Thank you!
âMeet Ian Cameron, the man who wouldnât cower to Bheki Celeâ
https://youtu.be/BYq5xnPqhZE
âCommunity policing activist Ian Cameron - who heads up NGO Action Society - made headlines when cops ejected him from a community meeting in Gugulethu after a war of words with Police Minister Bheki Cele. Cameron told BizNews he was the 13th speaker at the event, where he proceeded to tell the minister about the reality of crime and gender-based violence in the area. Cameron said: âIâm tired of the excuses and Iâm tired of you making this a political thing. I want to graciously invite you to come and patrol without a bodyguard, without a grand car, in normal clothes with this community tonight to get the sewage on your shoes that they patrol through.â The minister warned Cameron not to provoke him. âYou regard me as a garden boy,â Cele said. When Cameron stood to defend himself from the racial assertion, Cele yelled at him to, âShut upâ several times and sit down. âItâs your turn to listen, young man, or get out,â shouted Cele. Cameron will be laying a complaint with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate regarding police conduct, as well as criminal charges against officers who attempted to assault him.â
âWhy more women in South Africa need firearms for self-defenceâ â Gender Based Violence (Part 1)
https://firearms.co.za/opinion/why-women-in-south-africa-need-firearms-for-self-defence/
August 17, 2021
Gender-based violence the biggest human rights violation of our generation
The ANC has transformed our country into the rape capital of the world and South Africa is now possibly facing the greatest human rights crisis of our generation. The ANC must never claim the right to celebrate the freedom of women, womenâs day and womenâs month during their existence in South Africa. 116 women have their livelihoods stolen from them everyday when they are raped and they have an almost 100% guarantee that justice will not prevail.
It must be said that many victims are children and very simply put, would not be able to obtain a firearm for self-defence, but where possibly adult citizens should be legally armed and prepared for different situations they could be confronted with.
Imagine being the mother of a 5 year old little girl that was raped and murdered, then dumped in a pit toilet with severe injuries from being beaten and knowing that the chance of justice being served is less than 7%? Well, that is the case of little Chantal Makwena (5) from Rocklands who was brutally raped and murdered in August 2019. The same suspect that allegedly raped and murdered Chantal was arrested for the rape of a woman in 2018 and was out on bail.
South Africa has one of the highest rates of violence against women and girls in the world, and a femicide rate that is five times the global average, with an estimated 12.1 in 100,000 victims each year. South Africaâs gender-based violence statistics (GBV) are equal to a country at war. It is important to note that 2 695 women are murdered every year in South Africa thatâs 1 woman every 3 hours.
It is because of incompetent officials like Bheki Cele that men like Nicholas Ninow can roam the streets of this country. Ninow destroyed a little 7 year-old girlâs life before it could even begin, when he raped her in a restaurant in Pretoria in 2018. He was not convicted because of DNA- evidence but was caught red handed.
In the plenary debate on the DNA crisis, held on May 11 2021, Police Minister Bheki Cele confirmed that the South African Police Services (SAPS) was already implementing overtime to clear up the DNA backlog of 208 000 cases. âOur goal is to have 40% of human resources dedicated to addressing the backlog and 60% of staff will handle new cases,â said Cele. It is now 3 months later and the backlog has passed the 300 000 mark with no real evidence of Cele fulfilling his mandate and the SAPS obviously failing in theirâs.
South Africa has in the last year, maintained itâs spot as the rape capital of the world, with about 132 incidents per 100,000 people. Tshegofatso Pule, Naledi Phangindawo, Alexia Nyamadzawo, Nolundi Dondolo and many others were victims of gender-based violence and were brutally killed at the hands of abusers in 2020
More than 300 000 victims of violence in South Africa have been denied justice by a corrupt law enforcement cluster that cannot ensure that basic forensic procedures are completed. How many children like Chantal are still going to be subjected to rape and murder with no hope of protection or justice?
âWhy more women in South Africa need firearms for self-defenceâ â Gender Based Violence (Part 2)
https://firearms.co.za/opinion/why-women-in-south-africa-need-firearms-for-self-defence/
August 17, 2021
In June 2020, Bheki Cele appointed an oversight commission that gets paid to sort outthe DNA backlog in South Africa, but they have only met once since being appointed. How do you sleep at night, knowing that your failed oversight is denying more victims of gender-based violence and specifically rape from getting justice?
No example is being set as to what should happen to perpetrators that commit these horrific crimes.
South Africa is faced by a pandemic far greater than Covid 19, namely gender-based violence, as the ANC poses as a ruling political party, but is in actual fact a criminal mafia that have become professional in capturing state institutions. Under the supposed leadership of people like Cyril Ramaphosa, Jacob Zuma, Bheki Cele, Khehla Sithole, Jackie Selebi, Nathi Nhleko and Nathi Mthetwa, the ANC has become complicit in the gender- based violence pandemic that South Africa faces. There is only one reason for this: government is led by an intellectually corrupt organisation that has become the biggest criminal network South Africa has ever known. Law enforcement institutions have been hijacked for political gain by the ANC, they abuse these bodies to ensure that justice never prevails. Not one promise Bheki Cele has made during his term as minister of police has been honoured, in fact, further deterioration is happening as I write this.
Cyril Ramaphosa should be ashamed of associating with a minister like Bheki Cele, who started his own round of police destruction when he was made national police commissioner as part of an ANC cadre deployment scheme about a decade ago. Cele was also found unfit for duty by a court of law when he was national commissioner.
Mbali Shongwe, a rape survivor tells the real story of being failed by the South African justice system. After reporting her case and going through all the necessary channels, the case was dismissed. She was told it was due to a lack of evidence but after further investigation she learned that none of the leads were followed, the CCTV footage that was perfectly positioned to witness the crime was not reviewed and the detectives refused to pick up her assailant despite the overwhelming information she provided to them (after becoming hopeless and conducting an investigation to find her assailant herself).
âNot only did my rapist seek to silence and disempower me, but the system, that is designed to protect me, did too. The women of South Africa are tired. What we face daily is a scourge that we can no longer ignore. My rape has irrevocably changed who I am but unfortunately for my abuser and the justice system that failed me, I have emerged stronger than I was before. I have committed myself to the fact that I will never be silent. Until someone listens and the systems and culture change, I will continue to fight for the justice that I and so many other women deserve,â she says.
How many more women need to die at the hands of their ruthless and violent killers? When is enough, enough? How can government justify spending another R26 million on VIP protection while the vulnerable women and children in our communities remain exposed and unprotected?
Women, like so many other citizens should be encouraged to be legally armed and trained to equal the playing field where violent criminals threaten their lives.
Help us to bring justice where the system is failing victims. Join Action Society today and be a voice for the voiceless.
Ian Cameron
Ian leads Action Societyâs community safety drive and is an ambassador for the #SafeCitizen Campaign. Ian is the founder of firearms.co.za.
>the restructure of the companyâs debt and the sale of Burnstone to Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources â now Sibanye Gold.
âWits Gold [Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources] delivered on a plate to Sibanyeâ
https://www.miningmx.com/news/gold/20129-wits-gold-delivered-on-a-plate-to-sibanye/
January 7, 2014
THE R407m takeover of Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources (Wits Gold) last year sees the departure â at least for now â of Johannesburgâs great gold bull, Adam Fleming, from active participation in South Africaâs gold exploration industry.
Fleming, the former chairman of Harmony Gold, in 2006 correctly anticipated a recovery in the gold price, saying memorably that the worldâs gold market was âin the foothillsâ of a major bull run.
He also forecast, wrongly, that the worldâs gold mining companies would return to the riches of the historic Witwatersrand gold basin. Itâs hard to see that happening, especially as Wits Gold itself has demonstrated how difficult building new gold mines in the region can be.
The company is wrapping up its business having witnessed a harrowing loss of value in the last two years.
Whereas Wits Gold once traded at R94.50, giving it a market value of over R3bn, the counter is now worth R369m. This follows Sibanye Goldâs R406m bid for the company last week which effectively brings the curtain down on Wits Gold after seven years of existence.
And whereas Fleming once boasted wealth in Wits Gold of about R750m, equal to a 26% stake in the company, that has now diminished to just over R100m. Itâs a sign of the times that investors have lost faith with South Africaâs gold exploration story.
The whisper in the market is that Wits Goldâs attempts to raise capital to repay a R40m loan, provided by a Fleming company, were proving troublesome. Equally difficult to digest for Wits Gold was its growth target Burnstone which had been developed for a breathtaking $800m or R8bn by the now bankrupt Great Basin Gold.
__Wits Gold had successfully bid for Burnstone from Great Basinâs liquidators offering R100 and offering to take over $177.3m in bank debt owed by Southgold, Great Basinâs subsidiary. Wits Gold had committed to provide a R950m loan for working capital and capital expenditure at Burnstone.___
Wits Goldâs other projects, such as De Bron-Merriespruit (DBM), were also looking difficult to fund. DBM had a peak funding requirement of about R2.37bn. As of December 31, 2012, Wits Gold had cash and cash equivalents of R15m. Fleming then tried to support Wits Goldâs share by buying up 66,000 shares.
The bid from Sibanye Gold, a 47% premium to Wits Gold 30-day weighted average price probably presented Fleming with an easy choice, and other shareholders too who had been effectively locked into the company given its lack of liquidity. At the time of the announcement, some 56% of Wits Gold shareholders had accepted the Sibanye Gold offer.
For Sibanye Goldâs Neal Froneman, who once worked at Harmony Gold, this was a waiting game executed with opportunism. Macquarie Research correctly speculated in December 2012 following the formation of Sibanye Gold that Wits Gold would be a good fit for the company.
By waiting a year, Sibanye was able to buy Wits Gold by about R290m less. Speaking to Miningmx in December last year, Fleming said it was âa good dealâ for Wits Gold shareholders, and that he would take the proceeds from the buyout and reinvest them in Sibanye Gold.
âI think Neal is poised to do the ultimate consolidation in South Africaâs gold industry. Apart from the fact that Wits Gold is a natural extension of Beatrix (its DBM is adjacent to Sibanye Goldâs mature Beatrix mine in the Free State), I think Neal has got the power and the energy to pull this off,â he says.
Fleming sticks by his view that South Africa will once again become the focus of global gold company interest. âItâs where the gold is. I cannot believe the world will never come back here. What weâre seeing now is temporary noise; it will dissipate,â he says.
>[Adam] Fleming, the former chairman of Harmony Gold
>For Sibanye Goldâs Neal Froneman, who once worked at Harmony Gold
>âBusiness rescue of Southgold gives mine a new lease on lifeâ â âBowman Gilfillan acted for the secured lendersâ
Harmony Gold â Dr. Patrice Motsepe (founding chairman of BRICS), also links to Sanlam, Bowman Gilfillan, World Economic Forum, Warren Buffet, Bill & Melinda Gates, etc. (Part 1)
https://www.harmony.co.za/about/history
Harmony was incorporated and registered as a public company in South Africa on 25 August 1950 and later became a Randgold-managed company, exploiting the single Harmony mine lease. In 1995, Harmony was recreated as a separate entity following the winding up of Randgold. The number of operations has grown significantly since 1995, with Harmony transforming from a single, lease-bound mining operation into a multi-operation, global, independent, world-class gold producer.
Dr. Patrice Motsepeâs Biography
https://www.harmony.co.za/about/board
NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN
LLB and Doctorate of Commerce (Honoris Causa) (University of Witwatersrand), Doctorate of Commerce (Honoris Causa) (Stellenbosch University), Doctor of Management and Commerce (Honoris Causa) (University of Fort Hare) and BA Law and Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) (University of Eswatini, formerly the University of Swaziland)
Member of the nomination committee
Dr Patrice Motsepe was appointed non-independent non-executive chairman on 23 September 2003. In 1994 [the year of South Africaâs âindependenceâ], Dr Motsepe founded Future Mining which grew rapidly to become a successful contract mining company. He then formed ARMgold in 1997 which listed on the JSE in 2002.
In 2003, Dr Motsepe led ARMgold into a merger with Avmin and Harmony. Following the merger, Avmin changed its name to African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and he became the founder and executive chairman of ARM.
Dr Patrice Motsepe was a partner in one of the largest law firms in South Africa, Bowmans [Bowman Gilfillan] and was also a visiting attorney in the USA with the law firm McGuireWoods.
In 2002, Dr Motsepe was voted South Africaâs Business Leader of the Year by the chief executive officers of the top 100 companies in South Africa. In the same year, he was the winner of the Ernst & Young Best Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
In 2017, Forbes Magazine commemorated its 100th anniversary and honoured Dr Motsepe as one of the â100 Greatest Living Business Mindsâ in the world alongside many prominent global business leaders. He is the only person living on the African continent to be recognised and honoured as one of the â100 Greatest Living Business Mindsâ in the world.
__Dr Motsepe is the founder and Chairman of Ubuntu-Botho Investments, African Rainbow Capital (ARC), African Rainbow Energy and Power (AREP) and UBI General Partner Proprietary Limited. He is also the deputy chairman of Sanlam and chairman of Harmony Gold.___
He is the President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and a vice president of FĂŠdĂŠration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). He was previously Chairman of Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club.
Dr Motsepe is a member Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Global Network Advisory Board of the WEF Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the WEF International Business Council (IBC) which is made up of 100 of the most highly respected and influential chief executives from all industries. He is also a member of the Harvard Global Advisory Council and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM).
Harmony Gold â Dr. Patrice Motsepe (founding chairman of BRICS), also links to Sanlam, Bowman Gilfillan, World Economic Forum, Warren Buffet, Bill & Melinda Gates, etc. (Part 2)
https://www.harmony.co.za/about/board
His past business responsibilities include being the president of National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NAFCOC) from 2002 to 2006, founding president of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) from January 2004 to May 2008, founding president of Chambers of Commerce and Industry South Africa (CHAMSA), president of the Black Business Council (BBC), and the founding chairman of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Business Council in March 2013.
Dr Motsepe is a recipient of numerous business and leadership awards and recognitions including:
⢠Sunday Times Lifetime Achiever Award, 2017
⢠Harvard University Veritas Award for Excellence in Global Business and Philanthropy, 2014
⢠BRICS Business Council, Outstanding Leadership Award, 2014
⢠The Black Management Forum (BMF) Presidential Award for Business Excellence, 2010
⢠McGuireWoods Outstanding Alumnus Awards, 2009
⢠African Business Roundtable, USA, Entrepreneur & Freedom of Trade Award, 2009
⢠South African Jewish Report, Special Board Members Award for Outstanding Achievement, 2004
⢠Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut, MS Louw Award for Exceptional Business Achievement, 2003
⢠World Economic Forum Global Leader of Tomorrow, 1999.
In January 2013 Dr Motsepe and his wife, Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe joined the Giving Pledge which was started by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates. Dr Motsepe committed to give half of the wealth, which is owned by the Motsepe family to the poor and for philanthropic purposes during his lifetime and that of his wife and beyond. In April 2019, Forbes Magazine stated that US$500 million was donated by the Motsepe family to the poor and for philanthropic purposes.
Dr Motsepe announced on 28 March 2020 that his family, in partnership with companies and organisations that they are associated with, including ARM, pledge R1 billion (US$57 million) to assist with South Africa and Africaâs response to the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe Background; âappointed the first black partner of [Bowman Gilfillan], in exactly the same year that Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa [1994] and moreâ (Part 1)
âHow The Son Of A Former African School Teacher Made Over $1 Billion Dollarsâ
https://startuptipsdaily.com/success-story-patrice-motsepe/
July 16, 2017
After getting his LLB, in 1988, Patrice Motsepe got a great job offer from the Bowman Gilfillan law firm, which was one of South Africaâs most reputable law firms.
Despite being a firm predominantly run by white South Africans, Patrice Tlhopane Motsepeâs drive, commitment to growth, and high success rates in his job activities got his bosses to take a unique interest in him.
In 1991, Patrice Motsepe, under the American Bar Association program, was a visiting attorney to McGuire Woods law firm located in the heart of Richmond, Virginia, USA. During his visit, he met several mining organizations, and studying their operations sprouted a zeal and attraction in him for the business.
This exposure caused Patrice Motsepe to start studying the mining business in every way that he could. He would read all kinds of books & articles and study anything he could on mining, just so he could have a complete understanding and technical know-how on how the business operates.
In the year 1994, Patrice Tlhopane Motsepeâs hard work at the Bowman Gilfillan law firm paid off, as he was appointed the first black partner of the organization, in exactly the same year that Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa.
The Start Of His Business Journey
Now in the law firm, Patrice Motsepe specialized in mining and business law. His exposure to the sector caused him to start up a mining firm called Future Mining; a company which was into contract mining services that involved creating a system of worker remuneration that integrated a low base salary with a profit-sharing bonus, and also the cleaning of gold dust from inside mine shafts for the Vaal Reefs Gold mine, currently a subsidiary of AngloGold.
While his company handled very miniature mining contract services, Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe continued to strive until he realized that the successful mines didnât have to be the large ones, but rather any one, especially small ones that better managed their finances and operations.
The Establishment of The African Rainbow Minerals (ARM)
After saving up for many years, in 1997 when the price of Gold was falling, one of the largest mining companies in South Africa, AngloGold, was looking to sell some of their smaller, older, low-performing mine shafts, so they could focus on their larger and higher performing mines.
With this golden opportunity staring him in the face, Patrice Motsepe promptly founded the African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and proceeded to acquire one of the mine shafts that were up for sale by AngloGold.
In just three years after taking over the mines, Patrice Motsepe was able to fully repay the debt, which came as a complete shocker to almost every observer, as he had turned the minesâ operations around and made them profitable in just about 12 months after the takeover.
After this success, in the year 2000, Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe partnered with Anglo Platinum, the worldâs largest platinum producer. This partnership was a 50 â 50 ratio, and together, they created the largest platinum-producing mines in South Africa called Modikwa.
He further went on to partner with a South African gold producer called Harmony, in 2002, to acquire a certain number of shafts from Anglo. After the acquisition and commencement of operations on the shafts, they collectively went on to produce a total of 1 million troy ounces of platinum a year.
Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe Background; âappointed the first black partner of [Bowman Gilfillan], in exactly the same year that Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa [1994] and moreâ (Part 2)
https://startuptipsdaily.com/success-story-patrice-motsepe/
July 16, 2017
His Business Today
Since his business mergers and explosive growth, Patrice Tlhopane Motsepeâs African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) has been listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, making him one of the first black entrepreneurs in South Africa to own a major controlling stake in a publicly listed company.
Today, his company has strategic partnerships and mergers with other mining organizations, and have added a wide list of minerals to their coffers like nickel, chrome, coal, iron, manganese and precious metals (platinum and its related products).
In the process, Patrice Motsepe has built one of the largest mining companies in not just Africa, but the world, with revenues totaling over $2 billion, and employing over 10,000 people.
He also owns stakes in several other companies, including about a 5.5% stake in Sanlam, a publicly traded financial services company located outside of Cape Town, South Africa.
It is interesting that Patrice Motsepe is going to Uganda for the first time for soccer, especially after a huge deposit of gold was discovered in the country and his business is gold mining.
âCaf president Patrice Motsepe to visit Ugandaâ
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/sports/soccer/caf-president-patrice-motsepe-to-visit-uganda-3878252
July 13, 2022
What you need to know:
⢠This will be the South African billionaireâs first visit to Uganda. He took charge following a five-year ban handed to his predecessor Ahmad.
⢠Ahmad, who had been Caf president and Fifa vice president since 2017, was found guilty of violating several of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE), including abuse of office, distribution of gifts and misappropriations of funds during his presidency.
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Dr. Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe will pay a two-day visit to Uganda starting tomorrow.
Motsepe, who took over the leadership of the continental football governing body in March, 2021, will be hosted by the Fufa president and Caf executive committee member Hon. Moses Hasim Magogo.
âDuring the visit, the Caf president will hold meetings with HE President of the Republic of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Anita Annet Among, Fufa Executive and key football stakeholders,â a statement released by Fufa reads.
This will be the South African billionaireâs first visit to Uganda. He took charge following a five-year ban handed to his predecessor Ahmad.
Ahmad, who had been Caf president and Fifa vice president since 2017, was found guilty of violating several of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE), including abuse of office, distribution of gifts and misappropriations of funds during his presidency.
A five-year ban from taking part in all football-related activities at national and international level was imposed by Fifa on November 23, 2020, as well as a fine of 200,000 Swiss francs (about 220,000 US dollars).
Motsepe arrives here following last weekâs decision by Caf to move the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations from June/July, 2023 to January/February, 2024.
The tournament was to be hosted in June-July 2023, which is the height of the rainy season in Ivory Coast. It will now be played in January-February the following year.
âWe cannot take the risk,â said the South African, Motsepe, in the Moroccan capital Rabat.
Caf, also recently passed the Caf African Super League. On the agenda since Fifa President Gianni Infantino hinted at its possibility in 2019, the African Super League will get underway in August 2023.
The tournament will feature 24 teams and carry total prize money of $100m, said Motsepe, adding that just over $10m will go to the winner.
Citing âfinancial challengesâ in Caf which he inherited from Ahmad, Motsepe said that businesses are interested in sponsoring the event.
âThe key issue for us is the abnormal interest weâve been exposed to from some of the biggest and most prominent investors and sponsors,â he said.
Caf also said that the African Champions League, which is open to all countries in Africa, will continue alongside the new African Super League, where the top 24 teams will be determined according to their Fifa ranking.
>Webber Wentzel - Southgold
>Bowman Gilfillan - Southgold
Bowmans: Timeless Ties - Excerpts
https://www.bowmanslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Alumni-Newsletter_25-October-2018.pdf
Once part of Bowmans, always part of Bowmans. Although dispersed all over the world, in virtually every sector and industry, our alumni share a common bond â one that we would like to strengthen and nurture.
Leading South African jurists Sisi Khampepe and Dunstan Mlambo are among our alumni who have reached great heights.
Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, advocate and author of The Land is Ours, was a partner in Johannesburg before switching to the Bar. Top South African business leaders Patrice Motsepe of African Rainbow Minerals and Sim Tshabalala of Standard Bank grew up in this firm and are now loyal clients.
Following the progress of these luminaries is easy because of their public profiles. There are countless other Bowmans alumni who, in their own ways, are making their mark across the world and have inspiring stories and experiences to share.
JUDGE DUNSTAN MLAMBO
Bowmans alumni are people to watch long after they have struck out in new directions. A fearless champion of access to justice is Judge Dunstan Mlambo, Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, who completed his articles at Bowmans.
The many high-profile cases Dunstan has considered include the 2014 decision to allow the media to broadcast the proceedings of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial. His reasons for allowing the trial to be broadcast live included dispelling perceptions that the rich and famous receive preferential treatment from the justice system.
Another landmark case was the matter between former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and the Gupta-owned company Oakbay.
Then there was his December 2017 ruling that then Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa had to appoint a new National Director of Public Prosecutions within 60 days.
AI: A NEW FORM OF PARTNER
This year we introduced a new partner to Bowmans: Kira. Kira is an artificial intelligence tool designed to improve efficiencies in certain key legal processes, primarily in the mergers and acquisitions and regulatory areas. Bowmans is one of the first African firms to be able to offer a solution of this nature to clients.
In 2017 we celebrated 50 years of the Bowmans vs Webber Wentzel cricket match, an enjoyable social tradition between the two fine firms.
Bowmans â Global reach
https://www.bowmanslaw.com/our-firm/our-african-footprint/
Recognising the size and enormous diversity of Africa, our approach to providing legal services across the continent is intended to offer on-the-ground advice in the countries that matter for our clients. Our presence in Africa is always evolving to meet the changes that are shaping the future of this vast continent.
Currently, we have our own offices in six African countries: Kenya (Nairobi), Mauritius (Moka), South Africa (Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg), Tanzania (Dar es Salaam), Uganda (Kampala) and Zambia (Lusaka).
We work closely with our Bowmans Alliance firms in Ethiopia (Aman Assefa & Associates Law Office) and Nigeria (Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie). These are two of the leading corporate and commercial law firms in their jurisdictions.
We have special relationships with competent practitioners in Malawi and Mozambique. We also have a non-exclusive co-operation agreement with French international law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel that provides our clients access to assistance in francophone west and north Africa. The arrangement provides complementary access for Gideâs clients and lawyers to markets in central, southern and eastern Africa.
We ensure that, whenever our clients need legal advice in other parts of Africa, we can assist them by tapping into our comprehensive database of contacts of the best firms and practitioners across the continent.
On the global front, Bowmans has long-standing and excellent relationships with a range of international law firms with whom we often work on Africa-focussed client mandates. We are also a member firm of Lex Mundi, a global association of more than 160 independent law firms in all the major centres across the globe. Lex Mundi gives us the ability to connect our clients with the best law firms in each of the countries represented.
>Dr Motsepe is the founder and Chairman of Ubuntu-Botho Investments, African Rainbow Capital (ARC), African Rainbow Energy and Power (AREP)
âBowmans are advising Absa Bank Ltd on the formation of the African Rainbow Energy Fund Partnershipâ
https://www.bowmanslaw.com/
We are advising Absa Bank Ltd on the formation of the African Rainbow Energy Fund Partnership, a private equity renewable energy investment fund in partnership with African Rainbow Energy and Power (Pty) Ltd.
>In 2003, Dr Motsepe led ARMgold into a merger with Avmin and Harmony. Following the merger, Avmin changed its name to African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and he became the founder and executive chairman of ARM.
>An important consideration in this process was the homogeneous nature of SA business. In the 1970s and 1980s the major national companies were Anglo (the Oppenheimers); Rembrandt (the Ruperts); Liberty (the Gordons); and Anglovaal (the Menells and Hersovs). The top six companies owned over 80% of the economy in 1985. This economic clout provided considerable leverage.
>1977 Urban Foundation âthink tankâ is founded by Harry Oppenheimer, Anton Rupert and Clive Menell.This Foundation introduced neoliberal housing policy for Blacks under the guise of âdevelopmentâ. Cyril Ramaphosa, Nthato Motlana and Phuthuma Ntleko became the leaders of this âdevelopmentâ Foundation
>1990 Independent Development Trust (IDT) is established as a Schedule 2 State Owned Entity largely taking on the âdevelopmentâ programmes of the Urban Foundation âthink tankâ which was setup in 1977 by Oppenheimer, Rupert and Menell. Chairman of Urban Foundation, Judge Jan Steyn becomes the head of IDT
>13 April 1992 Nelson Mandela announces intention to separate from Winnie Madikizela Mandela and moves in with Menell family .Clive Menell is one of the founders of the Urban Foundation which was established in 1977
Remember Anglovaal Mining (Avmin) was owned by the Menell and Hersov families
âPatrice Motsepe | Africaâs Billionaire | Personal Lifeâ
https://theexchange.africa/african-billionaires/patrice-motsepe-net-worth/
September 22, 2020
He launched ARMgold in 1997, which in 2003 merged with Harmony and acquired Anglovaal Mining (Avmin). In 2004, Motsepe was named chairman of the newly reorganized ARM and by 2006 the company had expanded beyond gold and other metals into coal mining.
>Glencoreâs client list is a roster of the worldâs largest firms including BP, Total, Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhilips, Chevron, Vale, Rio Tinto, ArcelorMittal and Sony
>Both [Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust] organizations are invested in the Rio Tinto mines
>The considerable proceeds from the sale gave the Wellcome Trust financial independence. Today, we invest in a wide range of financial assets around the world, and the returns from our portfolio â currently worth around ÂŁ38 billion â fund everything we do.
>Viscount Alfred Milner, co-founder of the Pilgrims Society, was Rio Tinto chairman from 1923-1925, and earlier a director for many years.
âRio Tinto's recent scandalsâ â âsexual harassment, bullying and racial discriminationâ; âIndigenous site destroyedâ; âBougainville civil warâ; âEquatorial Guinea probeâ (Part 1)
https://www.rfi.fr/en/rio-tinto-s-recent-scandals
03/02/2022
Sydney (AFP) â Revelations of rape and sexual assault at Rio Tinto are the latest in a series of scandals to hit the global mining giant, which is listed in London and Sydney.
Here is a selection of Rio Tinto's recent problems:
'Deeply disturbing'
On Tuesday, Rio Tinto released a searing internal report showing that sexual harassment, bullying and racial discrimination were rife "throughout the company".
The 85-page report, based on one-on-one interviews and a survey of 10,000 staff, found that 21 women had reported actual or attempted rape or sexual assault in the past five years.
CEO Jakob Stausholm said the findings were "deeply disturbing".
"I offer my heartfelt apology to every team member, past or present, who has suffered as a result of these behaviours. This is not the kind of company we want to be," he said.
Indigenous site destroyed
In 2020, Rio admitted blowing up 46,000-year-old rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia, destroying a priceless piece of the country's Aboriginal history.
Following public backlash and an investor revolt, then-CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques and two other top executives were forced to resign.
The caves were one of the earliest known locations inhabited by Australia's Indigenous people and had contained some of the oldest Aboriginal artefacts ever found in the country.
Rio Tinto's then-chairman Simon Thompson apologised and said the company's 2020 successes which saw it pay out a record dividend to investors on the back of booming iron ore prices had been "overshadowed" by the destruction.
The site is considered sacred by the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people of Western Australia.
âRio Tinto's recent scandalsâ â âsexual harassment, bullying and racial discriminationâ; âIndigenous site destroyedâ; âBougainville civil warâ; âEquatorial Guinea probeâ (Part 2)
https://www.rfi.fr/en/rio-tinto-s-recent-scandals
03/02/2022
Bougainville civil war
After decades of pressure, Rio Tinto agreed in 2021 to investigate the legacy of environmental damage and human rights abuses linked to its mine on the once war-torn Pacific island of Bougainville.
The now-shuttered Panguna copper and gold mine was at the centre of the brutal decade-long civil war in Bougainville, part of Papua New Guinea.
While in operation between 1972 and 1989, it was one of the South Pacific's largest mines.
Anger among locals over the environmental damage and distribution of profits fuelled an uprising and civil war that killed an estimated 20,000 people â 10 percent of the island's population at the time.
Clean-up costs are believed to be in the region of US$1 billion and have become prominent in the debate over Bougainville's independence from Papua New Guinea, which the island's residents overwhelmingly voted for in December 2019.
Equatorial Guinea probe
In 2017, Britain's Serious Fraud Office opened an investigation into "suspected corruption" surrounding Rio Tinto's development of the world's biggest untapped iron ore deposit in Equatorial Guinea.
A year earlier, Rio Tinto reported itself to regulators after an internal probe found US$10.5 million in "advisory services" payments had been made in relation to the project.
The company first secured exploration rights in the Simandou mountains in 1997.
In 2014, it sealed a US$20 billion deal with a consortium led by a Chinese state-run aluminium group to develop Simandou, which would have been Africa's biggest-ever mining and infrastructure venture.
The stake was later sold. The investigation is ongoing.
âUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken is Yet Another in a Long Line of Made Menâ â Samuel Pisar, Robert Maxwell, Bruce Rappoport, Jeff Epstein, so on (Part 1)
https://www.winterwatch.net/2021/03/secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-is-another-in-a-line-of-made-men/
March 27, 2021
Newly anointed President Joe Biden chose for U.S. Secretary of State a creature from the bowels of the Crime Syndicate cesspool named Antony Blinken, who has often been described in the press as Bidenâs closest and most-loyal friend.
Blinkenâs stepfather, one Samuel Pisar (1929-2015), was a âlong-trusted attorneyâ for Israeli and Soviet Union superspy Robert Maxwell (1923-1991). Based in Paris, Pisar âhad become one of Maxwellâs few confidants and probably his closest business adviser,â according to reports at the time.
Antony âTonyâ Blinken was born on April 16, 1962, in Yonkers, New York, to Jewish parents Judith and Donald Blinken. He attended the prestigious Dalton School in New York City until 1971, when he moved to Paris, France, with his divorced mother and her new husband, the aforementioned lawyer Samuel Pisar.
As you may recall, the notorious Jeffrey Epstein was a teacher at Dalton School and Bill Barrâs father was its principal. Donald Barr âhired Epstein to teach at Dalton when Epstein was merely a 20-year-old college dropout from both Cooper Union and New York University. Epstein taught at Dalton 2 years before he was hired by the investment bank Bear Stearns.â
During the Clinton Administration, the then-assistant secretary of state for European and Canadian affairs brought Blinken into the National Security Council.
The fast-rising Blinken was well established in American foreign-policy circles. He worked as a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies from 2001 to â02 and then served as Democratic Staff Director of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 2002 until 2008. During that time, he became a close friend of then-Sen. Joe Biden.
In 2006, Donald Blinken and Jeffrey Epstein were both members of the Council on Foreign Relations.
When Democratic nominee Barack Obama chose Biden as his running mate in the 2008 election, Biden gave Blinken a broad portfolio, including managing the teamâs Iraq policy. From 2009 to 2013, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President and helped craft U.S. policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Iranian nuclear program. He was appointed Deputy National Security Advisor in 2014.
Blinkenâs half-sister, Leah Pisar, also worked at the State Department and as communications director at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration. Blinkenâs uncle, meanwhile, served as U.S. ambassador to Belgium at the same time that Blinkenâs father was ambassador to Hungary.
âUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken is Yet Another in a Long Line of Made Menâ â Samuel Pisar, Robert Maxwell, Bruce Rappoport, Jeff Epstein, so on (Part 2)
https://www.winterwatch.net/2021/03/secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-is-another-in-a-line-of-made-men/
March 27, 2021
Six Degrees of Samuel Pisar
Most of the background on stepfather Samuel Pisar is whitewashed other than mentions that he was a âlawyer for Fortune 500 companies.â The truth is much more sketchy.
Pisar was the longtime consigliere, confidant and one of the last people to speak to Robert Maxwell (aka JĂĄn LudvĂk Hyman Hoch) by phone probably an hour before the chairman of Mirror Group Newspapers âfell offâ his luxury yacht, the Lady Ghislaine (named for his daughter) on Nov. 5, 1991.
Maxwell, of course, was the father of Epsteinâs madam Ghislaine Maxwell. Cozy, isnât it?
Six serving and former heads of Israeli intelligence services attended Maxwellâs funeral in Israel, while Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir eulogized him and stated, âHe has done more for Israel than can today be told.â
Read âIsrael gives Maxwell farewell fit for heroâ, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/11/11/israel-gives-maxwell-farewell-fit-for-hero/1773995a-0eac-4a3e-abed-1d3254cc0baa/, from The Washington Post on 11 November 1991- âHerzog delivered the eulogy, the Kaddish was recited by his fellow Holocaust survivor, friend and longtime attorney Samuel Pisar.â
The central organizing precept in these circles is corruption, and a singular, well understood, self righteous thirst for power and wealth.
It emerged after the funeral that, Pisarâs pal and client Maxwell had looted hundreds of millions of pounds from his companiesâ pension funds to shore up the shares of the Mirror Group to save his companies from bankruptcy. Eventually, the pension funds were replenished from public funds. The result was that in general, pensioners received about half of their company pension entitlement.
âUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken is Yet Another in a Long Line of Made Menâ â Samuel Pisar, Robert Maxwell, Bruce Rappoport, Jeff Epstein, so on (Part 3)
https://www.winterwatch.net/2021/03/secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-is-another-in-a-line-of-made-men/
March 27, 2021
Pisar was an advisor to French presidents François Mitterrand and ValĂŠry Giscard dâEstaing. [âJune (1989), a UDF (Harry Oppenheimer funded >>16554865 ) delegation, led by Albertina Sisulu, meets British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, new American President George Bush, the French President, Francois Mitterrand and the Swedish Prime Minister.â - >>16544926 ]
âIn Paris Pisar, was the intermediary, https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/affaire-esptein-les-nombreux-liens-du-millionnaire-avec-la-france-13-08-2019-8133258.php, between Epstein and the (French) cabinet.
Samuel Pisarâs name and seven phone numbers were in Epsteinâs âblack book.
Many roads lead to Pisar and there are ample clues on the who, what, and whens of this transnational organized crime network.
Pisar represented Armand Hammer in a number of his international negotiations.
Pisar represented Sir James Goldsmith, crooked Geneva banker Bruce Rappaport [Marc Richâs business partner >>16526352 ] and high-level members of the Bank of New York. He worked with Roget Tamraz on the BCCI bailout plan.
__Bruce Rappaport and high-level members of the Bank of New York, criminal Russian (code for Jewish) organizations were able to thrive and prosper during a time when the rest of the former Soviet Union crumbled.___
Samuel Pisar code name was ââThe Phoenixââ and to understand his role you need to look into his close friend from Harvard Ahmed Zaki Yamani. Pisar was also part of the negotiation in the Al-Yamamah arms deal.
Pisar was one of the earliest exponents of dĂŠtente in the heyday of the Cold War and one of the advisors to corporations on how to do business with the Soviet Union. The cornerstone of his reputation with the broad public was his 558 page book entitled Coexistence & Commerce: Guidelines for Transactions between East and West.
Steven Jobs spent lots of time with Pisar too. A declassified FBI interrogation statement describes Jobs as a likely intelligence asset of some kind.
>Read âIsrael gives Maxwell farewell fit for heroâ, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/11/11/israel-gives-maxwell-farewell-fit-for-hero/1773995a-0eac-4a3e-abed-1d3254cc0baa/, from The Washington Post on 11 November 1991- âHerzog delivered the eulogy, the Kaddish was recited by his fellow Holocaust survivor, friend and longtime attorney Samuel Pisar.â
>âHomeward Bound : Operation Exodus Lends Support to Soviet Jews in Their Return to Israelâ â Mendel Kaplan (South African)
Robert Maxwell and Mendel Kaplan (South African) would have worked closely together to help Soviet Jews migrate to Israel
âISRAEL GIVES MAXWELL FAREWELL FIT FOR HEROâ
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/11/11/israel-gives-maxwell-farewell-fit-for-hero/1773995a-0eac-4a3e-abed-1d3254cc0baa/
November 11, 1991
One official source, while denying that Maxwell ever had contact with the Mossad or access to sensitive information, said the government did not shrink from asking his help on issues ranging from Soviet immigration to the financing of pet projects. Maxwell reportedly helped arrange the transit of Soviet Jews to Israel through Eastern Europe, where he had extensive contacts and investments. Six months ago, he paid for the transfer to Israel of several dozen Jewish children affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Ukraine.
âHomeward Bound : Operation Exodus Lends Support to Soviet Jews in Their Return to Israelâ â Mendel Kaplan (South African)
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-11-vw-81-story.html
June 11, 1990
Israeli businessman Mendel Kaplan reaches into his briefcase and pulls out a sheaf of papers written in Hebrew and English. In mundane words and numbers, the documents detail housing construction for Soviet Jews emigrating to Israel in a modern exodus that sometimes sets the world on edge.
Casting aside geopolitics for a moment, Kaplanalso head of the private agency responsible for transporting and resettling the emigrantsflips through the pages and delivers a litany on the perils of putting up apartments in his country.
Stabbing a finger at one project, he says: âIâm going to take photographs of (the contractorâs) progress.â Then he adds, âIâve been in business in Israel for 20 years, and Iâm happier when Iâm checking up on the exact progress of every aspect of my activities. Iâm putting it gently.â
Kaplan, a steel and wire manufacturer who doubles as chairman of the Jewish Agency Board of Governors, is in Los Angeles on a private trip. But he concedes it is almost impossible to extract himself completely from the complex operation behind âanother great moment in Jewish history, the ingathering of the last reservoir of Jews left in the world.â
In his Jewish Agency role, the bluff, no-nonsense Kaplan is at the focal point of a worldwide campaign to raise $600 million over the next three years to pay for the unprecedented and controversial flood of Jews leaving the Soviet Union for Israel. Jewish communities in the United States are expected to raise more than two-thirds of this amount, some $420 million. In Los Angeles, the goal is $36 million.
For example, during his recent summit meeting with President Bush, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev said his government would reconsider its emigration policy unless Israel guaranteed Soviet Jews would not be resettled on the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Days later, the Soviets backed away from this position, telling U.S. officials they are âcommittedâ to liberalized emigration.
Based on the number of Soviet Jewish families who have requested resettlement in Israel, Kaplan estimates that 600,000 to 700,000 currently are eligible to come to Israel. In Los Angeles, officials orchestrating the local fund-raising drive acknowledge the influx of Soviet Jews involves explosive issues, such as where they settle in Israel and the long-running uprising of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, taken by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War.
Kaplan is a native of South Africa and maintains ties with that countryâs Jewish community. Although he supports an end to apartheid, Kaplan says he draws no direct parallels with Soviet Jewish emigration and the freedom drives of black South Africans.
Black South Africans are already in their homeland, he says, whereas Soviet Jewish emigration to Israel is another act in the age-old Jewish search for a homeland.
Knowing this, it gives this speech a different perspective.
Secretary Blinkenâs speech on âThe United States and Africa: Building a 21st Centuryâ â November 19, 2021
https://youtu.be/EVF8Q11Zw60
Secretary Antony J. Blinken's speech on âThe United States and Africa: Building a 21st Centuryâ at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria, on November 19, 2021.
Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads Americaâs foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.
The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President's chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President's foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.
4:47 â âAt this moment of testing for democracy around the world, we see across Africa a microcosm of what democracies can achieve â as well as the challenges that they must overcome. And as we debate how to govern the use of technologies to ensure they strengthen democracies â not undermine them â the choices that governments, industries, and innovators make here will affect peopleâs rights and freedoms everywhere for a long time to come. For all these reasons and more, I believe Africa will shape the future â and not just the future of the African people but of the world.â
10:04 â âWeâre also supporting countries like South Africa and Senegal in their work to manufacture vaccines themselves, and we want to invest more in efforts like these, because increasing vaccine production in Africa makes it easier to distribute them, which saves lives. Likewise, the Africa CDC has been a vital partner throughout the pandemic. And we hope other regions will see the success of the Africa CDC and create their own centers for disease control, because a global network of regional CDCs would put the world on stronger footing for the future. This pandemic has revealed how vulnerable all of us are. We have to seize the opportunity to strengthen global health security. On this, the United States and the countries of Africa are uniquely well-positioned to lead, because weâve spent decades working together to improve health across the continent. PEPFAR, for example, has saved millions of lives, brought the world to the edge of the first AIDS-free generation â and transformed public health infrastructure, including here in Nigeria, where the investments we made years ago in labs and clinics formed the backbone of this nationâs COVID response. We know how to do this work together. Letâs take on the challenge of global health security â for the sake of our countries and countries around the world that will be safer if we act and we lead.â
12:28 - âNow, a few weeks ago, President Biden launched the Presidentâs Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience. Heâll work with our Congress to allocate $3 billion every year by 2024 to finance climate adaptation projects around the world. Itâs the largest commitment ever made by the United States to reduce the impact of climate change on those most endangered by it.â
14:29 â âJust look at what Nigeria has done in âfinancial techâ â with electronic payments, cryptocurrency, digital banking. And imagine what we could achieve together in building our green economic future.â
16:43 â âThe Global Minimum Tax, which 130 countries have agreed to, is a strong step in the right direction; it will raise billions in revenues for countries and end the global race to the bottom that had corporations moving from one place to another to pay as little in taxes as they could.â
19:54 - âMany Africans are now living under at least partially authoritarian governments. And militaries have taken over civilian governments four times this year; thatâs the highest number in four decades.â
21:27 â âNow, I want to emphasize that democratic backsliding is not just an African problem. Itâs a global problem. My own country is struggling with threats to our democracy. And the solutions to those threats will come as much from Africa as from anywhere.â
25:46 â âSo Iâve covered a little bit of ground. But everything Iâve said can be boiled down to this: the United States wants to strengthen our partnerships across Africa in ways that serve your interests, our interests, and the interests of people worldwide whose lives and futures depend in part on what we can achieve together.â
Transcript: https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-and-africa-building-a-21st-century-partnership/
ââGeorge Bush And The 12333 Serial Murder Ring; High Level Links To Murder Of Swedish Prime Minister â âCommunist Rules for Revolutionâ [1919]â
http://www.phoenixsourcedistributors.com/961112.pdf
November 12, 1996
It provides plenty of ties between presidents, prime ministers, cartels, countries (which includes South Africa, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, more), intelligence agencies, Marc Rich etc.. Below is an excerpt from the attached document which âis the âCommunist Rules for Revolutionâ found by the Allied Forces May, 1919 in Dusseldof, Germany.â
Page 22
Excerpted from THE BIG LIE flyer, [quoting:]
A. Corrupt the young; get them away from religion. Get them interested in sex. Make them superficial; destroy their ruggedness.
B. Get control of all means of publicity, thereby:
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Get peopleâs minds off their government by focusing their attention on sexy books and other trivialities.
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Divide the people into hostile groups by constantly harping on controversial matters of no importance.
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Destroy the peopleâs faith in their natural leaders by holding the latter up to contempt, ridicule, and obliquity.
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Always preach true democracy, but sieze power as fast and as ruthlessly as possible.
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By encouraging government extravagance, destroy its credit, produce fear of inflation with rising prices and general discontent.
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Foment unnecessary strikes in vital industries, encourage civil disorders, and foster lenient and soft attitude on the part of the government toward such disorders.
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By specious argument cause the breakdown of the old moral virtues; honesty, sobriety, continence, faith in the pledged word, [and] ruggedness.
C. Cause the registration of all firearms on some pretext, with a view to confiscating them and leaving the population helpless.
Read, stop and think. This list is the âCommunist Rules for Revolutionâ found by the Allied Forces May, 1919 in Dusseldorf, Germany. NOW READ IT AGAIN! [emphasis mine] [End quoting]
When you observe what is going on in the world TODAY, can you still say there is no conspiracy to take over the control of the world by the EVIL POWER ELITE?? Let us face the truth!
âA Tribute To Photographer Kevin Carter (who apparently killed himself 4 months later)â - https://youtu.be/FC7UyAN-jrY
Remember, the ANC stated that the homeland, Bophuthatswana, was a puppet of the Apartheid government. The right wing AWB tried to help its government to keep its independence. On their way back to South Africa, some were gunned down in front of about 24 members of the press by Bopâs military. The press reported that the AWB indiscriminately killed civilians on their way out of the homeland but there was no footage of these incidents. Yet many of them were waiting to witness the murder of these members. As someone stated in the video at 1:23, âit was almost like a movie set.â
Yet
Shabtai Kalmanowitch (Lithuanian-born Israeli citizen) âdominated the economies and government ofâ Bophuthatswana, âan operative for Marc Richâ, protected by Mossad
http://www.phoenixsourcedistributors.com/961112.pdf
November 12, 1996
Page 7
The Israeli Connection
The presence of Marc Rich at the 1984 meeting to plan out the sanctions-busting effort, adds a further dimension to the Ricci-Williamson-White concert. Marc Rich served, throughout the 1980s, as a liaison among Israeli, Iranian, Soviet, and American intelligence networks, engaged in vast arms-, oil-, and drug-trafficking operations in the Middle East, Africa, and South America. The story of this bizarre set of subterranean business dealins came to light following the December 23, 1987 arrest of a Lithuanian-born Israeli citizen, Shabai Kalmanowitch, by Israeli police, on charges that he was spying for the Soviet KGB.
Kalmanowitch was an operative for Marc Rich, who had played a pivotal role in Israeli intelligence operations in Africa. Kalmanowitch had âexcapedâto Israel from Lithuania in 1971, and rapidly established himself as a sharp political operative, working, first, for the Israeli Labor Party in the office of Prime Mininster Golda Meir and, later, as a political liaison officer in East Europe. In 1977, Kalmanowitchâs switched over to the Likud Party, at the point that Menachim Begin [was a militant; https://www.timesofisrael.com/uk-opens-secret-files-about-jewish-terrorists-in-1940s/] became prime minister. Kalmanowitchâs initial Likud sponsor was notorious North African Jewish gangster Samuel Flatto-Sharon, who bought his seat in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) that same year, in order to avoid criminal prosecution in France for his smuggling activities in francophone Africa.
In the 1980s, Kalmanowitch set up a string of front companies, including B International, and LIAT, which came to dominate the economies and governments of the South Africa Bantustan Bophutatswana, and the West African state of Sierra Leone, following a Mossad-engineered coup dâetat there in 1985. Wherever Kalmanowitch set up shop, Marc Rich was immediately brought in as his super-partner. Rich, who launched his career as one of the worldâs biggest and dirtiest commodities traders, at Phillips Brothers, struck out on his own in 1973, setting up Marc Rich and Company as a strategic metals and petroleum trading house in Zug, Switzerland. Soon, Rich had established a special relationship with Iran, that survived the overthow of the Shah and the takeover by Ayatollah Khomeini.
By the early 1980s, Rich was running his own oil-for-arms pipeline in and out of Iran; he was the leading spot market trader in Soviet oil, and precious metals; and was the leading oil supplier to the Republic of South Africa, end-running the United Nations boycott. According to Africa Confidential, during 1983-86, 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 Bullâs Space Research Corp.
During their intitial efforts on the continent, Rich and Kalmanowitchâs African operations were well-protected by the Israeli Mossadâs senior officer in charge of Africa, David Kimche. Kimche, during the middle of the 1980s, became the director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and the liaison to the Reagan-Bush White House secret operations. Through this Kimche connection, Kalmanowitch was able to staff every office of the LIAT firm with âretiredâ Mossad and Israeli Defence Force officials. Kalmanowitch also used his status as a âdiplomatâ for the Sierre Leone government to travel throught the Soviet bloc, arranging joint business ventures in Africa. Sierre Leone, in the meantime, had become a favorite smuggling port for Iranian oil bound for South Africa, but âdeliveredâ to Rich and Kalmanowitch-owned companies in the West African republic.
âDID A MYSTERY TYCOON DOUBLE-CROSS ISRAEL?â - SHABTAI KALMANOVITCH, Bophuthatswana, Marc Rich, Soviet Union. Natan Sharansky (Part 1)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1988/05/08/did-a-mystery-tycoon-double-cross-israel/699da8c4-59be-45ef-b45e-dc6c122f536f/
May 8, 1988
SHABTAI KALMANOVITCH was an Israeli success story. Within little more than a decade after arriving there from the Soviet Union, he had built a far-flung empire that included a crocodile farm in the South African tribal homeland of Bophuthatswana, gold and diamond concessions in Sierra Leone and a sprawling villa in Cannes â a champagne-cork-pop away from Adnan Khashoggi's yacht.
By the mid-1980s, Kalmanovitch not only reportedly controlled much of the commerce of Bophuthatswana and Sierra Leone, but he had imported Israelis to help run their internal security services as well. The swashbuckling 42-year-old Russian Jewish emigre is said to have joked that while it would take a half-million dollars to buy an African minister of finance, he could have his pick of out-of-work Israeli generals for the price of a good hummus dinner.
Kalmanovitch was more than just another charming entrepreneur who rubbed shoulders with Israeli cabinet ministers. In 1978, he helped to arrange a three-way spy swap among Israel, the United States and the Soviet Union by opening a channel through East German lawyer Wolfgang Vogel, who was later involved in the negotiations that brought Natan Sharansky to the West. This relationship made Kalmanovitch an important asset to Israel's intelligence community and the U.S. State Department.
Kalmanovitch's world started to come unglued a year ago when he and a business partner were indicted in the United States for allegedly passing forged checks worth more than $2 million. Then, on Dec. 23, Kalmanovitch was arrested in Israel on suspicion of being a Soviet spy. He is now in prison awaiting trial.
The Israeli establishment was stunned. Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said he was "almost certain" that the Soviets had passed on information obtained from Kalmanovitch to Syria and other countries at war with Israel. His arrest also reportedly upset the CIA, further eroding its confidence in Israel's intelligence services in the wake of the Pollard spy scandal.
Kalmanovitch has denied the espionage charge. But one indication that he may indeed have been working for the Soviets came on Feb. 4, when his wife smuggled a note from Kalmanovitch out of an Israeli prison to one of his New York business associates, Rabbi Ronald Greenwald, an international commodities broker visiting Tel Aviv. Greenwald had worked with Kalmanovitch and Vogel on several East-West spy swap ventures. According to one source who has read the note, it said simply: Talk to Vogel "and get me home."
A few days later, Greenwald handed the note to Vogel at his office in East Berlin. On March 1, Greenwald received a message from Vogel asking him to get an official document from the Israeli government that declared its interest in exchanging Kalmanovitch.
The riddle of the Kalmanovitch case probably won't be solved until his trial later this year. For now, he's a mystery man whose actions are incomprehensible, even to his closest friends.
Whatever the final legal judgment on Kalmanovitch, his story offers a rare glimpse into a new breed of high-flying Israelis who can be found anywhere from Sri Lanka to Panama, selling arms and military know-how. These entrepreneurs get into the most unlikely (and sometimes embarrassing) deals â such as those arranged by arms dealers Al Schwimmer and Jacob Nimrodi in setting up the first shipments of U.S. weapons to Iran in the Iran-contra affair, and the efforts of Geneva-based businessman Bruce Rappaport to gain the help of Attorney General Edwin Meese III for the ill-fated Iraqi pipeline deal.
âDID A MYSTERY TYCOON DOUBLE-CROSS ISRAEL?â - SHABTAI KALMANOVITCH, Bophuthatswana, Marc Rich, Soviet Union. Natan Sharansky (Part 2)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1988/05/08/did-a-mystery-tycoon-double-cross-israel/699da8c4-59be-45ef-b45e-dc6c122f536f/
May 8, 1988
The new Israeli entrepreneurs often work in countries where Israel has no formal diplomatic ties, spawning rumors that they are semi-official representatives of Israel's intelligence service. But the Israeli tycoons usually are free agents, working without controls in countries where the possibility for personal corruption is quite high. Like many Arab businessmen, many of them make their money at the margin of legitimate commerce, acting as middlemen and commission agents for powerful politicians in the Third World. From his first days in Israel, Kalmanovitch displayed a talent for making high-level government contacts. Soon after he immigrated in 1971, he became an advisor on the absorption of Soviet Jews to the Labor government of then Prime Minister Golda Meir. He then became the head of hasbara, or propaganda for Eastern Europe. Later he joined the fledgling political party of Samuel Flatto-Sharon, a flamboyant French Jew who had fled to Israel after he was convicted in France on tax-evasion charges. Later, Flatto-Sharon was convicted in Israel for bribery.
Greenwald says he first met Kalmanovitch in early 1978 in Israel, after Flatto-Sharon asked him if he would be interested in arranging Sharansky's release from the Soviet Union. The Israelis outlined a plan for a three-way swap involving an Israeli who was being held in Mozambique on espionage charges, a Soviet spy incarcerated in a Pennsylvania prison and Sharansky. A few days later Greenwald and Kalmanovitch flew to East Berlin to discuss the spy-swap with Vogel.
In spring 1978, Kalmanovitch, Greenwald and Vogel flew to Washington to finalize the deal with the State Department. "Kalmanovitch was introduced to me as a private representative of the government of Israel," said a former State Department official who flew to East Berlin with Kalmanovitch to exchange the Soviet spy for an American college student who had been jailed in East Germany for trying to smuggle a doctor out of East Berlin in the trunk of a car. The Sharansky deal did not come off then because of an unfavorable political climate.
If U.S. officials found something odd about Kalmanovitch, it didn't stop them from relying on him as an intermediary. During the next few years, Kalmanovitch continued to travel to East Berlin to talk to Vogel about winning Sharansky's release and to propose other trades, according to the former State Department official.
Although Kalmanovitch's talks with Vogel "petered out" after several years, "we were grateful for his help," said the former State Department official, who added that not only did Kalmanovitch provide the U.S. government with "reliable" information, but he also did much to open the "very sensitive" channel to Vogel that ultimately brought Sharansky to the West in 1986.
Kalmanovitch's deepening relationship with Greenwald also helped his business dealings in Africa. In May 1980, the New York rabbi and commodities broker introduced Kalmanovitch to Lucas Mangope, the president of Bophuthatswana, one of the four so-called independent black homelands inside South Africa. Greenwald said he had been asked by Mangope to be Bophuthatswana's economic advisor with rank of ambassador in New York and Washington.
"But because there is a strong black opinion here and a strong liberal opinion that the black homelands are just an extension of apartheid," Greenwald says, "I told Mangope that there was only so much I could do for him in the U.S. and he would be more successful dealing with Israel. Israel is closer, Israel doesn't have political restrictions with South Africa like America has. I suggested they hire Shabtai."
Within several years after being introduced to Mangope, Kalmanovitch was a multi-millionaire, according to Greenwald. Through a newly formed company called Liat, he landed lucrative contracts to build a soccer stadium manned with Israeli players and coaches, as well as a 2,000-unit housing complex and shopping center. He also imported Israeli specialists to train the Bantustan's police and security service. Kalmanovitch was soon tooling around in a Mercedes flying Bophuthatswana's flag, much to the embarrassment of Israel's Foreign Ministry. But while Liat prospered, Bophuthatswana staggered under an increasing debt load. Last February, Mangope and some associates were seized by rebels who accused them of exploiting the country in league with Kalmanovitch. Mangope, who was held captive in a dressing room in the soccer stadium that Kalmanovitch had built until he was rescued by the South African army, denied the charges. He was later reinstalled in power.
âDID A MYSTERY TYCOON DOUBLE-CROSS ISRAEL?â - SHABTAI KALMANOVITCH, Bophuthatswana, Marc Rich, Soviet Union. Natan Sharansky (Part 3)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1988/05/08/did-a-mystery-tycoon-double-cross-israel/699da8c4-59be-45ef-b45e-dc6c122f536f/
May 8, 1988
Kalmanovitch took his considerable profits from Bophuthatswana and invested them in Sierra Leone where he developed a friendship with President Joseph Momoh whom he reportedly had bankrolled during Momoh's successful 1985 presidential election campaign. Soon Liat whose 20-man staff in Tel Aviv included Dov Tamari, the former deputy head of Israeli military intelligence and according to Israeli press reports, a one-time internal-security adviser for Ferdinand Marcos was running the West African nation's largest bus company as well as a chicken farm and had won major fishing and mining concessions.
Kalmanovitch was also appointed economic attache for Sierra Leone, which he represented at the European Economic Community and the East bloc's COMECON, according to his Washington lawyer Seth Waxman. The Israeli press has reported that Kalmanovitch also was selling Sierra Leone arms. "As an arms dealer, he had access to secret information about Israeli weapons and about Israel's arms network abroad," says Nachum Barnea, editor of the Israeli news magazine Koteret Rashit. Kalmanovitch, meanwhile, was quietly lobbying for Israel with the rulers of Sierra Leone: Greenwald remembers attending a meeting in which Kalmanovitch urged Momoh to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.
Always in search of new financing, Kalmanovitch made numerous trips to the United States. "Kalmanovitch wanted to import whiskey and oil into Sierra Leone and open a beer factory," said a New York businessman who invested in several of Kalmanovitch's ventures after being introduced to him by Greenwald at a New York kosher restaurant. "Greenwald made the introductions and spoke well of him."
While in New York, Kalmanovitch also looked up several old aquaintances from the Soviet Union â including 42-year-old Marat Balagula, who is known to Brooklyn's Russian Jewish emigre community as the "Big Man" or the "Georgian" and to police authorities as the boss of the Russian Jewish mob. Balagula was convicted two years ago in Philadelphia for masterminding a massive credit-card scam. He failed to show up at his sentencing in November 1986 and is still at large.
Kalmanovitch and Balagula hatched several business schemes together, including one to import gasoline to Sierra Leone through Liat. Balaguala and his partner Fema Najinsky went to Arthur Tarricone of Tarricone Oil Co. in Yonkers. Tarricone, who declined to be interviewed, financed the gasoline deal against a $500,000 personal guarantee put up by Najinsky and Balagula, according to two businessmen who were involved. The gasoline was then brokered through the Spanish office of Marc Rich the billionaire American commodities trader wanted in the U.S. on tax evasion and fraud charges by Greenwald, who is an agent for Rich in New York.
Not only did Balagula and Najinsky lose their money in the gasoline deal, but they were eventually to lose more than $3 million in other business ventures with Kalmanovitch, according to several of Balagula's associates. "Every deal we did with Kalmanovitch went sour," said a New York businessman associated with Balagula who requested anonymity. "In one instance, we were negotiating against the Russians for fishing rights in Sierra Leone. Kalmanovitch said we lost the deal because we offered the appropriate minister a $150,000 bribe, and he wanted $300,000."
In November 1987, Kalmanovitch was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C. on felony charges for allegedly passing $2 million in forged checks. He denied the charges and was released on personal recognizance, according to his attorney, and was scheduled to be tried in February.
âDID A MYSTERY TYCOON DOUBLE-CROSS ISRAEL?â - SHABTAI KALMANOVITCH, Bophuthatswana, Marc Rich, Soviet Union. Natan Sharansky (Part 4)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1988/05/08/did-a-mystery-tycoon-double-cross-israel/699da8c4-59be-45ef-b45e-dc6c122f536f/
May 8, 1988
It is unlikely that Kalmanovitch will ever return to America to stand trial on forgery charges. His trial in Israel for espionage will get underway soon, and he has already told Greenwald that he wants to go home to the Soviet Union. Speculation abounds in Israel about what might have possibly turned Kalmanovitch into the Soviet agent he is alleged to be. Some friends say he might have been blackmailed by the Soviets; others say family members he left behind might have been in jeopardy; few believe he was a KGB mole when he came to Israel, though federal officials in New York City say the Russians have salted the emigre community with KGB spies.
Meanwhile, the Israelis are trying to assess what damage Kalmanovitch may have done. The international wheeler-dealer who was once one of the most sought-after dinner guests of Tel Aviv's glitterari had an impressive network of personal and professional contacts inside Israel's ruling elite. "He had excellent access," says Barnea. "If you're talking about selling the Russians information about Israeli bunker positions on the Golan Heights, I'm not so sure. But if you're talking about someone who could provide the KGB with accurate analysis of the thinking of the top political and military echelon â then Kalmanovitch is your man."
>>16960573 - Shabtai Kalmanovitch was also responsible "to ease the resettlement of Russian emigrants in Israel."
âMoscow: Jewish Spy [Shabtai Kalmanovitch] Shot to Deathâ
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/134188
November 2, 2009
Israeli-Russian businessman and spy Shabtai Kalmanovitch was shot to death on Monday, Russian news agency Interfax reports.
The Russian news agency Interfax reports that Israeli-Russian businessman Shabtai Kalmanovitch, who was convicted by an Israeli court of spying for Russia, was shot to death on Monday.
Kalmanovitch was fired upon by a passing car near his home in Moscow. The personal driver of his Mercedes was seriously wounded in the incident.
Kalmanovitch was convicted some 20 years ago of having given information to the Russian KGB agency, and served 5.5 years of a nine-year sentence. He was released from prison in March 1993 because of ill health and as part of a deal in which Russia would help supply information about captive Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad.
Kalmanovitch later became a successful businessman in Russia, as he had been in Israel. He would have been 62 next month.
https://mondoweiss.net/2015/07/pollard-question-soviets/
(One important Soviet spy, Shabtai Kalmanovitch, whose job at one point was to ease the resettlement of Russian emigrants in Israel, was arrested in 1987.)