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<p>An affidavit was deposed at the North Gauteng High court yesterday on behalf of the Helen Suzman Foundation and Magda Wierzycka, Sygnia CEO and Activist, arguing that in the absence of action by the relevant organs of state and law enforcement agencies to address the clear evidence of corruption and maladministration at Eskom, they want the court to recover all of the proceeds of this activity, totalling several billion rand for the benefit of the South African fiscus. Activist investor, Magda Wierzycka joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Eskom lawsuit: We have a strong case – Magda Wierzycka

<p>South Africa’s High Court ruled on Wednesday that an inquiry into alleged state influence-peddling in President Jacob Zuma’s government should be established as recommended by the anti-graft watchdog in a report released a year ago.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-294186 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Jacob-Zuma_GettyImages.png" alt="" width="850" height="565" /></p>
<p data-reactid="40">Zuma had challenged the right of the report’s author to call for a judicial inquiry and the appointment of a judge to head it by the Chief Justice. Zuma said it was his prerogative to set up such an inquiry.</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="42">Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg</p>
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SA’s Zuma abused judicial process with watchdog report challenge, says court

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<p>South Africa appears to have an endemic problem with corruption. Just this week Steinhoff has come under the spotlight and last week Naspers.</p>


State capture is an elitist conversation – survey

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<p>South Africa appears to have an endemic problem with corruption. Just this week Steinhoff has come under the spotlight and last week Naspers.</p>


Most S.Africans are willing to fight corruption than racism – survey

<p data-reactid="38">South African utility Eskom said on Thursday rolling power cuts are unlikely despite coal supply possibly falling below a 20-day requirement at its Hendrina power station.</p>
<p data-reactid="38"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-126461 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Eskom.jpg" alt="" width="696" height="435" /></p>
<p data-reactid="46">On Thursday investigative news outfit AmaBhungane reported Eskom may be forced into nationwide electricity cuts after a coal mine linked to the Gupta family threatened to halt supply.</p>
<p data-reactid="48">Eskom has been at the heart of allegations of illegal contracts and undue influence in awarding tenders to the Gupta family, friends of South African President Jacob Zuma.</p>
<p>Spokesman Khulu Phasiwe confirmed Eskom had held an emergency meeting last Friday to determine whether strategic coal stockpiles at Hendrina and other stations were sufficient after Tegeta Exploration and Resources threatened to halt supply to Hendrina.</p>
<p data-reactid="50">Coal supply at Eskom’s power stations stood at 74 days’ worth in March but had fallen to 25 days’ worth at Hendrina by October and may have fallen below a 20-day requirement since, Phasiwe said.</p>
<p data-reactid="51">He told Reuters the company was investigating whether supply at all its 12 power stations complied with regulations requiring at least 20 days’ worth.</p>
<p data-reactid="52">South Africa had regular power cuts between 2008 and 2015, hitting key industries and knocking economic growth as demand exceeded capacity.</p>
<p data-reactid="53">Quoting sources, AmaBhungane alleged that Tegeta has been exporting coal from its Optimum Coal Mine while limiting supply to Eskom.</p>
<p data-reactid="54">“If it happens that for some reason they are unable to supply us with coal then clearly it means that they would have breached the contract and therefore it becomes a legal matter,” Eskom’s Phasiwe said.</p>
<p data-reactid="55">A spokeswoman for Tegeta parent company Oakbay, founded by the Gupta family as its main investment vehicle in South Africa, said the company would likely comment on Friday.</p>
<p data-reactid="56">The family agreed in August to sell Tegeta but the sale has not been finalised.</p>
<p data-reactid="57">The Guptas are accused of using their links with the 75-year old Zuma to wield influence and win state contracts. Zuma and the family both deny any wrongdoing.</p>
<p>($1 = 13.6469 rand)</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="59">Editing by Ed Stoddard and Jason Neely</p>
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Eskom says rolling cuts unlikely despite coal supply fall

<p>South African President Jacob Zuma reiterated a call on Monday for radical reforms to shift the balance of “monopoly” economic power away from whites who dominated under apartheid, saying without such change blacks would stay poor for a long time.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-43091 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/9089345491_284ec1af67_o.jpg" alt="Chaos erupts during South Africa's President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address" width="760" height="552" /></p>
<p data-reactid="40">He made the remarks, reiterating a staple criticism leveled by his ruling ANC about South Africa’s economy, against the backdrop of widespread allegations of corruption against Zuma and his friends, the Indian-born Gupta brothers.</p>
<p data-reactid="42">Zuma was responding to a question about his role as an enemy of “white capital”, during an interview with the ANN7 news network, which was founded by the Guptas. Zuma and the Guptas have denied any wrongdoing.</p>
<p>“I don’t know why there is a debate in fact. Because there is a monopoly capital and in South Africa it is white &#8230; because of our history, it does have a color. It is white,” Zuma, who steps down as head of the ANC in December but can remain head of state until elections due in 2019, said.</p>
<p data-reactid="44">“Companies that dominate in the mines, there are not many &#8230; You will find the same companies in charge. That means they are monopolizing the economy and they’re not black,” he said.</p>
<p data-reactid="45">The Chamber of Mines in the world’s top platinum producer says that in 2016, 39 percent of the sector was owned by “historically disadvantaged South Africans” &#8211; meaning non-whites.</p>
<p data-reactid="46">Zuma said the policy of “radical economic transformation,” which has also seen moves to change the constitution to allow for the expropriation of land for redistribution to landless blacks, was needed to “correct the past.”</p>
<p data-reactid="47">“The ANC must follow this policy because if you don‘t, we are going to stay in poverty, in inequality, for a long time.”</p>
<p data-reactid="48">The frontrunners to replace Zuma at the helm of the ANC are Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, a trade unionist who amassed a fortune in the world of business, and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, former chair of the African Union and Zuma’s ex-wife.</p>
<p data-reactid="49">Ramaphosa is viewed more favourably by foreign investors, who help cover the country’s deficits. Many of them are unsettled by Dlamini-Zuma’s calls to radically redistribute wealth and her perceived links to her former husband.</p>
<p>In a separate interview on state broadcaster SABC, ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said “state capture is a reality,” referring to allegations that the Guptas and others have undue political influence with access to state resources and contracts under Zuma.</p>
<p>Mantashe is regarded as an ally of Ramaphosa with ties that go back to the 1980s when they were involved in the founding of the National Union of Mineworkers.</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="52">Reporting by Ed Stoddard, Editing by William Maclean</p>
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South Africa’s Zuma again denounces “monopoly” white economic power

<p data-reactid="32">South Africa’s scandal-plagued power utility Eskom said on Monday it was not insolvent but was facing serious liquidity issues and would be in “trouble” if the situation persisted.</p>
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<p data-reactid="41">Eskom, the sole power supplier in Africa’s most industrialised economy, is also in midst of leadership crisis and has been at the heart of allegations of illegal contracts and undue influence in awarding tenders to the Gupta family, friends of President Jacob Zuma.</p>
<p>Zuma and the Guptas have denied any wrongdoing.</p>
<p data-reactid="43">Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said the firm’s sales growth had been muted while its operating cost were very high and its tariff for the current financial year were low.</p>
<p data-reactid="44">“We are not insolvent but we are projecting that if we continue along this trajectory we might be in trouble,” Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe told Reuters.</p>
<p data-reactid="45">“We as company we need to sort ourselves out and get our house in order so that when we go out to the market to raise money these things do not become a hindrance,” said Phasiwe.</p>
<p data-reactid="46">Online publication Fin24 and EE Publishers on Monday said the utility’s liquidity reserves are expected to fall to 1.2 billion rand ($82.65 million) by the end of November compared to a target of 20 billion rand.</p>
<p data-reactid="47">In its annual results for the financial year ended in March the utility reported a score of losses, saying it expected cash and cash equivalents to fall 8.6 billion rand ($598 million) to 20.4 billion rand.</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="49">Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg and Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by James Macharia</p>
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South Africa’s Eskom not insolvent but facing cashflow trouble

<p><span class="fn">Anton Harber |</span> University of the Witwatersrand</p>
<p>South Africa has produced two must-read thrillers in the past week. They are non-fiction, yet are as gripping and readable as any page-turner.</p>
<div id="attachment_116988" style="width: 540px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116988" class="wp-image-116988 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/103706559-GettyImages-456490733.530x2981.jpg" alt="South African president Jacob Zuma" width="530" height="298" /><p id="caption-attachment-116988" class="wp-caption-text"><em>South African president Jacob Zuma | Justin Sullivan | Getty Images</em></p></div>
<p>Veteran investigative journalist Jacques Pauw’s “The President’s Keepers” has, within a week, become a global best seller. It has had the advantage of the best available marketing push by South Africa’s State Security Agency, under the illusion that they were going to stop the book. The State Security Agency sent a cease and desist letter to a defiant Pauw and his publisher, claiming the exposé is in violation of the Intelligence Services Act.</p>
<p>Less well-known, but as important to those who want to understand what is happening in the country, is consultant and activist Crispian Olver’s enticingly-titled “How to Steal a City”.</p>
<h2>Take some courage</h2>
<p>I recommend you read them together. It will take some courage, as they are a most unsettling combination, but worth it.</p>
<figure class="align-right "><img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193584/original/file-20171107-1008-169wyqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cover Jacques Pauw’s latest book.</span></figcaption></figure>
<p>Pauw’s book takes you on his journey to uncover the nature of Jacob Zuma’s presidency and its impact on South Africa, a trip that begins in the small Western Cape town of Riebeek-Kasteel and goes, via Moscow, to the Tshwane coffee bars where he meets his sources. Much of what emerges has been reported in bits and pieces elsewhere, but he weaves it together with great storytelling skill, and adds some important new revelations.</p>
<p>It is the most comprehensive picture of the rot at the heart of the Zuma presidency and the toll it has taken on important state institutions. Once he has worked through the tax collector, the South African Revenue Service, the National Prosecuting Authority, and the police, one is left gasping for air at the scale and depth of the destruction.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is necessary to weigh up the accuracy of his much-detailed and well-documented story, except to say that Pauw is a veteran muckraker whose credentials for getting sources to talk, putting his hands on the evidence, weaving all this into readable horror-stories, and withstanding the attacks of those who would stop him, are well established. So much so that the onus is on his detractors to disprove what he is saying. Even if half of it is true, it is chilling.</p>
<h2>Oil for the ANC’s political machinery</h2>
<p>Olver’s book might be even more important. It’s an insider’s view of how corruption has become the oil that keeps the ruling African National Congress’s political machinery working. Olver was sent in by ANC leaders to help clean up the metropolitan Nelson Mandela Bay region on the country’s east coast and pave the way for local politician and national football boss Danny Jordaan’s 2016 mayoral election campaign. At the same time, Olver was commissioned by then Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan to clear out the rot in the city structure.</p>
<figure class="align-left "><img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193585/original/file-20171107-1041-1q178eh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cover of Crispian Olver’s book.</span></figcaption></figure>
<p>Olver’s story of how he identified and drove out the worst culprits in the city’s corruption, is heartening. He shows that it can be done when you have the political will, and Olver’s toughness. But he also describes how every cent raised to fund Jordaan’s campaign was exchanged for a job or a tender.</p>
<p>The ANC political engine runs on the fuel of transactional politics; without the offerings of jobs and tenders, the machine grinds to a halt. His tale provides rare insight into how the party funding system works as a driver of corruption.</p>
<p>Olver himself starts off as a knight in shining armour, but finds himself increasingly compromised as time passes, until he loses his political backing and flees the region.</p>
<p>Both these writers showed great courage. Pauw left the peace and quiet of running a country restaurant in Riebeek-Kasteel, knowing that this book would bring him the kinds of threats and harassment he experienced in the 1980s when he exposed the dark heart of apartheid’s police hit squads. Olver had to have a bodyguard at his side, so tough was the fight to regain control of the party and city.</p>
<p>Pauw’s book is a triumph of investigative reporting, but also contains a worrying critique of some of its practitioners. Pauw details at least three instances when his fellow reporters have allowed themselves to become part of the partisan mudslinging aimed at driving the good people out of state institutions, and protecting the venal. It is striking that some of the same names come up in all three instances, and all are centred around the local Sunday Times.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87044/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />While South Africans can celebrate the important role investigative reporters have played in exposing state capture, they should be reminded that some have facilitated it, wittingly or unwittingly.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>This article was originally </em>published on<em> The Conversation. </em></p>


Two books that tell the unsettling tale of South Africa’s descent

<p><em><span class="fn author-name">Steven Friedman |</span> University of Johannesburg</em></p>
<p>The mainstream in South Africa is paying little attention to the world outside the cities. This is a mistake because the future of the country’s economy may depend on battles raging in its far-flung rural areas.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-289969 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Pondoland_South_Africa_Huts_Rural_Wilimedia.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1536" /></p>
<p>The latest sign of this battle is an attempt by some in the governing African National Congress to pass the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Bill, which will allow traditional leaders to enrich themselves at the expense of rural people. Public hearings on the bill, to be held early next year, will be heated because it will legalise deals between traditional authorities and mining companies, despite the fact that the authorities have ignored the law forcing them to hold elections and include women. Activists and rural people are likely to resist this.</p>
<p>The coming resistance to the bill is another chapter in a largely unnoticed battle for economic and political control of the rural areas which is important for two reasons. At a time when South Africa is in the middle of a battle over “state capture” in the cities, the rural “state capture” battle may be just as important.</p>
<p>The second reason it’s important is that the backlash by rural people could cost the ANC the 2019 election. Some 18 million of South Africa’s 56 million people are estimated to live in rural areas affected by the bill.</p>
<h2>Patronage network</h2>
<p>The rural battle has been underway for almost a decade. Until then, government policy towards traditional leadership was a balancing act. Democratic principle required that people in rural areas enjoy full political and economic rights. But the ANC wanted to woo traditional leaders because it believed they could threaten stability.</p>
<p>So the government tried to recognise traditional leadership but make it a little more democratic. One result was the 2003 Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act. This stipulated that 40% of members of the councils which exercise traditional authority in former apartheid “homelands” should be elected and 30% should be women. It is this law that the ANC is trying to change.</p>
<p>The ANC’s approach began to change after Jacob Zuma was elected ANC president in 2007. He saw traditional leaders as key allies and, from 2008, laws were introduced to strengthen their powers. Most have been defeated by the courts or opposition within the ANC but Zuma and his allies in the ANC have not given up trying. Land is at the centre of these attempts. Control over land allowed traditional authorities to control their subjects and so the ANC Zuma faction sought to give them greater power over land.</p>
<p>A key motive was the hope that they would use this to deliver rural votes to the ANC. From 2014, when urban voters began to abandon the ANC, this became more urgent.</p>
<h2>Rural riches</h2>
<p>While the political motive was one reason for boosting traditional leaders’ land powers, it was not the only one. Traditional leaders have emulated Zuma’s patronage faction by using land powers to accumulate resources at the expense of citizens.</p>
<p>Working with provincial governments, they have been making deals with mining companies to sell off land in exchange for rich returns. Much is at stake: according to mining consultant Gavin Hartford, ‘the vast bulk’ of South Africa’s remaining mineral reserves, worth an estimated USD$2.5 trillion, is under the ground in rural areas. So the potential rewards are at least as great as those in the cities.</p>
<p>In theory, these proceeds could be used to buy political support. In reality, if angry rural citizens are to be believed, they are used primarily for self-enrichment.</p>
<p>The land which traditional leaders and their political allies are selling off belongs by right to the people who live in these areas. And so a key aim of the government-traditional leader alliance is to make sure deals can be made without giving residents a say.</p>
<p>The bill before parliament illustrates this. At the same time, Zuma’s faction are trying to steer through another bill, the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill, which empowers traditional authorities to reach agreements with anyone without consulting people living in the areas they control.</p>
<h2>Communities fightback</h2>
<p>In contrast to the cities, rural “state capture” has, until recently, enjoyed the cooperation of mainstream business: mining companies have been willing to enter into these deals. Only recently have they recognised the dangers: mining companies now support the principle that rural people must have a say in mining deals.</p>
<p>This is not the only sign that arrangements between traditional leaders, provinces and companies to take people’s land without their approval are under threat. For some time now, rural citizens, particularly farmers, have been resisting. They have been using the courts successfully – in a key case, the Constitutional Court came to the aid of small farmers in North West Province who were in danger of losing their land to yet another deal.</p>
<p>Far more worrying for the ANC is that there are clear signs that rural residents are using their votes to protest against the use of their land to enrich traditional leaders and their allies. In the 2016 local elections, the ANC suffered setbacks in provinces with former “homeland” areas (surrogate states created by the apartheid government): it is surely no coincidence that its biggest loss, an 18 percentage point decline, happened in North West, where the “state capture” is, according to researchers, most pronounced.</p>
<p>This may be crucial to the 2019 election outcome. The ANC has suffered losses in the cities which seem unlikely to be reversed and so the only way it can be assured of re-election is if it wins large majorities in the more rural provinces. But voter anger at rural “state capture” and the corruption which many residents say is its product, could make that impossible and deprive it of its national majority.</p>
<p>This would spell defeat for the patronage faction which has been backing traditional leaders and reduce the pressure on the fiscus. And so it could be a key step in restoring longer-term investor confidence, helping to ensure that focus moves from preventing patronage to achieving a more inclusive economy.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87028/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />Much needs to happen before that is a reality. But what is clear is that, if South Africa wants to know where the “state capture” battle is headed, it must take the conflict in rural areas far more seriously.</p>
<p>Steven Friedman, Professor of Political Studies, <em>University of Johannesburg</em></p>
<p>This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.</p>


Op-Ed: South Africans in rural areas are saying ‘no more’. Why it matters

<p><em><span class="fn author-name">Peter Hain |</span> University of the Witwatersrand</em></p>
<p><em>Lord Peter Hain tabled a series of allegations in the UK’s House of Lords relating to the possible role of British banks in alleged money laundering and illicit financial transactions centred around South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family. The Conversation Africa’s Charles Leonard asked him to explain why he took the step. Hain, who was a vocal anti-apartheid activist, was born in South Africa but grew up in the UK. He is a visiting adjunct professor at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Business School.</em></p>
<div id="attachment_40066" style="width: 1560px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-40066" class="wp-image-40066 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/jacob_zuma__2009_wef_wikipedia.jpg" alt="S.A's Zuma asks court to postpone Gupta report hearing" width="1550" height="871" /><p id="caption-attachment-40066" class="wp-caption-text"><em>South African President, Jacob Zuma.</em></p></div>
<p><strong>In the House of Lords you said the illicit transactions were “part of a flagrant robbery of South African taxpayers”. What do you mean by this?</strong></p>
<p>As I explained in my speech, the Guptas, a family from India that relocated to South African have, with the connivance of the South African Presidency, been getting government contracts and allegedly thereby robbing taxpayers of billions.</p>
<p>On regular visits to South Africa – most recently last month – I have been stunned by the systemic transnational financial network facilitated by the Guptas and the presidential family, the Zumas. If there had been more proactive and genuine cooperation between the multi-jurisdictional law enforcement agencies – and within and between the banks, which have been moving money for the alleged Gupta/Zuma laundering network – the devastation wrought on South Africa could have been significantly reduced. And perhaps, the financial institutions involved would have been better able to mitigate their exposure.</p>
<p><strong>So does it point to South Africans benefiting from the illicit transactions?</strong></p>
<p>I had delivered by hand to Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, printouts of transactions, and named a British bank concerned. I asked that he again refers these to the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, the National Crime Agency and the Financial Conduct Authority for investigation.</p>
<p>This information allegedly shows illegal transfers of funds from South Africa made by the Gupta family over the last few years from their South African accounts to accounts held in Dubai and Hong Kong. Many of the transactions are legitimate. But many certainly are not.</p>
<p>The illicit transactions were flagged internally in the bank concerned as suspicious. But I am reliably informed that the bank was told by the UK headquarters to ignore it. That is an iniquitous breach of legal banking practice in the UK, which I trust ministers would never countenance. It is also an incitement to money laundering. This has self-evidently occurred in this case, sanctioned by a British bank, as part of the flagrant robbery of South African taxpayers. They have lost millions of pounds and many billions of their local currency, the rand.</p>
<p><strong>Was there a specific event that triggered your request to the Chancellor?</strong></p>
<p>I was asked by senior African National Congress figures and stalwarts to do this. My relationships with them go back more than half a century when we stood shoulder to shoulder fighting apartheid.</p>
<p>As before, my latest information has been supplied by South African whistle-blowers deep inside the system who are disgusted by the corruption at the heart of the state.</p>
<p><strong>What do you hope to achieve?</strong></p>
<p>There are disturbing questions around the complicity – witting or unwitting – of UK global financial institutions in the Gupta/Zuma transnational network. There are also disturbing questions about these institutions’ wilful blindness to the reality that the laundering process often necessitates financial systems with lax regulation and controls. Unless we urgently find ways to leverage our respective capabilities to coordinate and influence action between the law enforcement and banking sectors we cannot win this battle. This coordination needs to happen domestically here in the UK as well as globally.</p>
<p>Unless we use the opportunity to crack down meaningfully, those who want to break the law will always be one step ahead. We must therefore get the international authorities to close down any money laundering networks.</p>
<p><strong>As someone who fought against apartheid, how do you feel about having to take up a campaign against the country’s democratically elected government?</strong></p>
<p>Having been active along with my brave parents in the anti-apartheid struggle it’s painful for me to witness corruption within a monopoly capital elite around Zuma’s family and their close associates the Gupta brothers.</p>
<p>But we should look closer to home, here in the UK. The complicity of our financial institutions in this, as well as the responsibility of law enforcers and regulators in all the concerned jurisdictions, should make government ministers and parliamentarians hang their heads in shame. Just as they were complicit in sustaining apartheid, so today they are complicit in sustaining the corrupt power elite in South Africa which is now betraying the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the anti-apartheid struggle.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86908/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />Winning the war against financial crime will require coordination, influence, action and accountability between multi-jurisdictional law enforcement agencies. The success of criminal networks also relies on the action or inaction – and cooperation or non-cooperation – of the relevant law enforcement authorities.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>This article was originally published on The Conversation. </em></p>


Op-Ed: South Africa shows why collaboration is key to tackling global crime networks

<p>South Africa’s scandal-prone President Jacob Zuma told lawmakers on Thursday that he had received no payments from private companies or individuals during his tenure.</p>
<div id="attachment_43091" style="width: 770px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-43091" class="wp-image-43091 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/9089345491_284ec1af67_o.jpg" alt="" width="760" height="552" /><p id="caption-attachment-43091" class="wp-caption-text"><em>South African President, Jacob Zuma, has denied receiving kickbacks from private companies or individuals.</em></p></div>
<p data-reactid="40">“I did not receive any payments from private individuals or companies during my tenure as president of the Republic of South Africa, other than those disclosed or reported to the necessary authorities,” he said in an answer to a question in parliament.</p>
<p data-reactid="41">Zuma is accused of being influenced by the wealthy Gupta family in making government appointments and awarding contracts by state-owned firms. The Guptas and Zuma deny wrongdoing and say they are victims of a politically motivated witch-hunt.</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="43">Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Ed Cropley</p>
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South Africa’s Zuma denies receiving kick-backs

<p data-reactid="32">British lawmaker Peter Hain said on Wednesday he has asked finance minister Philip Hammond to refer an unidentified UK bank to regulators for an investigation into possible involvement in alleged money laundering involving South Africa’s Gupta family.</p>
<p data-reactid="32"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-43048 size-full alignleft" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/zuma_and_guptas.jpg" alt="Guptas respond to Africa Confidential Nenegate allegations" width="466" height="350" /></p>
<p data-reactid="33">Hain hand delivered documents to Hammond on Tuesday that he said showed participation of an unidentified British bank in illegal transfers of funds from South Africa made by the Gupta family over the last few years.</p>
<p>The Guptas, a family of Indian-born businessmen in South Africa, are under scrutiny for their close ties to South African President Jacob Zuma and have been accused of unduly influencing the awarding of state tenders. The family has denied any wrongdoing and no charges have been filed.</p>
<p data-reactid="36">“(I) named the British bank concerned and asked that he (Hammond) again refer these to the Serious Fraud Office, the National Crimes Agency, and the Financial Conduct Authority for investigation”, Hain said in the House of Lords, according to a video on the British parliament’s website.</p>
<p data-reactid="37">The unidentified bank is HSBC Holdings Plc (<span id="symbol_HSBA.L_0"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview/HSBA.L">HSBA.L</a></span>), the Financial Times reported, citing one person who has seen a letter Hain separately sent to the Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). (<a href="http://on.ft.com/2gUNP6A">on.ft.com/2gUNP6A</a>)</p>
<p data-reactid="38">HSBC spokeswoman Gillian James did not have an immediate comment and referred to Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver’s remark on a post-earnings call on Monday.</p>
<p data-reactid="39">“On the enquiries as a result of Lord Hain’s letter to the chancellor, obviously we are responding to those enquiries that have come in from the FCA and also from South African authorities, and there is nothing more I can really add at this point in time,” Gulliver said.</p>
<p data-reactid="40">The FCA could not be reached for comment outside regular business hours.</p>
<p data-reactid="41">This is not the first time Hain, a Labour politician, has asked for a scrutiny of British lenders’ ties with the Guptas.</p>
<p>Hain asked the finance ministry in October to look into HSBC and Standard Chartered Plc’s (<span id="“symbol_STAN.L_1”"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview/STAN.L">STAN.L</a></span>) possible ties to the Gupta family and Zuma, and the FCA said it was in contact with those lenders.</p>
<p>The politician also wrote to Hammond in September requesting a probe of British banks’ involvement in money-laundering in South Africa.</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="44">Reporting by Ismail Shakil in bengaluru; additional reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Cynthia Osterman.</p>
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Lawmaker calls for probe of UK bank’s ties in South African money laundering case

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<p>While many have doubts on whether the African National Congress’s elective conference will take place in December, Dr Mathews Phosa says South Africa’s ruling party and Africa’s oldest liberation movement is facing its death. The party’s presidential hopeful, Phosa, spoke to CNBC Africa’s Aviwe Mtila on the side-lines of the Small Business Indaba in Johannesburg where he said the elective conference is already riddled with corruption.</p>


ANC is facing its own death – Mathews Phosa

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<p>Imperial’s CEO Mark Lamberti has never been afraid to call a spade a spade. His CEO statement given at yesterday’s annual general meeting was no different. Lamberti warned of the negative impact weak consumer and business confidence, political uncertainty and lacklustre governmental leadership, is having on the logistics and vehicle company. He also lashed out at KPMG and state capture. Lamberti joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Imperial’s Mark Lamberti blasts state capture, KPMG

<p>Barclays Africa and Standard Bank said on Monday they would stop working with McKinsey, a further blow to the global consultancy as it faces allegations of bribery for work done with friends of South African President Jacob Zuma.</p>
<div id="attachment_284103" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-284103" class="wp-image-284103 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/McKinsey_Flickr.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" /><p id="caption-attachment-284103" class="wp-caption-text"><em>McKinsey faces allegations of bribery for work done with friends of South African President Jacob Zuma.</em></p></div>
<p data-reactid="43">Privately-held McKinsey, the world’s largest management consultancy, has denied doing anything illegal but said this month that it was embarrassed by mistakes it made while working with South African state utility Eskom last year.</p>
<p>McKinsey said it regretted working on a 1.6 billion rand ($113 million) contract at Eskom alongside a company controlled by the Gupta family, wealthy friends of President Zuma who are accused of unduly influencing government contracts.</p>
<p data-reactid="46">Zuma and the Guptas deny wrongdoing.</p>
<p data-reactid="47">Barclays Africa and Standard Bank told Reuters in separate emailed responses to questions that they would terminate their relationships with McKinsey without giving reasons.</p>
<p data-reactid="48">McKinsey declined to comment.</p>
<p data-reactid="49">The Gupta brothers, who work with Zuma’s son, Duduzane, were accused by South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog last year of using control over state agencies to siphon public funds.</p>
<p data-reactid="50">South Africa’s parliamentary committee on public enterprises is investigating whether McKinsey knowingly let funds from Eskom be diverted to Gupta-controlled firm, Trillian, as a way of securing the deal.</p>
<p data-reactid="51">Corruption Watch, a South African anti-graft NGO, is preparing a submission to the U.S. Department of Justice asking it to investigate McKinsey’s dealings with Trillian.</p>
<p>($1 = 14.0950 rand)</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="53">Reporting by TJ Strydom; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Louise Heavens</p>
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Two banks drop McKinsey in fallout from South Africa scandal

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<p>The North Gauteng High Court today heard the case of President Jacob Zuma’s review of recommendations by former public protector Thuli Madonsela “that the president must appoint a commission of inquiry into state capture’, and to be headed by a judge named by the chief justice. CNBC Africa’s Lubabalo Mashiqana was there and filed this report.</p>


State capture inquiry: Zuma challenges report

<p>South African miner African Rainbow Minerals dropped KPMG as its auditor on Monday, joining a host of other local companies breaking ties with the firm caught up in an influence-peddling scandal.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-284163 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/KPMG_Flickr.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" /></p>
<p data-reactid="40">KPMG has been losing clients after its own investigation last month found flaws in work it did for the tax collection agency and the Gupta family, wealthy businessmen accused of using their friendship with President Jacob Zuma to win government contracts.</p>
<p data-reactid="41">The Guptas and Zuma deny wrongdoing and say they are victims of a politically motivated witch-hunt.</p>
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="42">
<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="43">Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by James Macharia</p>
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state capture

Eskom lawsuit: We have a strong case – Magda Wierzycka

SA’s Zuma abused judicial process with watchdog report challenge, says court

State capture is an elitist conversation – survey

Most S.Africans are willing to fight corruption than racism – survey

Eskom says rolling cuts unlikely despite coal supply fall

South Africa’s Zuma again denounces “monopoly” white economic power

South Africa’s Eskom not insolvent but facing cashflow trouble

Two books that tell the unsettling tale of South Africa’s descent

Op-Ed: South Africans in rural areas are saying ‘no more’. Why it matters

Op-Ed: South Africa shows why collaboration is key to tackling global crime networks

South Africa’s Zuma denies receiving kick-backs

Lawmaker calls for probe of UK bank’s ties in South African money laundering case

ANC is facing its own death – Mathews Phosa

Imperial’s Mark Lamberti blasts state capture, KPMG

Two banks drop McKinsey in fallout from South Africa scandal

State capture inquiry: Zuma challenges report

African Rainbow Minerals fires KPMG as auditor

News Tips

Advertise With Us

state capture

Eskom lawsuit: We have a strong case – Magda Wierzycka

SA’s Zuma abused judicial process with watchdog report challenge, says court

State capture is an elitist conversation – survey

Most S.Africans are willing to fight corruption than racism – survey

Eskom says rolling cuts unlikely despite coal supply fall

South Africa’s Zuma again denounces “monopoly” white economic power

South Africa’s Eskom not insolvent but facing cashflow trouble

Two books that tell the unsettling tale of South Africa’s descent

Op-Ed: South Africans in rural areas are saying ‘no more’. Why it matters

Op-Ed: South Africa shows why collaboration is key to tackling global crime networks

South Africa’s Zuma denies receiving kick-backs

Lawmaker calls for probe of UK bank’s ties in South African money laundering case

ANC is facing its own death – Mathews Phosa

Imperial’s Mark Lamberti blasts state capture, KPMG

Two banks drop McKinsey in fallout from South Africa scandal

State capture inquiry: Zuma challenges report

African Rainbow Minerals fires KPMG as auditor

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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