“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

>>17381859

>When contacted, Casalee protested it was merely trading in tobacco. However, an arms trader, Ruy Mendes Franco, was able to produce a catalogue from the company listing a range of items made by the South African firm Armscor and the Israeli defence contractor Israeli Military Industries.

>One of the items was the South African 155mm artillery gun developed for Armscor by Gerald Bull, the 'Supergun' inventor.

>>17382604

> [Marc] Rich delivered over 2.5 million tons of Iranian oil to South Africa. Among the commodities swapped for the Iranian oil was 155-millimeter howitzers and ground-to-air missiles, manufactured in the South African factories of Gerald Bull’s Space Research Corp.

“Gerald Bull │ Super Gun │ History Documentary │” - https://youtu.be/UvL9qcJKqOw

25:08 – “[Jack] Frost informed the United States Office of Munitions Control that Bull and the South Africans were discussing breaking the arms embargo but it made no difference. Within weeks Bull ordered 60 cannon barrels and 50 000 semi-finished shells from a US Army munitions plant. Apparently someone in Washington was pulling strings and cutting red tape. Approval that could have taken months was granted in just 4 days… 4 days is impressive.”

27:08 – “Now back home in the US, Bull was also being investigated by special agent Larry Curtis of the US Customs Service. He was surprised to find evidence leading to the US government. Well during the course of the investigation I went to the CIA in Washington, the door was shut on me. I was not allowed to make direct contact. He also found the letter from the arms dealer, Jack Frost, to the Office of Munitions Control. He ahd information which he had supplied to the Department of State prior to our investigation. Nothing to my knowledge was followed up on of his original information… But the evidence against Bull was mounting. Behind the smiles, his life was falling apart. His companies were going bankrupt. Eventhough one part of the US government had seemed to encourage his dealings with South Africa, another was now bringing criminal charges against him. We were talking about indicting 15 individuals. I believe 3 countries and 5 corporations but then the weekend before the trial, Bull and his partner Rogers Gregory went into a huddle with the US attorneys. A deal was being struck. When I was advised, the following Monday that Bull and Gregory were the only ones indicted, I was total surprised, very disappointed. Then bewildered as to the results. The next day, Bull pled guilty. The effect was that evidence of government cover-up and CIA collusion in Bull’s South Africa deal was never heard in open court. I was told that the reason we never went any further was because there had been a phone call from the White House… Whatever happened behind the scenes, Bull was left to fend for himself.”

31:39 – “Everybody in the arms business fetches up in Brussels. The same as they say, all roads lead to Rome. All guns point from Brussels.”

It is worth watching in full.

>>17397385

“George Bush and the 12333 serial murder ring” - “The Death of Gerald Bull [Canadian]”

https://archive.org/stream/GeorgeBushAndThe12333SerialMurderRing/GeorgeBushAndThe12333SerialMurderRing_djvu.txt

Among the matters that [Andre] Cools was reportedly investigating at the time of his assassination, was the death of arms inventor and manufacturer Gerald Bull. Bull was killed outside his Brussels home on March 22, 1990. All of Bull's business records disappeared immediately after his murder, developed a number of long-range guns, including the most advanced 155-millimeter howitzer, and the much ballyhooed "Super-Gun," a long-range cannon, thought to be able to launch even small satellites into outer space.

In 1977, beset with financial difficulties, Bull agreed to sell parts of Space ResearchCorp. to the government of South Africa's state arms- manufacturing company, Armscor. The South African broker for the deal was the firm's chief sales representative, J.S. Coutzee. Through a series of offshore financial transactions, involving the Caribbean island of Antigua, the sale was completed, and South Africa became one of the world's leading manufacturers of Bull's 155-millimeter gun, and ammunition. On the South African side, Bull's operations were abetted by Israel, which already had established strong ties into South Africa's defense sector, even developing a testing ground for joint Israeli-South African missiles, and other sophisticated weaponry. Israel's leading arms "salesman," Shaul Eisenberg, became a close business associate of Bull's in South Africa.

Bull and Space Research were no strangers to Africa. In 1975, Space Research had been involved in "Operation Feature," a U.S. government-sanctioned covert operation which provided weapons to Dr. Jonas Savimbi, the leader of the UNITA rebels in Angola. "Operation Feature" was a predecessor to all of the covert arms dealings of the 1980s.

The South Africa business deal ultimately blew up in Bull's face. He was indicted in the United States during the Carter administration, and served four months in federal prison, for violating a U.S. arms embargo against South Africa.

When Bull got out of jail, he accepted a lucrative offer from the People's Republic of China, to provide them with the howitzer technology. Bull used the money to relocate Space Research to Belgium, where he entered into a series of joint ventures with one of Belgium' s premier arms manufacturers, and a charter member of the "explosives cartel," Poudrieres Reunies de Belgique (PRB). Throughout the 1980s, from his new European base of operations. Bull provided their [needs], as the precedent-setting event of Margaret Thatcher and George Bush's "new world order."

Once again, Bull had found himself in the unfortunate position of being in the wrong business, at the wrong time. On March 22, 1990, Christopher Gumbley, James's partner in the Astra takeover of PRB , met with Gerald Bull at a Brussels hotel, to plan out a public counterattack against the "super-gun" charges. James, Gumbley, and Bull had a lot to say in their own defense.

Every aspect of the Iraq dealings of Space Research had been cleared at the highest levels of the Thatcher and Reagan-Bush administrations. Space Research's closest partners in the arms dealings with Iraq had been a string of British firms, all part-owned by Jonathan Aitken, Thatcher's secretary of state for defense procurement, and a leading figure in the Tory Party hierarchy. Furthermore, Bull's deals with Iraq had been bankrolled by Societe Generale, the banking arm of the Societe Generale de Belgique, a holding company of the Belgian royal house, which owns 40% of the country's industry.

The Belgian- Iraqi contracts had been negotiated by Count Herve de Carmoy, a French nobleman and member of the Trilateral Commission, who was the international director of Britain's Midland Bank, and the co-chairman of Societe Generale de Belgique, representing the interests of a large bloc of French shareholders. Ironically, Count de Carmoy had traveled to Baghdad in 1989, to work out the final details of the Space Research contracts with Iraq, along with plans to build a series of chemical plants as well. Those plants would be later described as "chemical weapons factories," and obliterated by "coalition" bombing raids in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

When the Gumbley-Bull meeting at the Brussels hotel broke up, Bull returned home. He was gunned down outside his house. Two weeks later, Gumbley was arrested and jailed in Britain, on vague "corruption" charges.

>>17381797

>72. The elite network maintains close commercial ties with transnational criminal networks, including those of Victor Bout, Sanjivan Ruprah and Richard Muamba Nozi. Victor Bout's aircraft are utilized for a number of purposes including transport of coltan and cassiterite, the transport of supplies into mining sites, and the transport of military troops and equipment. During the last major military campaign in Pweto, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Victor Bout's aircraft were used to transport RPA personnel to the area.

>>17381802

>BOUT Victor

>>16960573

>Robert Maxwell and Mendel Kaplan (South African) would have worked closely together to help Soviet Jews migrate to Israel

>>17382604

>>17382611

>>17382612

>>17382627

>>17382631

>>17382664

>Shabtai Kalmanowitch/Kalmanovitch

“Sharon and His Mafiya Allies Plot Israel Election Theft; The Real 'Godfather': Marc Rich” - Viktor Bout, Rabbi Ronald Greenwald, Shabtai Kalmanowitch, Sol Kerzner, Bophuthatswana, Glencore, Mossad, etc. – Part 1

https://larouchepub.com/other/2003/3001sharon_mafiya.html

January 10, 2003

The Real 'Godfather': Marc Rich

EIR's ongoing investigation into the Russian Mafiya's current drive to consolidate a vise-like grip over Israel, via Sharon's re-election on Jan. 28, has found that all roads, eventually, lead to Zug, Switzerland and fugitive commodity trader Marc Rich. If the Russian Mafiya has one "Godfather," it is Rich.

Rich, up until his December 2000 pardon by President Bill Clinton, had been facing 325 years in jail in the United States, on a 1983 Federal indictment for trading with the enemy (Iran) and tax evasion. But those charges represented only a hint of the true story. By the time Rich and his partner, Pincus Green, fled from the U.S. indictments, and set up shop in Zug, they had already emerged as the world's leading sanctions-busters, providing embargoed oil from Khomeini's Iran and the Soviet Union to the apartheid regime in South Africa, in exchange for a virtual monopoly on some of Africa's and the Soviet Union's most precious metal reserves.

Rich, for decades, had the exclusive foreign contract to market Russian minerals and precious metals; his Soviet and Russian ties also involved massive international arms sales—some recent deals, reportedly, in partnership with Viktor Bout, the most notorious of the Russian black market gun-runners, who shares a base of operations with Rich in the tiny Arab Emirate of Sharjah, a well-known smugglers' haven, adjacent to the money-laundering capital of the Persian Gulf, Dubai. Bout has been linked to major arms sales to the Afghan Taliban, and to Liberia's Charles Taylor and the murderous Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone. Rich, long ago, established Liberia and Sierra Leone as two of his major African bases, dealing in "blood diamonds." Further, Bout's arms sales to the Taliban were carried out with Vadim Rabinovich, [Grigori] Loutchansky's Ukrainian Nordex partner!

Rich's links to the Russian Mafiya, however, long predated his flight to Zug. As EIR first documented in the March 17, 1988 Special Report, "The Kalmanowitch Report: Moscow's Moles in the Reagan-Bush Administration," Rich sponsored the original Russian mob migration to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, which began shortly after the U.S. Congress' passage of the Jackson-Vanek Amendment, linking all U.S. trade with the Soviet Union to Moscow's treatment of Soviet Jewry. Beginning in the mid-1970s, Soviet Jews began a mass migration to the United States and Israel. Many immigrants, whether or not they were actually of Jewish parentage, were Russian mobsters, some having served long sentences in the gulag for their lucrative black market activities, often in league with equally corrupt Soviet Communist Party and KGB apparatchiks.

According to Friedman, one of the first bosses of the Brighton Beach Mafiya, Evsei Agron, had become a vor v zakonye ("thief-in-law") while serving seven years in a Soviet prison for murder. In 1971, he left the Soviet Union, and set up a gambling and prostitution ring in Hamburg, Germany, before arriving in the United States in October 1975.

He was greeted, upon his arrival in Brooklyn, by Rabbi Ronald Greenwald, one of Marc Rich's most trusted operatives, who would handle all of Rich's American business dealings, after the oil and metal trader fled to Switzerland. Greenwald introduced Agron to Murray Wilson, one of the Lansky Syndicate's most efficient money-launderers, who was, at the time, working for the Genovese crime family.

Greenwald ushered the Russian gangsters into the world of bigtime organized crime, from Las Vegas casino skimming, to a multibillion-dollar-a-year gasoline tax evasion scam.

Greenwald ushered the Russian gangsters into the world of bigtime organized crime, from Las Vegas casino skimming, to a multibillion-dollar-a-year gasoline tax evasion scam.

>>17397454

“Sharon and His Mafiya Allies Plot Israel Election Theft; The Real 'Godfather': Marc Rich” - Viktor Bout, Rabbi Ronald Greenwald, Shabtai Kalmanowitch, Sol Kerzner, Bophuthatswana, Glencore, Mossad, etc. – Part 2

https://larouchepub.com/other/2003/3001sharon_mafiya.html

January 10, 2003

Agron's successor as Brighton Beach Mafiya crime lord, Marat Balagula, extended the Russian underworld's reach to mineral-rich Africa—with Greenwald and Rich providing all of the connections. In 1977, Greenwald, exploiting Rich's sanction-busting ties to South Africa, was named as the Ambassador to the United States, from the newly established "independent" bantustan of Bophuthatswana. Rich, Greenwald, and Israeli Likud operative—and soon to be busted KGB spy—Shabtai Kalmanowitch, created a front company, B International, which ran the bantustan—in league with casino mogul Sol Kurzner, whose Sun City casino resort [(Bophuthatswana): Additional revenues came from the Sun City casino - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bophuthatswana] became a favorite money-laundering vehicle for the Israeli Mossad, as well as international crime syndicates. Rich's other "cut" in the Bophuthatswana deal, was control over the bantustan's platinum mines—which produce one-third of the world's output of the precious metal.

In 1985, Rich, Greenwald, and Kalmanowitch—backed up by their Russian Mafiya underlings, and a team of "former" Mossad and Israeli Defense Forces operatives—all allied with Ariel Sharon—staged a coup d'état in the diamond-rich West African state of Sierra Leone. Rich and Kalmanowitch gobbled up the country's diamond, gold, and iron mines, and looted the place blind. A full 85% of Sierra Leone's diamonds were smuggled onto the black market through Russian Mafiya, Mossad, and other routes, controlled by Rich and Kalmanowitch.

In April 1987, according to Interpol documents obtained by Friedman, Kalmanowitch and Greenwald got caught in a multimillion-dollar check-kiting scheme, targetting Merrill Lynch. Scotland Yard arrested Kalmanowitch in London, and extradited him to the United States. Free on bail, Kalmanowitch fled to Israel, where he was promptly arrested—on charges of spying for the Soviet KGB!

Even in jail, Kalmanowitch continued his collaboration with Rich. His bodyguard in the Israeli desert prison, Monya Elson, another Russian Mafiya thug, who was busted in 1984 for smuggling cocaine between the United States and Israel, returned to Brighton Beach in 1990, to take over as Mafiya boss-of-bosses.

Rich, in the meantime, was busy creating the black infrastructure through which hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Russian state assets would be smuggled out of the collapsing Soviet Union into Swiss, Israeli, Cypriot, Antiguan, and other offshore dirty-money havens.

In June 2002, Swiss, Italian, and U.S. law enforcement agents carried out a major crackdown on Russian Mafiya operations, dubbed "Operation Spiderweb." According to Bologna, Italy chief investigative magistrate Paolo Giovagnoli, the probe produced evidence linking Marc Rich to the Mafiya operations, running through the Bank of New York, owned by another Swiss-based Rich business crony, Bruce Rappaport. Rappaport also is a partner of Ariel Sharon intimate Arie Genger.

According to news accounts of "Operation Spiderweb," Interpol and British police documents also established that Marc Rich was the partner of Grigori Loutchansky in the 1989 launching of Nordex, which was "created by the old guard of the communist regime to allow the exodus of U.S.S.R. Communist Party funds before the Soviet Union's collapse."

The investigation showed that Rich's Swiss company, Glencore International AG, had intricate ties to both Nordex and another Russian front company, Benex, which used the Bank of New York to launder stolen Soviet and Russian assets—many of which wound up, along with the thieves themselves, in Israel. Israel, to this day, has no laws prohibiting money laundering.

From his Zug base of operations, Rich established a string of tax-exempt foundations, including the Marc Rich Charitable Foundation and a sister foundation in Israel. Rich's "charitable" activities in Israel are run by a former senior Mossad operative, Avner Azulay. Rich has boasted that his charitable activities have included the financing of international Mossad operations—including the airlifting of Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the early 1990s. Rich's "charitable" activities in Israel, according to several U.S. and Israeli intelligence sources, should be viewed as one major source of Russian Mafiya cash into the Sharon campaign.

>>17397454

>>17397462

“Sharon and His Mafiya Allies Plot Israel Election Theft; Clinton Was Set Up”

https://larouchepub.com/other/2003/3001sharon_mafiya.html

January 10, 2003

[There is a lot more information in the article]

Clinton Was Set Up

The Rich pardon, which blew up immediately in the face of President Clinton, was orchestrated, in fact, by some of the ex-President's most ardent enemies, within Israel and within his own U.S. Democratic Party, including the friends of Al Gore and Joe Lieberman, led by Michael Steinhardt, the son of Meyer Lansky syndicate jewelry fence, "Red" Steinhardt. Steinhardt launched the Rich pardon effort in late 1999, in league with two top "former" Mossad officials, Zvi Rafiah and Azulay.

Rafiah had been the Israeli controller of a nest of spies and agents-of-influence, operating in the 1970s on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The pivotal player in the Rafiah-run spy network was Stephen Bryen, who served as staff director of the Near East Subcommittee, a position that gave him access to classified Pentagon documents on all the Arab military forces. Other allies of Bryen in the Senate-based spy cell, reportedly included: Richard Perle, Elliott Abrams, Frank Gaffney, and Steven Emerson.

In February 1978, Bryen was seen passing Pentagon secrets to a delegation of Israeli Defense Ministry officials at the Madison Hotel, in Washington, D.C. It took a major effort by top Zionists in the U.S. Justice Department to cover up the Bryen spy operation. Rafiah left his diplomatic post at the Israeli Embassy, only to return to the U.S. capital shortly after—as the business representative of several Israeli arms manufacturers.

While President Clinton took a big political hit over the Marc Rich pardon, and may still be facing legal problems down the line, the actual architect of Rich's escape from the clutches of American prosecutors is riding high in the Pennsylvania Avenue corridors of power: Lewis Libby, the chief of staff and national security aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was, for more than 15 years, Marc Rich's attorney, fending off Federal investigators, and, eventually, playing the key behind-the-scenes role in orchestrating the pardon.

Libby was the law partner and protégé of Leonard Garment, the Richard Nixon attorney, who later emerged as one of the central damage-control operatives for Sharon, "Dirty Rafi" Eytan, and other Likud spooks, following the U.S. arrest of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in November 1985.

Garment appointed Libby to handle all of Rich's legal affairs for their firm, Dickstein Shapiro. The only time that Libby did not handle the Rich account, was when he served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations—as the deputy to his other mentor, who is today Deputy Secretary of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz. Following the Pollard arrest, Wolfowitz's name had appeared on the list of suspected Pollard handlers, inside the U.S. national security establishment. The list, which also included Bryen and Perle, was compiled by the General Counsel to the Secretary of Defense.

With Rich and the Russian Mafiya's ties extended all the way up into the Office of the Vice President of the United States, it is no wonder that Ariel Sharon boasts that Israeli-American ties have never been tighter.

“4. Apartheid's "Little Israel": Bophuthatswana” (Part 1)

https://africaisacountry.creatavist.com/apartheidanalogy

http://web.archive.org/web/20141204234712/https://africaisacountry.creatavist.com/apartheidanalogy

Arianna Lissoni

It would be hard for present-day visitors of Mafikeng, the administrative capital of South Africa’s North West Province, to miss the sight of its massive stadium on the otherwise flat landscape. The Olympic-standard football stadium, which can accommodate up to 60,000 spectators, is inactive and was not deemed suitable to host any 2010 FIFA World Cup games. What would not be immediately evident to the eye, however, is that Mahikeng’s white elephant – known in its heyday as the Independence Stadium - was planned by Israeli architects and built by an Israeli construction firm during the bantustan era in apartheid South Africa.

Kept under cover for a long time, the full extent of Israeli-South African collaboration on nuclear and military matters has recently been exposed in Sasha Polakow-Suransky’s The Unspoken Alliance (2010).[1] Yet there is another relationship between these two countries (which started as an offshoot of the Pretoria-Jerusalem axis and of which Mahikeng’s stadium is one of the material remains) that was very public in its days, but appears to have been largely forgotten: the one between Israel and South Africa’s bantustans.

That this relationship has been forgotten is surprising, given the parallels between South Africa’s apartheid policy and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians (where the bantustans are often compared to the Palestinian territories as politically and economically unviable ‘dumping grounds’ for black South Africans and Palestinians respectively). The ties between the former bantustans and Israel complicate this analogy and twist it into new directions that are explored below. Moreover, Israel’s extensive relations with the bantustans reveal the country’s historical involvement (beyond the level of military and nuclear cooperation) in supporting one of the cornerstones of apartheid ideology.

‘Home, Sweet Homeland’

In 1973, the Organization of African Unity passed a resolution urging its member states to sever diplomatic ties with Israel in condemnation of its continued occupation of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula after the Yom Kippur War. Apartheid South Africa, along with a small group of reactionary African countries headed by Zaire, had no qualms about establishing relations with Israel—at a time when Israel was beginning to lose international credibility and the majority of African states were breaking theirs off. South African Prime Minister John Vorster’s famous visit to Israel in 1976 not only placed the diplomatic seal on a ‘much bigger deal’ between the two countries (by 1977 South Africa had become Israel’s largest arms customer),[2] but also paved the way for a whole other series of diplomatic and economic relations which had as partners South Africa’s so-called ‘homelands’. From 1980 onwards one after another ‘homeland’ ruler, including Bophuthatswana’s “president” Lucas Mangope, travelled to Israel on official visits.

Heavily reliant on Pretoria’s handouts for their economic survival and denied international recognition, the bantustans granted attractive tax concessions and other financial reliefs (integral to South Africa’s policy of industrial decentralization) in order to attract foreign investment into their territories. The absence of black trade unions, wage subsidies, and guaranteed supplies of cheap black labor provided further incentives for foreign companies to do business with the bantustans. According to a newspaper title, it was ‘Home Sweet Homeland for Israeli Businessmen’.[3]

Although the bantustans’ economic dependence on Pretoria has been well documented, the role which foreign (often limited to Israeli and Taiwanese) investment played in developing the bantustans’ infrastructure, helping in turn to prop up their illegitimate governments, has not been investigated. Likewise, the extent to which such investment injected new blood into a suffering Israeli economy – thus contributing to the survival of the Israeli state–remains an open question. Even if it is unlikely that the profits derived from these ‘legitimate’ business operations ever matched those involved in the secret arms trade between Israel and South Africa, they were by no means insignificant. Moreover they had important political ramifications.

>>17406394

“4. Apartheid's "Little Israel": Bophuthatswana” (Part 2)

https://africaisacountry.creatavist.com/apartheidanalogy

http://web.archive.org/web/20141204234712/https://africaisacountry.creatavist.com/apartheidanalogy

The only state with an official flag of Bophuthatswana

Bophuthatswana was neither the first nor the last ‘homeland’ to establish ties with Israel, but the relationship between the two appears to have been the most lucrative and pervasive of the lot. By 1983 Israeli investment in Bophuthatswana totalled US$250 million.[4] Around this time, Shabtai Kalmanovich, a Russian-born Israeli businessman with dubious credentials introduced to Mangope by Sol Kerzner (the uncrowned king of the casinos and hotels empire in Bophuthatswana who later established himself in the US), was appointed Bophuthatswana’s trade representative in Israel. Kalmanowitch became responsible for arranging and coordinating business deals as well as diplomatic contacts for Bophuthatswana – while amassing a huge fortune for himself.

Through Kalmanowitch, Bophuthatswana purchased a four storey building at 194 Hayarkon Street in Tel Aviv to house its Trade Mission. The building stood ‘in one of the most beautiful spots in Tel Aviv opposite the Hilton Hotel and the Independence Park – with a fascinating view of the sea’.[5] An Israeli firm of architects, Barchana, was contracted in 1984 to undertake the renovation works, which cost one million USD. Bophuthatswana House, as the building (featuring marble floors and decorative ceilings, imported Italian furniture, and a Presidential suite) was renamed, functioned in practice like an embassy and became the only place in the world outside South Africa to fly Bophuthatswana’s flag.

By the mid-1980s, Israel received approximately official 100 visitors from Bophuthatswana every year and vice versa – involving government representatives from a vast spectrum of departments on both sides, as well as numerous private Israeli citizens. In the period 1984-85, 79 business projects were submitted to the Bophuthatswana government – ranging from housing, the construction of the stadium, a tennis center, irrigations projects, security systems, television programming, the purchase of tractors, aviation, diamonds manufacturing, a shoe factory, a meat processing plant, and a crocodile farm. Israel also became a valuable source of expertise, with professionals in various fields recruited to work in Bophuthatswana by the Tel Aviv Trade Mission.[6]

‘Humanitarian’ Relations

Before corruption charges could be brought against him in relation to the 18 million USD stadium deal, Kalmanowitch exited the Bophuthatswana scene to seek new profits in Sierra Leone’s diamond trade. His former secretary Tova P. Maori, was appointed to head a new office in Tel Aviv (it is unclear what happened to Bophuthatswana House, which disappeared with Kalmanovich). The period that followed was largely one of consolidation of the initiatives that had been started by Kalmanowitch and saw their penetration into the cultural and social fabric of the bantustan. The political implications of this process - especially for Bophuthatswana’s survival into the 1990s - were far reaching.

Under Tova’s direction, the new Trade Mission office started cultivating not only business exchanges but also what were then called ‘humanitarian’ exchanges in fields such as tourism, education, sports and culture. In 1989 the Israel/Bophuthatswana Friendship Society was set up in Israel (with an active membership of approximately 150 people) ‘as a forum for cultural exchanges and networking between the people of Israel and Bophuthatswana’.[7] Mangope’s daughter-in-law Rosemary, who had studied in Jerusalem, drew inspiration from the Women’s International Zionist Organisation’s (Wizo) programs in Israel to set up a cultural center (of which she became Executive Director) called Mmabana (‘mother of the children’). Israeli tennis and football coaches were contracted to contribute to the development of these sports in Bophuthatswana, whose teams were invited to play in Israeli tournaments.

>>17406394

>>17406397

“4. Apartheid's "Little Israel": Bophuthatswana” (Part 3)

https://africaisacountry.creatavist.com/apartheidanalogy

http://web.archive.org/web/20141204234712/https://africaisacountry.creatavist.com/apartheidanalogy

“Africa’s Little Israel”

The negotiations over South Africa’s political future in the early 1990s brought the future of the TVBC (Transkei-Bophuthatswana-Venda-Ciskei) states and their reincorporation into South Africa under the spotlight. In 1990, after Mandela’s release and the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) and other political parties, Mangope announced that Bophuthatswana would ‘remain an independent state one hundred years from now’, refusing to take part in the negotiations at CODESA.

In a desperate bid to retain ‘independence’ and with Pretoria’s support withdrawing, Bophuthatswana increasingly looked to the outside world for friends. The early 1990s saw a vigorous expansion of Bophuthatswana’s diplomatic efforts (with the satellites of the former Soviet Union proving especially receptive) as the bantustan tried to project internationally the image of a stable, moderate, multi-racial, Christian country firmly set in the capitalist economy.

Israel’s friendship to South Africa’s bantustans remained steadfast in this critical period, as Bantustan leaders continued to be envisaged as allies in the future geo-political reconfiguration of the region (against the prospect of the coming to power of the ‘pro-Soviet’ and ‘pro-Palestinian’ ANC). Relations with the bantustans were used by Israel as evidence of its abhorrence of apartheid. Bophuthatswana, on the other hand, looked to Israel’s ethno-nationalism as ‘an example, similar to their own, of a young country that has achieved independence as a result of their cultural and historical ties to the land’.[8] It also began to display signs of Israel’s (and South Africa’s) ‘siege mentality,’ with senior officials speaking of their ‘beleaguered’ homeland as ‘the litte Israel of Africa’[9].

***

The final collapse of Bophuthatswana and the coming to power of the new ANC government in 1994 at last put a halt to this hive of activities – commercial, sports, educational, cultural, ideological and ultimately political – between the former bantustan and Israel. Mangope fought to the bitter end for Bophuthatswana to retain its ‘independence’ and Israeli support – which always remained short of official but came to encompass a vast range of relations – played a critical role in helping Bophuthatswana to survive for as long as it did. It can be argued that this relationship was essentially an opportunistic one: to be sure, Israelis made huge profits by doing business with Bophuthatswana (and other bantustans). Economic ties paved the way for other types of links which together contributed to upholding a political project, that of the bantustans. Israel’s engagement with apartheid practices is thus much deeper than its present policy-making context. On the other side of the relationship, Bophuthatswana desperately needed allies such as Israel for the development of its infrastructure. This in turn provided the foundation on which Bophuthatswana’s claim to a separate identity in the new South Africa could be based. Israel also became a cultural and ideological model from which the bantustan could draw on to shape its own ethno-nationalist project and in articulating its right to exist.

[1] S. Polakow-Suransky, The Unspoken Alliance: Israel’s Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa (Auckland Park, South Africa: Jacana, 2010).

[2] Ibid.,pp. 95, 105.

[3] Quoted in Ibid., note 10, p. 278.

[4] ‘Heavy investments in Bophuthatswana’, Hadashot, 20 June 1984.

[5] North West Provincial Archives (NWPA), Bophuthatswana Papers (BP), CN 13/2, ‘Letter from Barchana Architects translated from Hebrew into English’, 28 October 1984.

[6] NWPA, BP, Trade Mission Office, Tel Aviv, ‘Annual Report: 1984’ and ‘Annual Report: 1985’.

[7] Bophuthatswana Pioneer, 14, 1 (992), p. 21.

[8] Bophuthatswana Pioneer, 14 (1), 1992, p. 20.

[9] Ibid., p. 24. This first appeared in the title of an editorial in the Jerusalem Post.

>>17397462

>Greenwald, and Israeli Likud operative—and soon to be busted KGB spy—Shabtai Kalmanowitch, created a front company, B International, which ran the bantustan—in league with casino mogul Sol Kurzner, whose Sun City casino resort

>>17406397

> Shabtai Kalmanovich, a Russian-born Israeli businessman with dubious credentials introduced to Mangope by Sol Kerzner (the uncrowned king of the casinos and hotels empire in Bophuthatswana who later established himself in the US), was appointed Bophuthatswana’s trade representative in Israel.

“R50m Wild Coast settlement dispute resolved?” – Sol Kerzner, Transkei (Former Bantustan, home of Nelson Mandela)

https://www.southafricanlawyer.co.za/article/2019/08/r50m-wild-coast-settlement-dispute-resolved/

5 August 2019

The battle over a R50m land claim settlement awarded to a rural community after it was forcibly removed to make way for the Wild Coast Sun hotel created by magnate Sol Kerzner appears to have been settled, according to a report in The Sunday Independent.

The Land Claims Court ruled last month that it had no jurisdiction over the dispute between members and beneficiaries of the uMgungundlovu Communal Property Association (CPA), which includes the mineral-rich Xolobeni, which is also subjected to legal battles over mining in the area on the border between the Eastern Cape and KZN.

Executive committee members of the uMgungundlovu CPA had been taken to the Land Claims Court by beneficiaries calling themselves the Concerned Land Claimants, who sought to stop the CPA’s executives from accessing and operating its bank account.

According to court papers, the concerned group wanted Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza to take over control and management of the CPA’s affairs pending the election of a new or interim committee.

In response, the CPA’s executives maintained that the application was an abuse of process as it related to historical grievances with no basis in fact or law.

Land Claims Court Acting Judge MP Canca found that there was a long history of ill-will between members of the concerned group and CPA executive committee elected in 2014 amid accusations of misuse of development funds despite comprehensive financial controls being in place.

The concerned group’s application was unsuccessful on technical grounds and not merits, the acting judge found.

Thamsanqa Malusi, of Richard Spoor Attorneys, for the CPA, reportedly told Independent Media that the group had not indicated whether it would take the matter further.

Full report in The Sunday Independent (subscription needed)

https://www.wildcoast.co.za/the-wild-coast

Literally the Transkei is the country north of the Kei River. Politically it is an area once defined as a Bantustan… the Wild Coast Casino Hotel immediately on the Transkei side of the Umtanvuna River… Apart from the natural gifts of the landscape itself, and the soft texture of village life preserved upon it, Transkei has laid claim to the unique pedigree of being the home of Nelson Mandela… The Nelson Mandela Route, an historical tour of the region, provides a basic framework not only to glance at the origins of The Struggle, but also at the more general history of a very interesting historical destination.

“Sol Kerzner, South African Casino Tycoon, Is Dead at 84”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/business/sol-kerzner-dead.html

March 27, 2020

In the late 1970s and ’80s, however, even as South Africa nudged into ever-sharpening conflict between its white minority leaders and its black majority, Sun City seemed a creation of staggering chutzpah. Bophuthatswana had no restrictions on gambling and did not share apartheid’s puritanism in matters of sex and race.

“It was a place all South Africans could enjoy irrespective of their race,” Mr. Kerzner told The Financial Times in 2010. Brash and flashy, the complex became known as Sin City, and the flamboyant Mr. Kerzner, often in the headlines because of his succession of romances, became known as the Sun King. Some people called the complex South Africa’s Las Vegas.

By arguing that Sun City was a place apart from the encircling South Africa, Mr. Kerzner lured an array of entertainers and sports personalities to appear there, paying them huge fees. Jack Nicklaus, Elton John and Freddie Mercury were just a few who showed up. There were boxing and golf events with lucrative payoffs.

Nonetheless, he was hounded by charges — later dropped in South Africa — that in 1986 he participated in a roughly $900,000 bribe to the leader of Transkei, another so-called homeland, in return for a monopoly on its gambling industry. Mr. Kerzner was quoted as saying that the money had been extortion demanded by its recipients.

In 1997, after Mr. Kerzner had applied for a license to operate a casino in Atlantic City, N.J., the state’s Casino Control Commission ruled that while he had “committed bribery under New Jersey law by a preponderance of the evidence,” the “unsavory aspects” of his dealings in Transkei were an “aberration that occurred a decade ago.” Adding that he had “convincingly demonstrated good character, honesty and integrity,” it granted him the license.

There was controversy, too, about a contribution of two million rand — worth about $500,000 at the time — that he made to Mr. Mandela’s election campaign in 1994 at a time when Mr. Kerzner was still under investigation in the Transkei affair.

Mr. Mandela easily won the presidency and invited Mr. Kerzner to arrange the celebration of his inauguration. “Theirs was a genuine friendship that would endure until Mandela’s own passing in 2013,” the Kerzner family statement said.

Mr. Mandela was quoted as saying that the Kerzners were “an example of a family not only interested in their own enrichment, but willing to give something back to their own country.”

Solomon Kerzner was born on Aug. 23, 1935, the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia who ran a chain of kosher hotels and lived in a down-market neighborhood of Johannesburg known as Bez Valley. He was the youngest of four children and the only son.

In partnership with South African Breweries, Mr. Kerzner established a company called Southern Sun Hotels, which was operating 30 luxury hotels by 1983.

”Apartheid grand corruption Assessing the scale of crimes of profit from 1976 to 1994; 10.1 The Sun King: Sol Kerzner” – Bophuthatswana, Transkei Part 1

https://opensecrets.org.za/site/wp-content/uploads/Apartheid-Grand-Corruption-2006.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20190219181643/https://opensecrets.org.za/site/wp-content/uploads/Apartheid-Grand-Corruption-2006.pdf

May 2006

The 1970s and 1980s saw the rise in fortune of Sol Kerzner, hotelier and gambling supremo, who understood the monetary reward of bringing Las Vegas to South Africa. It was Kerzner who dreamt up the idea of luxury resort hotels in the homelands, which would benefit from being out of reach of the Calvinist rulers of the white central state. Here gambling would be permitted, pornography could be viewed and the chorus line in the ‘shows’ at his hotels could titillate without fear of imminent prosecution by the censor board. Kerzner offered not only the luxury accommodation he already offered in South Africa (as part of the Sun International group), but lured monied (largely white) South Africans across ‘the border’ to visit Sun City and the Lost City in Bophuthatswana and the Fish River Sun in Transkei, among others.

However, the relationship that Kerzner enjoyed with the rulers in these homelands was problematic at times. In 1990 the Harms Commission found that Kerzner had paid R5 million to Transkei’s Chief George Matanzima, linked to his gaming licences in this homeland. It was alleged that R2 million (ZAR2005=R8,3 million) of that payment was a bribe. Kerzner contested this, claiming that he was under pressure to pay for a gambling licence he already owned (this would technically be extortion). At the time it was also revealed that Holiday Inn had paid a R500,000 (ZAR2005=R11,5 million) fee to buy a company that had been awarded exclusive gambling rights by Matanzima in 1976.244 Clearly, Matanzima and his government had also come to appreciate the value of such gambling rights.

After the prosecution eventually dropped its charges in 1997, Matanzima claimed, “I don’t consider it to be a bribe. There is a difference between a gift and a bribe”.245 The Transkei Attorney-General, Christo Nel, reported to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee in Cape Town that Matanzima, who had been the key state witness, had been “incorrigible, unreliable, vacillating, prevaricating and even obstreperous”.246 It was because of Matanzima that the state eventually dropped the case. Nel added that on two occasions Matanzima had requested that he drop the charges. “He said, ‘Mr Nel, you must let Sol go.’”.247

Linked to this alleged bribe was R50,000 that was allegedly paid to a minister in Matanzima’s government, Stella Sigcau. The former military leader of Transkei, Bantu Holomisa, raised this at a TRC hearing in 1996—an act that ultimately saw his sacking from ANC structures and his departure to form a new political party.248 Ms. Sigcau, who served as a Minister in both the Mandela and Mbeki cabinets, Grand apartheid, grand corruption 8 1 denied allegations of bribery and was eventually cleared by a judicial enquiry headed by Justice Gerald Alexander.249

It was in the best interests of Sol Kerzner that the case against him was dropped. Not only did that allow him to return to South Africa from his London home, where he was now based, without fear of prosecution, but it could also help smooth out the international expansion of his resort hotels that he was vigorously pursuing in the US and the Caribbean. On at least two occasions the alleged ‘homeland’ bribe became an obstacle to being awarded gaming licences: first, in 1996, when he applied for gaming rights on the Mohegan native American reserve in Connecticut,250 and again in 2003, when he was vying to turn the London white elephant Millennium Dome into a casino.251

However, Kerzner has more than once had to deal with bad publicity. In 1997 respected financial journalist Alan Greenblo and his publisher, Jonathan Ball, were prohibited from publishing a biography of Kerzner, titled Kerzner—Unauthorised. Witwatersrand Judge Monas Flemming handed down a controversial decision that resulted in one of the first book bannings under the democratic constitutional order. The Judge’s decision to ban the book outright went even beyond Kerzner’s request that sections be cut out.252 Labelled a blow to free speech by many free speech activists, the decision was eventually upheld on appeal in 2002.

>>17406421

”Apartheid grand corruption Assessing the scale of crimes of profit from 1976 to 1994; 10.1 The Sun King: Sol Kerzner” – Bophuthatswana, Transkei Part 2

https://opensecrets.org.za/site/wp-content/uploads/Apartheid-Grand-Corruption-2006.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20190219181643/https://opensecrets.org.za/site/wp-content/uploads/Apartheid-Grand-Corruption-2006.pdf

May 2006

This did not stop Noseweek from publishing extracts from the book in 1997. They provided some insight into Greenblo’s perspective on the manner in which Kerzner had been operating in Bophutatswana. In summary: 253

• President Lucas Mangope wrote to Kerzner in 1987 requesting that he finance a salary increase for his Minister of Finance, Leslie Young, to the tune of R20,000 (ZAR2005=R109,000) per year. He also indicated that Gencor, which had substantial mining interests in Bophuthatswana, was doing the same.254 There is no information that verifies the allegation that Gencor did make such payments. However, Noseweek states that the Deputy Chairperson of Sun International, Ian Heron, is alleged to have written a letter (Kerzner’s is reported to have been abroad at the time), stating: We would certainly be prepared to contribute to the augmentation of Mr. Young’s salary…Upon receipt of the amount required each year and the desired manner of payments we will make the necessary arrangements. 255

• In February 1984 Young had already agreed that any investment by Sun International that would have the effect of marketing apartheid abroad was tax deductible.256

• In a secret agreement in 1987, Young agreed that 90% of the taxes collected from entertainers working in Bophutatswana would flow back to Sun Apartheid grand corruption 8 2 International. Any performer or sportsperson who earned more than R26,000 (ZAR2005=R142,000) per month was required to pay half their income to the Bophutatswana revenue authorities.257

• Sun International had access to an extraordinary array of tax breaks. Greenblo is quoted in Noseweek as saying:

From the 1960s and into the 1970s there was a one-time allowance on new equipment; a depreciative allowance on used equipment; and a further investment allowance for the first year. There was a ‘basic’ buildings allowance; plus an additional grading allowance, plus another investment allowance on the cost of buildings…the upshot was that Southern Sun [as it was at the time] paid next to no tax.258

• The directors of SunBop are alleged to have set up a company called Sun International Management (SIM) in 1985, which paid them a management fee through the Bermuda-based tax-sheltered company. It is alleged that this allowed the SunBop directors(Kerzner and his confidantes) to pay themselves more than double the normal management fee through SIM. Greenblo is quoted as saying that they were making these payments either with the knowledge of the Reserve Bank or in contravention of the Exchange Control regulations. Young estimates the excess paid into the Bermuda-based bank account was R50 million per annum (ZAR2005=324 million; USDNYSE=R739 million).259

>>17406421

>>17406426

“Apartheid Grand Corruption Assessing the scale of crimes of profit in South Africa from 1976 to 1994; 10. Grand apartheid— grand corruption”

https://opensecrets.org.za/site/wp-content/uploads/Apartheid-Grand-Corruption-2006.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20190219181643/https://opensecrets.org.za/site/wp-content/uploads/Apartheid-Grand-Corruption-2006.pdf

May 2006

As indicated earlier a number of commissions of enquiry into corruption in the homelands began in the 1980s. However, as Pretoria relied on the homeland leaders for legitimacy, the homelands also relied on Pretoria for patronage. It was an abusive relationship, not unlike that of puppet states in the cold war, which had been utterly corrupted and existed largely at their masters’ mercy. Only one post-1994 commission of enquiry focussed on corruption in a former homeland: the Skweyiya Commission, which looked at the abuse of power in Bophuthatswana.236 It came across massive irregularities but it was argued by critics that the focus only on the Lucas Mangope’s administration and not that of other homelands was prompted by political expediency.

A handful of the instances of corruption during this period (both alleged and proven, as reported in the media) are listed below. This short overview should be read as instructive of the types of corruption that took place—but it by no means provides an accurate assessment of levels of corruption in the apartheid homelands:

• Lebowa: The South African government required police protection to secure a computer in Lebowa that had been spewing out cheques valued at millions. It is estimated that if such action had not been undertaken in 1993 it would have costs the state R1 billion (ZAR2005=R2,4 billion).237

• KwaNdebele: The financial chaos in KwaNdebele was so bad by 1993 that the Auditor-General, Henry Kluver, was unable to rely on the administration’s accounting system and could not express an audit opinion for the 1992–1993 financial year.238

• KwaNdebele: the Parsons Commission of Enquiry heard in 1991 that Deputy Minister of Law and Order and Order Steve Mabona granted a R13 million (ZAR2005=R41 million) tender to Springbok Patrols, despite far lower bids being submitted. In addition, Mabona extended the contract by two years, while the state was still funding officials to do the same work, implying an effective duplication of functions and equivalent waste of state revenue.239

• KwaNdebele: The former KwaNdebele police commissioner, Hertzog Lerm, who was later to become a Conservative Party councillor in Warmbaths (Bela Bela), claimed that “alleged abuse(s) by police under his command were part of a strategy sanctioned by Pretoria”.240

• Lebowa: Hundreds of tons of chemicals were dumped in Lebowa by a company called Firechem Lebowa, which had donated R100,000 (ZAR2005=R275,000) to the ruling United Peoples Front shortly after it was awarded a R15 million contract (ZAR2005=R41,3 million). The contract was never put out to tender.241

• Ciskei: A 1992 report by the select committee on public accounts showed that parasatals under the control of Ciskei’s Department of Agriculture had ‘lost’ almost R30 million (ZAR2005=R82 million) in just over two years.242

• KaNgwane: The government of Mpumalanga inherited a debt of over R118 million (ZAR2005=R260 million) from KaNgwane in 1994. The government of Enos Mabuza had gone on a multimillion rand spending spree that was so badly accounted for that the Auditor-General could not complete his reports for the financial years 1992–1993 and 1993–1994.243

The story of corruption in homelands is largely a reflection of the venality of some of the leaders in these ‘states’. However, what is often not reflected on is the role that external actors (primarily from South Africa) played in corruption and bribery in the ‘homelands’.

>>17406421

>>17406426

>>17406435

“Apartheid Grand Corruption Assessing the scale of crimes of profit in South Africa from 1976 to 1994; 10.2 Mafia links in the Ciskei? The case of Vito Palozollo”

https://opensecrets.org.za/site/wp-content/uploads/Apartheid-Grand-Corruption-2006.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20190219181643/https://opensecrets.org.za/site/wp-content/uploads/Apartheid-Grand-Corruption-2006.pdf

May 2006

In the past 15 years numerous attempts have been made to extradite former Sicilian mafia boss Vito Palozollo (known as Robert von Palace Kolbachenko since 1987) to Italy, to stand trial for his involvement in the infamous ‘Pizza connection’. The New York Pizza connection was the biggest detected international heroin operation at the time. Palazollo has today transformed his image into that of a responsible businessman, owner of a wine farm and guesthouses in the Franschoek mountains and proprietor of a bottled water company, La Vie de Luc, which, among things, supplies South Africa’s national airline, South African Airways. The persistence of Italian prosecutors in trying to secure his extradition to that country is, however, proof that he was not always a respected member of South Africa’s rich. The background to his South African connection is as follows:

In 1986 the NP MP for East London, Peet de Pontes, flew to Switzerland to assist a new client, Mr. Vito Palozollo, a former financial trader in Switzerland, who was now in jail for breaking the law in Switzerland. Palozollo had accepted lesser charges in Switzerland to escape extradition to the Mafia trials in Italy.260

The meeting went well and by October Palozollo had been offered temporary residence by Ciskei’s President Sebe, who was keen on Palozollo establishing a bank in the impoverished homeland. Before the end of the year, Palozollo had escaped from prison, crossed into Germany and was ready to settle in the Ciskei (or at least in the Eastern Cape, as he moved between Bisho and East London with ease—despite not having a visa for South Africa). De Pontes had allegedly offered to help President Sebe to amend legislation to grant Palozollo citizenship within two weeks of his entry into Ciskei.261 Palozollo nurtured his relationship with Sebe, contributed to various Presidential charities(and theNP) andwassoon appointed plenipotentiary for the Ciskei (a position from which he resigned in 1990).262

In the meantime, de Pontes was charged with theft, forgery, and bribery— some of which was related to his relationship with Palozollo. It was a major scandal as de Pontes was a member of the NP caucus in Parliament at the time and had introduced Pik Botha and others to Palozollo at his home. They had developed a business interest that would, among other things, see toxic waste exported to the Ciskei for a handsome profit.263 Palozollo chose to act as a state witness in the trial in which de Pontes was found guilty.

Palozollo went on to establish himself in South Africa as businessman, owning property around Cape Town and a game farm in Namibia. The Ciskei provided his entry point into South Africa. In 1994 a Noseweek expose (Nose 9: A cute little bankhaus in Bisho) revealed that one of the reasons that President Sebe had wanted Palozollo (who was also a banker in Italy and Switzerland) in Ciskei was to help establish the Bank of Bisho (later Eurobank). Palozollo had shares in the bank together with Albert Vermaas (see the Crime and Capital section of this report). The bank, which was alleged to have links to South African and Israeli intelligence, would be a conduit for cleaning ‘hot’ money needed to finance the joint South Africa/Israeli arms and nuclear programmes. However, as Vermaas’s financial pyramid collapsed in the late 1980s, so too did the bank.

Ciskei served as foothold from which Palozollo, an internationally wanted fugitive from justice, settled in South Africa. His almost effortless ability to move between the old and new South Africa perhaps best describes the links between corrupt activity in these two areas. The period before 1994 and after 1994 are intrinsically linked and those who were alleged to have been involved during the former period remained rooted in the latter.

Palozollo was the subject of the Presidential Investigative Task Unit’s focus in the 1990s. This unit was, however, eventually disbanded, in large part due to allegations that it had been compromised by corrupt dealings of its members which may, or not, on turn have been linked to infighting within the South African security establishment (which was undergoing a transformation from old to new guard) at the time.

Lesotho stayed independent, landlocked in South Africa – No corruption there?

“On 6 September 1966, Verwoerd was stabbed several times by parliamentary aide Dimitri Tsafendas. He died shortly after” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendrik_Verwoerd

Soon afterwards

“It was previously the British Crown colony of Basutoland, which declared independence from the United Kingdom on 4 October 1966.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesotho

Then

“The Letšeng mine pipes (the Main Pipe and Satellite Pipe) were discovered as a weathered outcrop in a stream by British Geologist, Peter Nixon in 1957. In 1959, the area was declared a government digging. Hundreds of small-scale miners started to excavate the near-surface weathered kimberlite until 1968. During this time, approximately 1.5 Mt of alluvial gravel was treated. In 1968, the property was acquired by Rio Tinto and explored through a series of underground tunnels. Nevertheless, the prospect was abandoned in 1972. De Beers subsequently acquired the deposit and mined the Main Pipe from 1973 until 1982.” https://stormmountaindiamonds.com/downloads/Lesotho-Diamond-Mining-Industry-2016-18-Performance-Report.pdf

Lesotho Highlands Water Project

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is an ongoing water supply project with a hydropower component, developed in partnership between the governments of Lesotho and South Africa.

Efforts to create a dam in the location were spearheaded by then British High Commissioner Sir Evelyn Baring in the 1950s, after initially being conceived by the South African civil engineer Ninham Shand while carrying out investigations commissioned by the British Government into the rivers of Lesotho.[4] As initially conceived, the project was known as the Oxbow Scheme.[4]

After a feasibility study was conducted between August 1983 and August 1986 by the German-British Lahmeyer MacDonald Consortium, the project eventually began to be realized.[5] The project has been alleged to have had negative social and environmental effects. While compensation was provided in kind and paid to the few hundred households affected by the dams, there is criticism that it was insufficient.[6]

Katse Dam

The Katse Dam, a concrete arch dam on the Malibamat'so River in Lesotho, is Africa's second largest double-curvature arch dam… The dam is part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which will eventually include five large dams in remote rural areas.

The potential of the project was identified by the South African civil engineer Ninham Shand in 1953 as a possible means to supplement the water supply of South Africa's industrial heartland in the Witwatersrand.[1] The World Bank arranged a treaty between the governments of South Africa and Lesotho, allowing the project to proceed.

The dam was built by a consortium of Bouygues, Concor, Group 5, Hochtief, Impregilo, Kier Group and Sterling International.[2] The dam was completed in 1996 and the reservoir filled with water by 1997. The total cost of the project was US$8 billion.[3] Katse Airport was constructed 3 kilometres (2 mi) southeast of the dam to facilitate access to the project.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katse_Dam

>>17406568

>Lesotho Highlands Water Project

My apologies, here is the link, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesotho_Highlands_Water_Project

>>17398155

“Secret details of the land deal that brought the IFP into the 94 poll” – Part 1

https://mg.co.za/article/2019-08-07-secret-details-of-the-land-deal-that-brought-the-ifp-into-the-94-poll/

7 August 2019

A sweetheart deal. This is how the Ingonyama Trust has been repeatedly described: millions of hectares of land in return for the Inkatha Freedom Party not boycotting the 1994 elections. Now, in an exclusive story, Hilary Lynd uncovers the secret details of the controversial agreement. From secret meetings on airport runways to the KwaZulu legislature, she charts the creation of the trust. This comes as yet another government report questions whether there is a need for the body

How did 2.8-million hectares administered by the KwaZulu homeland end up in a trust with the Zulu king as its trustee?

The land administered by the other nine homelands, the building blocks of apartheid, came under the authority of the national government. How did KwaZulu manage to preserve what the other homelands lost?

The answer takes us back 25 years to the final days before the first democratic election.

Many have long suspected that the Ingonyama Trust was central to the last-minute decision of the IFP to join the 1994 election, but lack of concrete evidence — and threatened lawsuits — have made it difficult to convert suspicion into fact. New archival research and extensive interviews have now made that possible.

A major sticking point in negotiations from 1990 to 1994 was the future of those who had enjoyed power and privilege under the old system. This was especially challenging in the homelands. One purpose of the homelands had been to create a social grouping with something to lose. Ending apartheid had to mean dissolving the homelands, but how would the beneficiaries be convinced to participate in dismantling their own power bases?

Nowhere was this more difficult than in KwaZulu. A low-intensity civil war had simmered in the province for years. As the election date, April 27 1994, approached, it seemed KwaZulu was on the edge of catastrophic violence.

Chief minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, King Goodwill Zwelithini, and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)were threatening to boycott elections as they had the constitutional negotiations. The king proclaimed the “sovereignty” of the Zulu kingdom and fears grew that a secessionist war was brewing. These fears built on the stream of information emerging about hit squads within the KwaZulu police, co-operation with the security services of the white government, stockpiling of weapons, and paramilitary training at Mlaba camp.

Negotiators had to deal with intertwined monarchist and federalist commitments within the IFP. One, represented by the king, emphasised the continuity of the Zulu monarchy dating back to a precolonial era. The other, pushed especially by Buthelezi’s Italian-American libertarian adviser, Mario Ambrosini, pursued maximum devolution of powers from national to regional levels. Both offered a basis for preserving the authority of the KwaZulu government and the IFP, its ruling party, into a post-apartheid order.

Every major party had leaders more and less inclined towards compromise. But, by early April, the hardliners had the upper hand. The IFP showed no signs of backing down from its confrontational stance. In an interview later in 1994, Buthelezi reminded Patti Waldmeir: “I was not threatening, I intended. I was not going to participate [in the election].”

Archived records of IFP-NP bilateral meetings and interviews done at the time by Waldmeir and Padraig O’Malley indicate that some within the ANC and NP had lost patience. Among them were Cyril Ramaphosa and Roelf Meyer, the respective heads of the ANC and NP negotiating teams. They became convinced that the IFP would stay out, elections would proceed, and Buthelezi’s base would disappear in the new South Africa.

>>17411448

“Secret details of the land deal that brought the IFP into the 94 poll” – Part 2

https://mg.co.za/article/2019-08-07-secret-details-of-the-land-deal-that-brought-the-ifp-into-the-94-poll/

7 August 2019

One effort after another to bring in the IFP failed. The last attempt involved flying in a team of foreign mediators. This, too, failed. But its failure brought together two key figures. Neither was originally intended to be there: Washington Okumu and Danie Joubert.

Historian Nancy Jacobs has pieced together Okumu’s backstory. The Kenyan diplomat-at-large was on the team because of the labours of Pietermaritzburg evangelist Michael Cassidy and a global network of conservative Christian connections. Most importantly, he and Buthelezi had been friends since meeting in Washington, DC, in the early 1970s.

Joubert was deputy secretary-general in the KwaZulu Government (KZG) department of the chief minister. After being seconded from Pretoria in 1990, Joubert had watched with growing alarm as the IFP/KZG took an increasingly militant stance. Although he respected Buthelezi, Joubert thought Ambrosini’s hardline position was hurtling the country towards “absolute bloodshed”. He was not a member of the IFP. Nevertheless, when a senior IFP leader was unable to attend the meetings at the Carlton Hotel, Joubert was sent in his place.

Throughout these events, Joubert kept detailed notes. The chronology presented below relies on those notes as well as interviews done by Waldmeir and O’Malley in 1994-1995, interviews the author conducted and other documentation, including Okumu’s unpublished book manuscript, the Hansard of the KwaZulu legislative assembly and the report of a technical committee convened in May 1994 to investigate the purpose and consequences of the Trust.

But, first, it is important to note Buthelezi’s version of how the Ingonyama Trust was created. He spoke to this author in an interview last August, and has subsequently responded to Mail & Guardian questions.

In those answers, he doubts the information on which this article is based: “When it comes to the record of South Africa’s history, a great deal of what is in the public domain is unfortunately inaccurate, marred as the record is by years of deliberate propaganda,” he says.

Buthelezi rejects any idea of the Trust being some sort of sweetheart deal to get IFP sign-off on the elections: “The IFP’s decision to participate in the 1994 elections had nothing to do with the passing of the Ingonyama Trust Act.”

He goes on to label this as “a lie” that has been repeated, “even in official documents”.

Reiterating that “the IFP had already agreed to participate in the 1994 elections” by the time that the Act was passed, he says any idea of land transfer or the creation of a trust “was never part of the negotiations”.

“If it had been, you can be sure that we would have insisted that it be reduced to writing as part of our agreement, for the IFP has vast experience of broken promises.”

Buthelezi says that he discussed the passing of the Act with the NP and the ANC, “but they did not need to give consent”. The Act was passed in the KwaZulu legislature without following normal process, which was necessary, Buthelezi says, because the province’s land would have been transferred to the state after elections.

“This was therefore the last and only chance for the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly to ensure that the land could be maintained as communal land, under indigenous and customary law.”

When asked about the trust earlier this year, De Klerk said he had “very little recollection of the details of the decision on the Ingonyama Trust”. But he said that he is “sure that [he] would have supported such an initiative if it helped achieve the IFP’s participation in the election”.

What follows, based on the sources mentioned, is a timeline of the 12 days in 1994 when the IFP seemed to change its mind about the elections.

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“Secret details of the land deal that brought the IFP into the 94 poll” – Part 3

https://mg.co.za/article/2019-08-07-secret-details-of-the-land-deal-that-brought-the-ifp-into-the-94-poll/

7 August 2019

THURSDAY, APRIL 14 1994

When Joubert met Okumu on the evening that the mediation collapsed, he thought he might have found the right person to speak to Buthelezi: “It was a divine intervention to have Okumu there.” Joubert brought in Willem Olivier, a Bloemfontein advocate specialising in customary law, who had been working for the IFP. In his book, Okumu credits Joubert and Olivier for catching him up on the details of IFP/KZG politics.

FRIDAY, APRIL 15

Okumu rushed to Lanseria airport to meet Buthelezi. He arrived too late. Buthelezi had left. But, due to a supposed technical failure, the plane returned to the terminal and Okumu was able to speak to his old friend. Okumu returned to Joubert and Olivier with a positive report: if the position of the Zulu kingdom could be guaranteed somehow, Buthelezi was prepared to listen.

With Joubert and Olivier listening in, Okumu called home affairs minister Danie Schutte, among others. Schutte was willing to entertain the possibility of working informally towards an agreement. A long day of discussions followed. As Joubert recalls, the idea of putting the KwaZulu land in a trust came out of these talks.

On a smaller scale, André Fourie’s ministry of regional and land affairs had been pursuing a similar strategy for the previous two years. Homeland land was scheduled to revert to the national ministry for land affairs after elections. To pre-empt this change, the state began transferring land to homeland leaders. Records of these transfers, though patchy, can be found in the national archives. Though they were shrouded in secrecy at the time, land nongovernmental organisations worked hard to bring them to public attention. The Goldstone Commission and the governing Transitional Executive Council attempted to block such transfers. Nevertheless, they persisted.

SATURDAY, APRIL 16

Joubert, Schutte, and Olivier went to see State President FW de Klerk. Joubert and Olivier presented the proposals they had worked out the previous evening: first, amend the constitution to recognise the Zulu king; second, promise further international mediation after the election; and third, as Joubert put it, “Put the Zulu land into a trust with the king as trustee and call it the Ingonyama Trust”. De Klerk was interested enough to tell them to come back later with a concrete plan.

Schutte, Olivier and Joubert spent the day working through details. Schutte and Joubert recall that Meyer, despite his reluctance to compromise with the IFP, was informed at this stage. When the first three returned to De Klerk, they decided that it had to be Okumu who would present the proposals to Buthelezi. Joubert listed Okumu’s important characteristics: he was an “independent guy who Buthelezi trusts”, “an African guy from Kenya” who was “not directly invested in this whole thing”. What was needed was a “third party”.

In an indication that Buthelezi might have not been kept in the loop, Joubert writes: “Buthelezi cannot see that it was me. Who am I to come up with a plan having discussed it with FW? You can’t use me. We have to use Okumu to do this. Let’s make him the hero.”

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“Secret details of the land deal that brought the IFP into the 94 poll” – Part 4

https://mg.co.za/article/2019-08-07-secret-details-of-the-land-deal-that-brought-the-ifp-into-the-94-poll/

7 August 2019

SUNDAY, APRIL 17

Fourie gathered a group of legal specialists to draft legislation for the Ingonyama Trust. Among them was Olivier. Ordinarily, Pretoria was not involved in initiating homeland legislation. But these were not ordinary circumstances.

Okumu got tentative approval from both IFP and ANC for his draft agreement. This draft included constitutional recognition for the king and a promise for further international mediation after the election, but it made no mention of the Ingonyama Trust.

MONDAY, APRIL 18

The three negotiating teams met at the Union Buildings. Most important, as recorded in Joubert’s notes, was keeping the ANC in the dark about the land deal.

TUESDAY, APRIL 19

The “memorandum of agreement for reconciliation and peace” was signed. No mention was made of the Ingonyama Trust. An Associated Press video of the subsequent press conference shows Okumu taking a role in the spotlight. Olivier was absent. Schutte and Joubert stood, mostly concealed, in the background.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20

Buthelezi returned to Ulundi to sell the agreement as a win. As recorded in the Hansard of the KwaZulu legislative assembly, he narrated the exciting details of the previous days before proposing an adjournment until Friday.

FRIDAY, APRIL 22

In Buthelezi’s opening speech, he told the assembly that the purpose of the session was to push through the Ingonyama Trust Act. The Act established “a corporate body”, that would “be administered for the benefit, material welfare and social well-being of the tribes and communities”. It transferred to the Ingonyama Trust the land originally constituted as KwaZulu in 1971 and also additional parcels acquired in 1986 and 1992. The Ingonyama Trust was to “deal with the land … in accordance with Zulu indigenous law or any other applicable law”, subject to the condition that “The Ingonyama [Trust] shall, as trustee, not encumber, pledge, lease, alienate or otherwise dispose of any of the said land or any interest or real right in the land” — without prior written consent.

Buthelezi stated that “today’s business was set up … in order to pass the Bill”. The matter required speed. “It is absolutely vital that it should be passed before the elections.” He reassured the assembly that he had discussed the proposed legislation with De Klerk and Fourie.

“It is vital that we should do this, by getting the Bill concerning the land which is now entrusted to the KwaZulu Government, which will still exist now until the end of the month, passed so that the land that belongs to the nation, to the amakhosi and so on, can be secured, if we put it in a trust with His Majesty the King.”

Passing the Act under such severe time constraints required throwing out the rules. Buthelezi moved “that the Rules of Procedure be suspended so that this Bill can be finalised today”. The Bill was read a first time. No members offered comments. The Bill was read a second time. At this point, Buthelezi conceded that it might be good for members to read the Bill. Upon seeing the list of communities and tribal authorities, many complained that they had been left out. Once they received assurances that these omissions would be addressed, the Bill was read a third time and passed. The Speaker “[declared] the House prorogued”’ and the Assembly concluded its business for good.

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“Secret details of the land deal that brought the IFP into the 94 poll” – Part 5

https://mg.co.za/article/2019-08-07-secret-details-of-the-land-deal-that-brought-the-ifp-into-the-94-poll/

7 August 2019

MONDAY, APRIL 25

Parliament gathered a final time to amend the Constitution to recognise the Zulu king. In his speech, recorded in the Hansard, Schutte acknowledged not only Okumu and Cassidy, but also Olivier and Joubert, whose names were otherwise withheld from the public. “They started the initiative … and they were also involved in drafting the agreement.”

Parliament passed the amendment. The same day, De Klerk quietly signed the Ingonyama Trust Act into law.

TUESDAY, APRIL 26

The interim government raided the Mlaba camp and dismantled the remnants of the IFP paramilitary training programme.

Voting began

Ultimately, the militants in the IFP lost. The elections were inclusive and so, despite complaints about polling irregularities in KwaZulu-Natal, they were widely regarded as legitimate. [yeah right! ]

Buthelezi was convinced to throw in his lot with the new South Africa by protecting key structures of the apartheid-era KwaZulu homeland into the post-apartheid era. Former president Kgalema Motlanthe, a prominent contemporary critic of the Ingonyama Trust, told the author, “they found a way of preserving their homeland by keeping out of the elections”. At the same time, the deal secured the legitimacy of the elections and staved off a possible explosion of violence. In Joubert’s view, “what it did is get the people to rock up and cast a vote. That was the objective”.

Once it was clear the election would not be postponed, the IFP’s chance to secure a more federalist arrangement before the election was also gone. The Trust played rather to the monarchist strand within IFP politics. It provided a guarantee of an alternative institutional base, in a traditionalist, nominally Zulu, form. Velaphi Ndlovu of the IFP told the Natal Witness in May 1994, “we did not get federalism which we wanted because we got something more important”.

Without the Trust, Buthelezi faced a choice between two unattractive options. He could go through with the election boycott, lose the IFP/KZG institutional base, and possibly pursue a paramilitary option to resist the consequences, or he could choose to join elections with an uncertain outcome, potentially still lose the IFP/KZG institutional base, but avoid a doomed war of resistance.

The Trust was a possible way out of this impasse.

Power over land meant, of course, power over the people who lived on it. By giving the king and amakhosi control over a resource crucial to the lives of ordinary people, the Trust ensured they would continue to enjoy meaningful authority, no matter the outcome of the election. As Joubert reflects now, the Trust meant “we have a protection because we actually haven’t lost our self-governing territory. We might not have the same powers, but we’ve got land”.

Earlier in the negotiations, the ANC came to support the idea of sunset clauses to encourage outgoing NP officials to see their future in the new order. The Ingonyama Trust performed a similar function for the outgoing KZG. The difference is that the sunset clauses eventually expired and the Trust did not.

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“Secret details of the land deal that brought the IFP into the 94 poll” – Part 6

https://mg.co.za/article/2019-08-07-secret-details-of-the-land-deal-that-brought-the-ifp-into-the-94-poll/

7 August 2019

On May 20 1994, news of the Ingonyama Trust broke in the national press. Mandela issued an official statement denying ANC knowledge of it. Derek Hanekom, who had replaced Fourie as minister of land affairs, told AFRA News that he was “shocked”. “The land that was KwaZulu is no longer state land. It’s in private ownership, held in trust by the King. Can it be reversed? We’ll have to see what to do.” With 2.8-million hectares effectively gone missing, any plans for land reform in KwaZulu-Natal were hamstrung.

Suspicion immediately grew that a secret IFP-NP deal had been struck. De Klerk and Buthelezi both denied this. Buthelezi attacked the press, saying it was “ridiculous to suggest that [the Act] was the result of any deal, let alone a secret deal” and insisting the Act’s passage had been free of “hanky panky” and had “followed normal promulgation procedure”.

The new Cabinet convened a committee to look into the origins and implications of the Trust. Ultimately, in a mood of reconciliation and nation-building, it was decided not to try to dissolve it.

Whereas the ANC learned about the passage of the Ingonyama Trust weeks after the elections, it became clear only gradually to the IFP that the promise of further international mediation would not be honoured. Despite continued tension, the Government of National Unity shared a conservative bias towards peace. The IFP lacked the power to extract the federalist constitutional provisions they wanted. The ANC lacked the power to overturn the Trust without reigniting violence in KwaZulu-Natal.

Like other compromises from the transition, the land deal has not aged well. At a critical moment, it solved a problem that seemed otherwise insoluble. When all formal channels had failed, an informal process finally delivered the IFP to the elections. The process involved only a small group of elites.

Currently, the Ingonyama Trust attracts attention not for the peace it secured but for the abuses of power it has enabled. In 2017, Motlanthe’s high level panel publicised the conversion of permission to occupy certificates into 40-year leases. Rather than “preserve the rights of rural people to their land”, as Buthelezi would have it, the Ingonyama Trust acts as a landlord. It has attracted criticism for enriching the king and for pushing people off their land to make way for more lucrative leases. On July 28, President Ramaphosa’s land panel recommended the Trust be repealed or amended. [Out of the frying pan into the fire]

Over time, the positive contribution of this peace deal has faded. The impasse it was created to solve has long since disappeared. The future of the Trust is uncertain, but its origins need not be.

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>Richard Goldstone

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>>17411460

>The Goldstone Commission and the governing Transitional Executive Council attempted to block such transfers. Nevertheless, they persisted.

Goldstone Commission – Richard Goldstone chair: Duration; 3 years, 3 days

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldstone_Commission

Part of the National Peace Accord

Date 24 October 1991 to

27 October 1994

Duration Three years, three days

Location South Africa

Also known as Goldstone Commission

Participants Richard Goldstone (chair)

Danie Rossouw

Solly Sithole

Lillian Baqwa

Gert Steyn

The Goldstone Commission, formally known as the Commission of Inquiry Regarding the Prevention of Public Violence and Intimidation, was appointed on 24 October 1991 to investigate political violence and intimidation in South Africa. Over its three-year lifespan, it investigated incidents occurring between July 1991 and April 1994, when democratic elections were held. The relevant incidents thus occurred during the negotiations to end apartheid. [If you are not aware by now, it did not help!]

Well said!

“"Kiss" the Boer NOT Hate Speech | South Africa (2022)”

https://youtu.be/Z0PC98xzb_8

The Equality Court today handed down one of the most shocking verdicts on hate speech in South Africa. The song "Kill the Boer" is not considered hate speech according to the Equality Court. Strange then how a piece of cloth in the old South African flag can be considered hate speech but yet actually singing a song about killing people isn't.

“National shutdown off to a slow start, as unions fail to get support from all sectors”

https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/protests/3178776/national-shutdown-slow-start-tshwane-august-2022/

24 August 2022

It’s business as usual in some parts of the country, including in Tshwane, despite calls for a national shutdown.

The chairperson of Cosatu, Amos Monyela, says the African National Congress (ANC) has shortcomings when it comes to addressing the challenging and difficult economic climate in the country.

This is one of the reasons the trade union federation had cited in its push for a national shutdown, which appears to be off to a very slow start in several places around the country.

National Shutdown

It’s business as usual in most parts of the country, including in the City of Tshwane, despite the concerted calls for a national shutdown. Many roads in Gauteng were busy but largely absent of taxis transporting passengers to work.

On Tuesday, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) made it clear it will not be part of the protest.

“Despite numerous requests to participate in the national shutdown, Santaco will not participate in the planned national shutdown,” it said.

In Tshwane, there was a heavy police presence and empty taxis lined the roads as drivers waited for passengers, an indication that many have decided to stay at home.

Two of the country’s largest trade union federations, Cosatu and the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), have put their differences aside and vowed to bring the country to a standstill over the increasing cost of living.

Monyela told The Citizen while the ANC has not failed the people of South Africa, it does have shortcomings that must be addressed.

“The ANC government has achieved a lot of things. There are some shortcomings as we know, the majority of our people are now living in poverty and if you trace it back, it is also affected by international balance of forces and international situation,” he said.

‘Neo-liberal austerity measures’

Monyela, however, says there are certain areas where the ANC has not lived up to the expectations of the people.

“There are areas where the ANC has not done what it was supposed to have done. For example, the ANC is implementing neo-liberal austerity measures which affect the working class and the poor.”

“So when you implement new liberal austerity measures, it means you can’t budget from social spending and when you can’t budget from social spending, those who are affected by the budget cuts on social spending are the working class and the poor,” said Monyela.

Monyela says the ANC must deal with these shortcomings and ensure a more viable economy that assists the poor and working class.

“‘Sextortion’ used against female students for good grades – report”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/sextortion-female-students-good-grades-25-august-2022/

25 August 2022

Corruption Watch’s new report ‘Sound the Alarm’ highlighted the many cases of corruption in SA’s education sector.

The Sound the Alarm report highlights 3 667 reports of education-related corruption received between 2012 and 2021 – this represents 10% of the total reports received during this period.

“These point to widespread misappropriation of resources, acts of bribery, sextortion, abuse of authority, and blatant flouting of employment and procurement processes,” Corruption Watch writes.

BASIC AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The hotspots where most cases originate are Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the Eastern Cape. In schools, Corruption Watch lists misappropriation of resources (accounting for 45% of corruption cases), maladministration (accounting for 17%) and abuse of authority (accounting for 15%) rank as the highest.

It was stated that principals and school governing body members were implicated as the primary culprits. Other prevalent incidents are that of bribery and extortion, including allegations of sextortion, and cases that relate to employment irregularities.

The aforementioned allegations were consistently made by whistleblowers over the time period the data was collected in.

SEXTORTION IN SCHOOLS

The report states that in some instances, whistle-blowers reported acts of sextortion. This is a type of corruption where women are told to provide sexual favours in order to benefit financially or career-wise. This extends further in the education sector as female students were being asked to do the same with educators in return for good marks/grades.

“This type of corruption extends further in the education sector with female students being asked to sleep with educators for good grades,”

the report reads.

>>17694298 (You), >>17694300 (You), >>17694317 (You), >>17694319 (You), >>17694321, >>17694325, >>17694328, >>17694331, >>17694335, >>17694338, >>17694345, >>17694348, >>17694353, >>17694360, >>17694364, >>17694366, >>17694370, >>17694374, >>17694376, >>17694378, >>17694382 Unleashing Communism/Socialism into the World; Case Study of South Africa [Q Research General #21647: Lies, Damned Lies, and the Jan.]

Reposting

Unleashing Communism/Socialism into the World; Case Study of South Africa

I am unable to post in the South African bread so I am doing it here. The following posts will demonstrate how communism/socialism was unleashed into the world and it is only the tip of the iceberg.

Some background for those who do not follow the South Africa bread.

Is it not intriguing that the release of Nelson Mandela, the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the USSR happened around the same time? The ANC, a terrorist organization, was trained in Russia, East Germany and Cuba however they would typically go into exile in London, UK, and not to the countries they were trained in. When did the world start supporting Nelson Mandela and the ANC? It was a major concert held in Britain in 1988 which was televised all over the world with famous actors and artists on stage, https://youtu.be/lTtg7QZPRRE [Whoopi Goldburg, Richard Gere, among others].

Tony Hollingsworth’s website at https://tonyhollingsworth.com/ states, “Tony has over 30 years of experience working with companies, governments and foundations at the intersection of communications, media and popular culture. His credits range from, conceiving and producing the global media campaign that reached [600 million] and re-positioned Nelson Mandela from “black terrorist leader” to “black leader” to, consulting for the US White House on a public campaign in a response to 9/11.” He can also explain in his own words how he accomplished this feat with regard to Mandela at https://youtu.be/xuyeqMD01Cc [embedded]

Tony even stated in the video, https://youtu.be/llJRpBPNCOE, at 6:00; “Most of the world knew very little. He’d [Mandela] been in prison for 25 years at that point in time. So he didn’t know what he looked like, we didn’t know what he sounded like. What we were backing was the man that had given the speech at the Rivonia Trial [1960s]… And that’s all you had on him, I mean in terms of we talk about photographs. There were no photographs of this man.”

“Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, the AAM [Anti-Apartheid Movement] president and a former priest in southern Africa, gave his approval after he, Hollingsworth and Terry had met to discuss the event. “I told Trevor that the first thing we had to do to get Mandela’s release was to stop the world’s television and press referring to him as a ‘black terrorist leader’.” https://listencampaign.com/node/165

For the 1994 election, “Eighty [80] million ballots had already been printed in England at considerable expense” https://ourconstitution.constitutionhill.org.za/the-shell-house-massacre-and-the-road-to-the-ifps-participation-in-the-election/ (South Africa had a total population of about 40 million people.) Why print the ballots in England? South Africa was first world at the time – the first heart transplant was done there.

This rabbit trail started with the first article I will post below. Take note; the former South African President, Jacob Zuma was an intelligence operative in the ANC when they were still regarded as terrorists. “'Zuma's self-survival rooted in being ex-ANC intelligence operative'”, https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/zumas-self-survival-rooted-in-being-ex-anc-intelligence-operative-11636924

“Eastern Cape councillors under attack as houses are set on fire”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/eastern-cape-councillors-under-attack-cogta-zolile-williams-11-october-2022/

11-10-2022 16:00

A number of Eastern Cape councillors have come under attack as their residences have been torched and some shot.

Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Zolile Williams, has condemned a rising trend of attacks on councillors in the province.

This comes after Cllr Xolile Moni came under attack from unknown assailants who shot at him, injuring his son, and set his house alight on Sunday evening against a councillor in the Port St. Johns Local Municipality.

EASTERN CAPE COUNCILLORS UNDER ATTACK

According to COGTA spokesperson in the Eastern Cape Pheello Oliphant the latest incident follows earlier attacks against the Mayor and Speaker of Council in Port St Johns Local Municipality.

In the evening of 4 October 2022, the residence of the Mayor Nomvuzo Mlombile-Cingo, was set alight at night by unknown arsonists. This was immediately followed by the torching down of the residence of the Speaker of Council Cebisa Mazuza. On 16 September 2022, Cllr Fundisile Ranai of Ingquza Hill Municipality together with his son were fatally shot at their home in Lusikisiki. The attackers are still at large, the spokesperson said.

Zolile Williams has since condemned the trend in the strongest possible terms and the unfolding violence.

Williams reportedly wrote to the Provincial Commissioner of Police, Lieutenant General Lillian Mene, requesting a meeting to discuss a responsive security plan to deal with this growing trend of violence against elected public officials at local government level in especially the OR Tambo District.

The request was reportedly agreed to by Lieutenant General Mene and the meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 20 October 2022.

__These attacks come as KwaZulu-Natal councillors from both the African National Congress (ANC) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) have been assassinated or survived assassination attempts recently. Those that were killed had been shot by unknown assailants who fled the scenes in getaway cars.___

“Inside the mind of the “Struggle Doctor” Dr. Iqbal Survé” - https://youtu.be/xxQ0kGsoFcs

Inside the mind of the “Struggle Doctor” Dr. Iqbal Survé because of his provision of medical care towards victims of apartheid. Dr. Iqbal Surve explains the saga regarding the closing of bank accounts and refusing to provide banking and payment services.

7:36 – {Survé] “I was a socialist…”

“WATCH: Banks are being used to shut down Independent Media” – Part 1

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/watch-banks-are-being-used-to-shut-down-independent-media-21fdd41d-bd69-4d42-aba2-a2bdce60eb37

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2022

The Sekunjalo group chair, Dr. Iqbal Survé, has accused those opposed to South Africa’s post-apartheid democratic transformation, of co-ordinating the closing of bank accounts belonging to the Sekunjalo Group of companies.

Speaking on Monday during an interview on SalaaMedia, a multi-media agency that serves the agenda of the people according to its website, Survé, popularly known as “the struggle Doctor”, spoke out about the banks’ perceived role as a weapon aimed at closing Sekunjalo, and said that despite the complete lack of any wrongdoing, banks had proceeded to shut down bank accounts linked to any company related to Sekunjalo, which in effect, would lead to the closure of Sekunjalo itself.

“This has been very difficult. I think it has been the most challenging, challenging period of my life. It started after I bought Independent Media - the smear campaign started by the other media houses and by the establishment.

“But it became worse after (Cyril) Ramaphosa became President, and part of the reason is that the Independent was seen to be critical of not just Ramaphosa, but Ramaphosa’s funders, who are the white capital in South Africa, at the moment.

“Their strategy was simple, first of all, the strategy was to smear me as much as possible, to talk absolute nonsense, and if you do it enough people start believing it.”

Survé also mentioned that after the media campaigns failed at dismantling the group, those whom he refers to as being ‘opposed to transformation’, used state institutions and set in motion state machinery, to find something.

When that didn't work, the banks were the last option, targeting the group’s more than 200 companies that are collectively responsible for about R10-billion annual revenue under the Sekunjalo umbrella.

Asked how the group stayed afloat despite the challenges, he asserted that after the banks began closing some of the Group companies’ banking facilities, the group sought the intervention of the courts to defend these closures.

“They started with Absa closing the bank accounts, then another bank followed, creating an impression that they were acting independently… so we did two things that they never expected us to do, the first is we took them to the Equality Court, on the basis of discrimination, and we won the interdict against them, and the main case will be heard sometime next year.

“The second thing we did, is that we took them to the Competition Tribunal. Now that was a devastating judgment, that came out about three weeks ago, where the Tribunal said that there was prima facie evidence that the banks colluded against Sekunjalo in order to shut its accounts”. [17:04 – “The banks did’t expect that, I must tell you. The banks absolutely stunned by the judgement.”]

He added that the Competition Commission was also going to investigate the banks' role in the alleged collusion.

>>17696941

“WATCH: Banks are being used to shut down Independent Media” – Part 2

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/watch-banks-are-being-used-to-shut-down-independent-media-21fdd41d-bd69-4d42-aba2-a2bdce60eb37

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2022

Responding to the questions about the Commission of Inquiry into allegations of impropriety at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), the Mpati Commission, and his alleged relationship with the former PIC CEO, Dr. Dan Matjila, Survé said the Commission was set up to target Sekunjalo and that no wrongdoing was pinned on the group.

“These are simply allegations that have no basis, nobody within the group has been charged. So, how is it then, that the banks continue to keep the accounts of entities such as Steinhoff, EOH, and Tongaat Hulett, and hundreds of other companies that are criminal and committed fraud and corruption,” he asked. [20:21 – “Yet the banks themselves as according to the Zondo Commission by the way have committed fraud and corruption.”]

Survé also raised some inconsistencies in terms of how the Mpati Commission dealt with matters, such as that fact that the PIC had lost more than R200bn in certain other entities, yet they were not investigated, were not made part of the Mpati Commission and that their bank accounts remained operational. [21:14 – “In almost 25 years of being in business, the PIC has invested in perhaps only 3 of our entities even though we’ve gone to them hundreds of times… Why don’t they ask Patrice Motsepe for example? The PIC have invested in 10 of his companies today. Ramaphosa, the PIC has invested in at least 7 or 8 of his companies and associates. They wrote off 1.8 billion of the investment in MTN Nigeria where Ramaphosa was involved.”]

[22:55 – “Here you have these people from abroad coming to South Africa captured the State, captured a whole host of high flying politicians. They living the high life in the UAE. We’ve been told a couple of months ago that they’ve been arrested and up to now heard nothing about them being brought to account.”]

Sekunjalo, Survé, and others, are now involved in a series of legal actions against the country’s banking cartel, with the applicants accusing Nedbank, Absa Bank, First National Bank, Investec Bank, Sasfin Bank, Bidvest, and Mercantile Bank of colluding, in an attempt to drain the soul out of the Group with the ultimate aim of shutting it down.

In the Competition Tribunal (the Tribunal) case, the banks failed to prove the veracity of the offences allegedly committed by Sekunjalo, which had resulted in the closure of their bank accounts based on perceived reputational risk.

The Tribunal granted interim relief to Sekunjalo preventing three major banks from closing bank accounts belonging to the Group. It also ordered the banks that had closed the accounts to reopen them under the same conditions prior to their closure.

27:54 – “We become a corporate. We’re a corporate structure with public companies listed on the stock market. We’re in 40 countries in the African continent. We’ve expanded overseas. We’re in the very industries that compete with white business whether it is e-commerce, technology, food and fishing. Media makes up less than 3% of our assets for example, so the media investment is really what I call philanthropy for us. We support Independent Media with about 200 million a year… So what is the fight against me really about? Well, they feel I’m too independent, I’m not one of the boys. I came from very humble poor background and I’m not one fo the Stellenbosch guys. I didn’t go to a private school and I don’t think like them and I don’t live my life like them. I live a very simple and humble life… I’d rather use my resources to fight for freedom to fight for human rights…”

“This proposed bill could put an end to petitions and public participation.”

https://youtu.be/A5lWnLUWTHY

“This proposed bill could put an end to petitions and public participation.” says Dear SA. We chat to Dear SA CEO, Gideon Joubert, for more details.

“Theo de Jager on farming in South Africa | Solutions With David Ansara Podcast #73”

https://youtu.be/D3dMfcMf0XI

What role does agriculture play in South Africa's economy and in society more broadly? In this episode of the 'Solutions With David Ansara' podcast, I speak with Dr. Theo de Jager of the Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) about farming in South Africa.

We discuss:

• How Theo got involved in farming and organised agriculture

• Saai and its objectives

• The current state of South Africa's agricultural sector

• The risk of Expropriation Without Compensation

• Alternative approaches to land reform

• Saai's participation in the Western Cape Devolution Working Group

• Farm attacks

• The drivers of food inflation in South Africa

• Global food security risks

33:39 – “In the Western Cape, our members came out quite clear. They said, we still have a functional government in this province. This functionalies here are mostly attributed to central government. We have a problem with policing in the Western Cape but it’s because we cannot appoint our own police officers. They are being forced onto us. We have a problem with the judiciary but we cannot appoint our own chief justice. We are being given a chief justice in the cadre deployment program of the national government but we did not vote for them on a provincial level.”

40:01 – “I’ve been confronted all over the world and more recently in New York at the United Nations where our President said that there is no such a thing as farm murders in South Africa. I was there on that day. I heard him saying that and I responded. I had numerous interviews on USA television stations and they all say but you have a general problem with crime in South Africa. People are being murdered in numbers every day in South Africa, 57 on average per day. What makes the farmers so special? Actually, percentage wise more people get killed on the Cape Flats in gang violence and also in deep rural towns in gender violence. So what makes the attacks on farms and their murders so special?… Farm murders are actually special based on 3 observations. The first is, no calls for the murder of gangsters in the Cape Flats or women and children in deep rural villages, like there are calls from political parties, “kill the farmer, kill the boer.” When they get murdered in the Cape Flats and in the villages, it’s not accompanied by hours and hours of the most brutal torture imaginable. Nobody drills holes in the kneecaps of an ‘Ouma’ [granny] in the Cape Flats like they have done on farms. And then afterwards you do not have this applaus on Twitter and other platforms on social media saying great we need more of these murders with no consequences for those who are applauding it at all. This makes farm murders pretty much different from any other murders in South Africa.”

50:13 – “The moment that there are shortages, people start to move around. Then you have refugees. People crossing the Mediterranean to get into Europe. People running across borders from Zimbabwe to South Africa and from Mozambique to South Africa because they believe they can feed their children here and a lot of this really starts with the availability and affordability of food. There’s only one solution, nurture your farmers. No farmers, no food.”

>>17696948

“Beveilig 'n plaas - Episode 1” - https://youtu.be/5RVh84nSZso

“Series of farm attacks and farm murders in South Africa – ‘Step up your security’”

https://southafricatoday.net/south-africa-news/series-of-farm-attacks-and-farm-murders-in-south-africa-step-up-your-security/

October 12, 2022

AfriForum Community Safety called on farmers, who are not yet involved in their local safety structures, to get involved immediately.

Recently there has been a series of brutal farm attacks and murders nationwide after the equality court ruled that the chant “Kill the Boer” does not constitute hate speech.

After this ruling, AfriForum made it abundantly clear that it will focus on expanding its safety structures and offer more training to farmers.

AfriForum launched its Safeguard a farm project in 2022, which focuses on providing farmers with the necessary training to prevent and deter farm attacks. The training is free of charge, and includes basic firearm handling, first aid, home and hearth protection and an overview of the necessary communication systems.

Rural areas have unique challenges when it comes to policing. Factors such as the large distances between neighbours and the time it takes emergency services to respond to these areas make it even more important for rural residents to organise themselves.

Between January and September this year, there have already been 257 farm attacks and 41 farm murders reported in South Africa.

“We are convinced that these figures would be much higher if it weren’t for the fact that more and more farmers began to prioritise their safety. Unfortunately, we have reached a point where it no longer helps to pressure the government to prioritise crime. We are now at a place where citizens must get involved in their local security structures such as neighbourhood watches, whether rural or urban,” says Jacques Broodryk, spokesperson for Community Safety at AfriForum.

“In the areas where farmers are organised well when it comes to communication networks, response teams and preventive actions such as patrols, in general, there is a noticeable decline in crime,” concludes Broodryk.

If you are interested in participating in AfriForum’s project, Safeguard a farm, visit here, https://onteiening.co.za/beveilig-n-plaas/

For more information click here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RVh84nSZso&t=2s

Read about more farm attacks here, https://southafricatoday.net/tag/farm-attack/

Read the original article in Afrikaans on AfriForum, https://afriforum.co.za/nou-van-kardinale-belang-om-veiligheid-op-te-skerp-na-reeks-wrede-plaasaanvalle/.

>>17697892

“AfriForum use #StopMalema website to SLAM Juju’s ‘extreme rant’”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-julius-malema-kill-threats-afriforum-thursday-20-october/

20-10-2022 12:12

AfriForum now have a website dedicated to ‘stopping’ Julius Malema, and they’re using it to raise a new complaint about the EFF leader.

Julius Malema is once again in the headlines for his controversial statements. The EFF leader stated over the past weekend that his supporters ‘must be ready to kill’ for a party-led national revolution. However, AfriForum are now taking the political firebrand to task.

DID THE EFF LEADER CALL FOR SUPPORTERS TO KILL?

Referencing the armed struggle of the ANC against apartheid, Juju predicted that a similar thing would have to happen in South Africa again, in order to achieve racial equity. Attendees at the rally cheered and clapped as Mr. Malema openly pondered more bloodshed…

“A revolution demands that there must be killing at some point. Why did Nelson Mandela take up a gun? He wasn’t doing it to distribute roses. It was because the revolution reached a point where there was no other option but to kill. Why must we be scared?”

“It is in the best interests of the revolution. The EFF has said it will take power by all means necessary. Revolutionaries would not think twice about it. This is no time for cowards, and South Africa is no playground for racists. You will meet your maker.” | Julius Malema

AFRIFORUM SPOOKED BY EFF LEADER REMARKS

The whole affair has irked AfriForum, and then some. The lobby group have a colourful history with Malema and the EFF, with all parties often clashing in the courtroom. Indeed, another legal battle could be brewing here – and the SA Human Rights Commission may get involved.

AfriForum have pushed their #StopMalema website, in order to encourage South Africans to raise a complaint against the 41-year-old. According to the organisation, they want the SAHRC to fully hold Malema accountable for his ‘violent rhetoric’.

“Julius Malema said during an EFF rally in the Western Cape that ‘you [EFF supporters] must never be scared to kill’. AfriForum demands that the SAMRC investigate Malema’s comments and that they take an uncompromising stance and act against this violent rhetoric.”

“AfriForum calls on its members to help put pressure on the SAHRC to urgently investigate Malema for these statements through the website www.stopmalema.co.za – this is the easiest way to submit a standard complaint.” | AfriForum statement

>>17697892

>>17699372

>“AfriForum calls on its members to help put pressure on the SAHRC to urgently investigate Malema for these statements through the website www.stopmalema.co.za – this is the easiest way to submit a standard complaint.” | AfriForum statement

#StopMalema

https://afriforum.co.za/stopmalema/

Dear members of the South African Human Rights Commission

I submit this complaint to you as a concerned citizen. Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters said at the EFF’s third provincial assembly in the Western Cape over the weekend that, “you [EFF supporters] must never be scared to kill” and that “a revolution demands that at some point there must be killing, because the killing is part of a revolutionary act.”

Please urgently investigate Julius Malema’s comments and take an uncompromising stance and action against this violent rhetoric. There is no place for extremist comments like this in our society and it is contributing to the radicalisation of political rhetoric in the country. Every time a politician gets away with extremist or violent rhetoric, it leads to the escalation of such rhetoric.

It is high time that the institutions of this country tasked with standing up against hate speech and incitement of violence take a strong stance and send a clear message that this type of rhetoric is unacceptable and bears consequences.

Regards,

>>17696921 - Reposting >>17694319 as there is more info.

>>17694298

>This rabbit trail started with the first article I will post below. Take note; the former South African President, Jacob Zuma was an intelligence operative in the ANC when they were still regarded as terrorists. “'Zuma's self-survival rooted in being ex-ANC intelligence operative'”, https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/zumas-self-survival-rooted-in-being-ex-anc-intelligence-operative-11636924

“‘Dodgy’ diamond dealer pledges R500k for Jacob Zuma” – “prosecution of advocate Billy Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan"

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-louis-liebenberg-jacob-zuma-11-october/

11-10-2022 15:47

Louis Liebenberg is reportedly so close with Jacob Zuma, he gifted him two Nguni cows and has been to Nkandla

Former president Jacob Zuma certainly has some friends in high places: Gauteng diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg has pledged R500 000 to fund his private prosecution of advocate Billy Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan.

Here’s some background: Zuma opened a criminal case against Downer, the lead prosecutor in his arms deal corruption trial, claiming he leaked his medical records to Maughan. The High Court in Pietermaritzburg has postponed the matter to February 2023. Both Maughan and Downer, however, have approached the courts, to have the charges he has brought against them dismissed as an abuse of process. The matter will be heard on 8 and 9 December 2022.

ZUMA’S FRIENDSHIP WITH LIEBENBERG

According to reports, Louis Liebenberg deposited the funds into the the trust account of his own attorney, Walter Niedinger. This was revealed in an affidavit filed in response to Downer’s application that Jacob Zuma deposit R1 million to fund his defence.

Liebenberg is believed to enjoy a friendship with the former president. The businessman even gifted Zuma with two Nguni cows and has reportedly visited his Nkandla homestead on several occasions – and we know that honour isn’t extended to just anyone.

Surprisingly (or maybe not), Liebenberg, who has made his fortune in the mining industry, has been labelled a conman by some. Several Facebook groups have been set up, allegedly exposing the Northern Cape resident as a fraud. It’s believed he has been part of several Ponzi schemes, which have illegally taken money from investors.

Test

>>17710133

It is good that an email and TOTP are no longer required.

>>17710133

Test 2

When I want to upload information then it states that the server took too long???