picked up Miljanić negotiating with Russian mobsters about a daring new joint venture to smuggle cocaine from Venezuela by submarine.

That plan likely soured on May 31, 2010. Alitalia had informed police Miljanić would be flying from Belgrade to Thessaloniki in Northern Greece. He was arrested as he changed planes in Rome.

Musso, the prosecutor in Milan, told OCCRP that he pushed to have Miljanić charged as the head of an organized crime family, which could have added as much as 15 years to any sentence. But Musso couldn’t get Italy’s anti-Mafia prosecutor in Rome to go along.

Both the prosecutor and the senior Italian police official attributed Rome’s reluctance to pressure from the U.S., saying that Miljanić, a U.S. citizen, received an unusual number of visitors from the U.S. Embassy while in custody. Italian officials rejected OCCRP’s requests for prison visitation records that might confirm those visits.

But Alfredo Foti, an Italian criminal defense attorney and university researcher, told OCCRP that prosecuting Miljanić as an organized crime figure would have been difficult. The charge of “Mmafia association” is usually reserved for traditional Italian groups and requires specific criminal acts that were not associated with the smuggling operation that resulted in charges against the Group America leaders.

The case was eventually sent to Venice, where Miljanić was sentenced to seven years in prison and a 40,000 euro fine for drug distribution — punishment more fitting of a low-level drug operative than the head of a global trafficking network. On appeal, the sentence was cut by a year.

Limited prison records show Miljanić was sent to a prison in the northeastern Italian town of Tolmezzo, where he spent time picking fruit and gardening in a program called “A Garden to Escape.”

On May 6, 2014, Miljanić was granted “regime di semiliberta,” a kind of parole that allowed him to spend much of his time outside of prison, unsupervised.

He disappeared on August 25, 2014, 13 months before completing his sentence.

The Surveillance Court of Trieste, which had jurisdiction over the prisoner, told OCCRP it “acted according to the law’’ and notified both national and Venetian prosecutors about his disappearance, but said that nothing happened.

The Venice prosecutor’s office said only that it has no pending extradition request for Miljanić. It’s unclear why.

“You should not be surprised that someone who is sentenced in Italy walks free in the USA,’’ Musso told OCCRP in 2016. “Americans take care of their citizens, defend them. Not like Spain. They extradite criminals to us.”

While Italian police and prosecutors privately expressed dismay that they were unable to charge Miljanić as a major drug trafficker, only Musso would speak on the record.

“The court was responsible for this, not the police,’’ Musso said. “The courts were not capable of doing this right.”

“But it is important that we discovered this [Group America] phenomenon,’’ Musso added. “Still, we did something important — arrested him. But yes, we were not perfect.”

Miljanić remains a wanted fugitive in Italy, but is apparently safe from arrest unless he returns there.

“Powerful Serbian-American Drug Traffickers May Have Ties to Intelligence Agencies” Part 8

https://www.courthousenews.com/powerful-serbian-american-drug-traffickers-may-have-ties-to-intelligence-agencies/

September 1, 2020

Friends in Low Places?

The U.S. Department of State did not respond to written requests for information about Miljanić and Group America. But there are tantalizing clues that the gang does have an “in” with U.S. intelligence or law enforcement agencies.

One is the group’s close alignment with the Serbian secret police in the 1990s.

According to media reports, Sir Ivor Roberts, the UK’s ambassador in Belgrade from 1994 to 1997, testified in the international court in The Hague in October 2019 that the former head of the Serbian National Security Service, Jovica Stanišić, was a “secret agent of the Central Intelligence Agency.”

Roberts told the court he could say no more because the British government has “not allowed him to talk about these matters.” He did not respond to an OCCRP request for an interview.

His description echoes allegations made by the Los Angeles Times in 2009 and in his own 2016 book, “Conversations with Milosevic.”

Another clue is buried in federal court records in New York.

The docket for the federal court for the Southern District of New York shows that in October 2003, Miljanić, Jakšić, and Efrain Eduardo Rodriguez were indicted on a single charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil M. Barofsky, a storied federal drug and financial crimes prosecutor, filed the case, which was immediately sealed.

U.S. grand jury indictments are commonly sealed until the accused is in custody, but unlike other sealed cases, USA v. Miljanić et al, was listed in the public docket. That listing, the only public record of the case, shows no indication that anyone was ever arrested, made a court appearance, or hired a defense attorney.

In December 2006, Barofsky went before a judge to unseal and immediately re-seal the indictment. There’s nothing in the docket to explain that unusual action.

Nearly 17 years after it was filed, the case remains on the books. Federal court, Drug Enforcement Administration and Justice Department officials said they can’t comment on an open case.

The handling of the Group America case contrasts starkly with Barofsky’s other work during his time with the U.S. Attorney’s elite International Narcotics Trafficking Unit. An OCCRP analysis of docket entries for dozens of cases filed in his last five years with the unit show court appearances, arrests, appointments of defense attorneys, convictions, sentences, or dismissal of charges in all other cases. Only the Group America case remains open and sealed.

Colombian Connections?

Barofsky is now a partner in Jenner & Block LLP, a top-shelf New York law firm. In July 2019 he told OCCRP he had only a vague recollection of the case.

He said he couldn’t recall why he went to court to open and then reseal it, a move he described as “odd.” Nor could he explain why the case remains active so many years later.

The former prosecutor volunteered that Rodriguez was a Colombian and said the case may have involved wiretap evidence linked to Cartagena or Medellin.

Three months after Miljanić, Jakšić, and Rodriguez were indicted, Barofsky became lead prosecutor in a long-running investigation that resulted in the indictment of 50 leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which was then financing guerilla operations by controlling much of Colombia’s cocaine production. Those indictments, still considered the largest narcotics case in U.S. history, were handed up in March 2006.

Though Rodriguez was likely Colombian and Barofsky said FARC was reportedly negotiating distribution deals with traffickers in Italy and Greece at that time, the former prosecutor discounted a link between the unusual handling of the Group America indictments and the FARC prosecutions. Evidence used in the FARC case came largely from Colombian defectors, he said.

“I’m sure we talked to other cooperators — I’m sure we did — but I don’t remember who they were,’’ Barofsky said. “They ([Miljanić, Jakšić and Rodriguez]) might have been part of FARC, but the question is, did one lead to the other? They might have been related… but I don’t recall them being connected.”

Yet Borofsky didn’t dismiss the idea that Group America is protected by an intelligence agency, rhetorically asking, “Could somebody else be running them as informants?”

Asked about the DEA or the CIA, Borofsky shrugged and said, “Or somebody else.”

>>16717045

>two containers of AK-47-type rifles not destined for South Africa went missing during the chaos that ensued at the Durban harbour when Transnet suffered a cyberattack

>the million-plus rounds of ammunition stolen during the July 2021 riots after it was moved, under suspicious circumstances, to a depot near the Durban harbour

>>16770235

>All of the drug loads traveled from the Brazilian port of Santos and all but one entered in shipping containers at Durban

Remember

“SA riots: Probe launched after ‘1.5 million rounds of ammunition’ looted” – “the ammo, imported from Brazil, would have ordinarily been shipped to Cape Town. It is unclear why the weaponry had been shipped to Durban”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/ammunition-looted-durban-where-is-it-update-riots-friday-16-july/

16-07-2021

That’s A LOT of ammunition. The shadow police minister is demanding answers, after more than a million rounds of ammo were stolen during the KZN riots.

Kevin Mileham, the Shadow Minister for Police, has released a statement condemning the incident, and questioned why certain security details were changed for the looted container. The DA representative is far from satisfied…

“It’s understood that a container with more than 1.5 million rounds of ammunition was looted at the Mobeni industrial area near Durban. This took place on Wednesday evening and that sources have stated that the ammo, imported from Brazil, would have ordinarily been shipped to Cape Town. It is unclear why the weaponry had been shipped to Durban.”

“These allegations coincide with a report in the Mail & Guardian this morning claiming that the violent riots, looting, and burning of businesses and malls were simply the first stage of a larger concerted strategy to destabilise the country.”

For Mileham, however, he suspects that the looters in question had some help from ‘inside sources’. According to the opposition figure, there is likely to have been some ‘willful cooperation’ from SAPS officials.

“The DA is also of the view that it would have been impossible for this incident to occur without the willful cooperation from some within the South African Police Service (SAPS), who would have been involved in safeguarding this ammunition. A case has been opened and a team has been assembled to trace the missing ammo.” | Kevin Mileham

Is this related?

>>16773984

>Slobodan Milošević was driven from office in October 2000 after mass protests. The reformist government of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić that followed his ouster cautiously reached out to the West, instituted democratic reforms, and — in contrast to Milošević — was seen as hostile to organized crime.

>Group America responded with domestic terrorism.

>>16415472

>Glencore was among dozens of companies accused of paying kickbacks to Iraq in 2005 by a commission that investigated the UN's Oil for Food programme. A preliminary judicial investigation found "a lack of culpable information". Meanwhile, in 2009, Glencore agreed to pay a cash settlement to Aluminium Bahrain to resolve a dispute over "controversial payments associated with a Glencore agent".

>>16462506

>“The ANC’s Oilgate” – Glencore, Iraq ties (Part 1)

>Imvume's role as an ANC "front company" first emerged in February last year when the M&G exposed its oil dealings with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Imvume principal Sandi Majali obtained lucrative crude oil allocations from that regime when he travelled to Iraq with top ANC officials between 2000 and 2002. More recently, Imvume described its boss as ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe's "economic adviser".

>The contract that caused all the trouble was awarded by PetroSA to Imvume on October 15 2002 — the day President Thabo Mbeki publicly launched PetroSA as the national oil company.

>Under the contract, Imvume — with the backing of Swiss-based resource trader Glencore International — was to supply PetroSA with regular cargoes of condensate, a feedstock for PetroSA's Mossel Bay gas-to-liquid fuels plant.

>>16462522

>Once it received payment from PetroSA, Imvume would immediately pay it on to Glencore, which sourced the cargo on international markets. Glencore paid Imvume a commission.

This may be a socialist website but provides interesting information.

“Oil-for-food scandal: Washington’s preemptive strike on the UN” – Kofi Annan, George Bush, Richard Goldstone (a Jewish South African Apartheid judge) investigated it

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2005/04/anna-a05.html

5 April 2005

A second interim report into the United Nation’s so-called oil-for-food scandal released last week exonerated secretary-general Kofi Annan of the main accusation against him: that he improperly used his influence to steer a UN contract worth $10 million a year to a Swiss firm Contecna that employed his son Kojo.

In all probability, some companies and individuals profitted handsomely from the $65 billion UN program that permitted the Saddam Hussein regime to sell oil and buy a limited range of humanitarian goods. The scale of the exercise, however, pales into insignificance alongside the current plundering of Iraq by Halliburton, Bechtel and other US corporations with close connections to the Bush administration and its illegal occupation of the country.

It also appears possible that Annan’s son may have traded on his father’s name to assist in obtaining a job and to set up in business. He would not be the first to do so. In his own sordid business dealings in the 1980s involving the Texas Rangers baseball team and Harken Energy, George W. Bush, the current US president, managed to leverage his family connections to then-vice president George Bush, his father, into a personal fortune worth millions.

The oil-for-food investigation, set up last April, is headed by former US Federal Reserve Board chairman Paul Volcker. Its two other members are Justice Richard Goldstone, the South African judge who prosecuted war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and Professor Mark Pieth, a Swiss academic specialist on money-laundering.

>>16697445

>”University of Witwatersrand Famous Alumni”

>>16931448

>“Oil-for-food scandal: Washington’s preemptive strike on the UN” – Kofi Annan, George Bush, Richard Goldstone (a Jewish South African Apartheid judge) investigated it

“Talk to Jazeera - Judge Richard Goldstone - 22 Oct 09 - Pt 1” - https://youtu.be/CyEyPxlnW-M

Hon.RichardGoldstone - for an Apartheid Supreme Court Judge, he was given a lot of responsibilities after the ANC got into power. (1 of 2)

https://worldjusticeproject.org/about-us/who-we-are/honorary-chairs/richard_goldstone

Former Judge, Constitutional Court

Richard J. Goldstone was born on the 26th October 1938. After graduating from the University of the Witwatersrand with a BA LLB cum laude in 1962 he practised as an Advocate at the Johannesburg Bar. In 1976 he was appointed Senior Counsel and in 1980 was made Judge of the Transvaal Supreme Court. In 1989 he was appointed Judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. From July 1994 to October 2003 he was a Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Since the spring of 2004, Justice Goldstone has been teaching as a visiting professor of law at number of United States Law Schools including Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, NYU Law School, Fordham Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, and the University if Virginia Law School. During 2016 he also taught at the Central European University in Budapest and at Oxford University.

Justice Goldstone is a member of the boards of Physicians for Human Rights, and the Fordham University’s International Institute for Humanitarian Affairs. He is the chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. He chairs the advisory boards of the Brandeis University Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, the Institute for Transitional Justice and Reconciliation and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. He is a member of the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability. In April 2004, he was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the Independent International Committee, chaired by Paul Volcker, to investigate the Iraq Oil for Food program. He is the Honorary President of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association. In 2008, he chaired a UN Committee to advise the United Nations on appropriate steps to preserve the archives and legacy of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. In 2009. he chaired the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on possible war crimes and international human rights violations committed by any party in the context of the military action in Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009.

From 1991 - 1994, he served as Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry regarding Public Violence and Intimidation that came to be known as the Goldstone Commission. He was the Chairperson of the Standing Advisory Committee of Company Law from 1984 to 2004. From 15 August 1994 to September 1996 he served as the Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. During 1998 he was the chairperson of a high level group of international experts that met in Valencia, Spain, and drafted a Declaration of Human Duties and Responsibilities for the Director General of UNESCO (the Valencia Declaration). From August 1999 until December 2001he was the chairperson of the International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo. In December 2001 he was appointed as the co-chairperson of the International Task Force on Terrorism which was established by the International Bar Association. From 1999 to 2003 he served as a member of the International Group of Advisers of the International Committee of the Red Cross. From 1985 to 2000, Justice Goldstone was National President of the National Institute of Crime Prevention and the Rehabilitation of Offenders (NICRO).

>>16931473

“Talk to Jazeera - Judge Richard Goldstone - 22 Oct 09 - Pt 2” - https://youtu.be/MObLAhGSVoo

Hon.RichardGoldstone - for an Apartheid Supreme Court Judge, he was given a lot of responsibilities after the ANC got into power. (2 of 2)

https://worldjusticeproject.org/about-us/who-we-are/honorary-chairs/richard_goldstone

From 1995 to 2007 he was the Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. The many awards he has received locally and internationally include the International Human Rights Award of the American Bar Association (1994) and Honorary Doctorates of Law from universities in South Africa, Europe, North America and Israel. He is an Honorary Bencher of the Inner Temple, London, an Honorary Fellow of St Johns College, Cambridge, an Honorary Member of the Association of the Bar of New York, and a Fellow of the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs at Harvard University. He is a Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In October 2006 he shared with Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights. In May, 2007 he received the Richard E. Neustadt Award from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In January 2007 he received the World Peace Through Law Award from the Whitney Harris Institute for Global Legal Studies at International Law at Washington University in St. Louis. In May 2009, he received the International Justice Award of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and in December 2009, the Stockholm Award for International Justice.

He is the author of For Humanity: Reflections of a War Crimes Investigator, (2001) Yale University Press, and the co-author of International Judicial Institutions: the Architecture of International Justice at Home and Abroad (2008) Routledge.

He is married (wife Noleen) and has two married daughters - Glenda and Nicole. He has four grandsons, Jason, Sean, Ben and Jordan.

>>16931448

“Are You Racist? | George Galloway | Oxford Union” – Galloway admits that he was an underground agent of the ANC during Apartheid under Nelson Mandela. https://youtu.be/6jfTaIW8mqg

“The Final Volcker Oil for Food Report: An Assessment” - George Galloway (An ANC agent) and others

https://www.heritage.org/report/the-final-volcker-oil-food-report-assessment

November 10, 2005

The $34 million U.N.-appointed Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) issued its fifth and final report on October 27.[1] The 18-month investigation, chaired by Paul Volcker, has documented a huge amount of evidence regarding manipulation of the $60 billion Oil-for-Food Program by the Saddam Hussein regime with the complicity of more than 2,200 companies in 66 countries as well as a number of prominent international politicians.

The 500-page report paints an ugly tableau of bribery, kickbacks, corruption, and fraud on a global scale-without a doubt the biggest financial scandal in modern history. It amply demonstrates how the Iraqi dictator generously rewarded those who supported the lifting of U.N. sanctions on Iraq and who paid lip-service to his barbaric regime. Oil-for-Food became a shameless political charade through which Saddam Hussein attempted to manipulate decision-making at the U.N. Security Council by buying the support of influential figures in Russia and France.

The IIC evidence confirms many of the findings of the groundbreaking Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) inquiry, which initially exposed the close ties between senior French and Russian politicians and the Iraqi regime.[2] The IIC's findings also broadly support the evidence presented by the PSI in its recent report on the activities of British MP George Galloway.[3]

• Several Russian political parties and politicians received allocations of Iraqi oil, including:

• The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (125.1 million barrels)

• Vladimir Zhirinovsky and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (73 million barrels)

• Party of Peace and Unity (55.5 million barrels)

• Alexander Voloshin, Chief of Staff to Russian President Vladimir Putin (4.3 million barrels)[12]

• The Iraqi government, in addition to giving preference to French-based companies, "granted oil allocations to individuals based in France who espoused pro-Iraq views." These included:

• Jean-Bernard Merimee, Special Adviser to the United Nations, with the rank of Under-Secretary General (6 million barrels)

• Charles Pasqua, former Minister of the Interior (11 million barrels)[13]

• Claude Kaspereit, businessman and son of French MP Gabriel Kaspereit (over 9.5 million barrels)

• Serge Boidevaix, former Director of the Department for North Africa and the Middle East, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (over 32 million barrels)

• Gilles Munier, Secretary-General of the French-Iraqi Friendship Association (11.8 million barrels)[14]

• British Member of Parliament George Galloway was allocated "a total of over 18 million barrels of oil" either directly "or in the name of one of his associates, Fawaz Abdullah Zureikat." Nearly two-thirds of the oil was lifted, or loaded by tanker at a port.

• "Mr. Zureikat received commissions for handling the sale of approximately 11 million barrels that were allocated in Mr. Galloway's name."

• "According to Iraqi officials, oil allocations were granted to fund Mr. Galloway's anti-sanctions activities. Iraqi officials identified Mr. Zureikat as acting on Mr. Galloway's behalf to conduct the oil transactions in Baghdad."[15]

• Roberto Formigioni, the President of the Lombardy Region of Italy was "granted a total of over 27 million barrels of oil" by the Government of Iraq. Over 24.1 million barrels of this oil were lifted.[16]

Serious questions have also emerged regarding blatant interference with the conclusions of the Volcker inquiry by the office of the U.N. Secretary-General. A recent report by the Los Angeles Times revealed an extraordinary last-minute intervention by Annan to protect his own name and head off the prospect of resignation, raising huge doubts over the independence of the U.N.-appointed inquiry.

After reading the above posts, do you want businesses manipulating your government?

“Local Business, Local Peace: the Peacebuilding Potential of the Domestic Private Sector; Case study South Africa*” – “Exploring the contributions of the private sector to the social, economic and political transformation process in South Africa”

https://www.international-alert.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/27_section_2_South_Africa.pdf

Conclusions

The South African case exhibits some remarkable and progressive examples of collective corporate citizenship efforts, and demonstrates the significant contribution that the private sector can make to a society in transition through dialogue, facilitation and institution building. By working collaboratively with government agencies and other stakeholders, business coalitions can play a vital role in facilitating a successful, political transition process. Collective business responses have benefits, such as the pooling of scarce financial and human resources, and reaching scale and critical mass beyond the potential impact of any one corporation. This paper provides evidence of the private sector’s contribution to the transformation process in unprecedented ways by promoting democracy and peace, as well as sustainable development in South Africa. The case is made that, under certain conditions, corporations can achieve more through a collective approach to improving state institutions and changing public policy, rather than through individual projects.

A reflection on the lessons from the role of the business sector in the South African transition process confirms the imperative of business leadership, political leadership, relationship building and the need for responsive institutions. The findings validate the need for corporate citizenship thinking to extend beyond projects and even the value chain. There is an opportunity for the private sector to impact on public policy, and to achieve systems change in a way that benefits broader society and simultaneously improves the business environment. A better business environment, in the form of good social, economic and physical infrastructure, represents the potential, direct business benefits of the collective corporate citizenship approach. A better-educated workforce, less crime and violence, improved housing conditions and stronger social cohesion can reduce the cost and risk of doing business, and improve the competitiveness of corporations.

This study confirms that the private sector can indeed impact positively on the broader architecture of society and contribute to deeper systemic change. However, there is a need for clearer conceptual understanding of the limits and potential for collective private sector engagement of the development challenges traditionally considered to be beyond its reach. Indeed, new thinking about the role of the private sector in global governance and systems change is essential in developing strategic responses to the complex sustainability questions facing the world in the 21st century.

This case study is adapted from an article that appeared in the Journal of Corporate Citizenship, issue 18, summer 2005