ANC campaigns in Gauteng while DA fights SABC

The ANC is happy with its weekend election campaigns that took place across Gauteng, despite reports that 66 ANC members in Hammanskraal defected to the National Freedom Party (NFP).

"We were well received everywhere in Gauteng, so we are quite happy," said ANC national spokesperson, Jackson Mthembu.

But Mthembu said he was not notified about the defection of any ANC members. "I'm not aware of it, but I wouldn't believe that ANC members would go to the NFP," he told the Mail & Guardian on Sunday.

With less than a month to go before elections, the ANC national executive committee and other national officials campaigned across Gauteng while, according to Mthembu, provincial leadership campaigned in the other provinces.

On Saturday, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe addressed hundreds of ANC supporters in Eldorado Park, where he lashed out at the Democratic Alliance (DA), accusing them of reversing economic growth in the Western Cape.

Mantashe's planned door-to-door campaign in Ivory Park, east of Johannesburg, on Sunday was cancelled.

ANC head of communications Keith Khoza said the weekend's campaigns were fruitful. "We were received warmly by those communities. The interaction was quite fruitful in that it solicits public views about our manifesto, and it's a good opportunity for us to explain the manifesto to those who don't understand it."

ANC to target train commuters

The ANC's campaigns will continue on Monday morning, with ANC members targeting train commuters.

Mantashe is expected to continue campaigning on a train with morning commuters from Oakmore to Park Station in Johannesburg.

Jessie Duarte, Mantashe's deputy, who spent Sunday campaigning in Evaton, will travel by train from Vereeniging to Orange Farm, while ANC treasurer general Zweli Mkhize is likely to travel from Springs to Park Station. ANC national chairperson, Baleka Mbete will catch the train from Naledi to Doornfontein.

NFP in Hammanskraal

The NFP did a door-to-door campaign in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, this weekend, where it is alleged that 66 ANC members defected to the party.

The NFP's Gauteng chairperson, Bheki Gumbi, was pleased with the outcomes of the campaign. "We are happy that all sectors of the community welcomed us. We end[ed] our rally in Mandela [Stadium], where we welcomed 66 members led by women's league members from the ANC," he said.

DA campaigns nationwide

The DA were equally busy this weekend, with numerous campaigns taking place across the country.

On Saturday, DA leader Helen Zille and national spokesperson, Mmusi Maimane led a march through Zola in Soweto in response to the SABC's pulling of a DA election advert. Approximately 3 500 people attended the event.

Meanwhile, the party protested with the Congress of the People on Sunday at the University of Limpopo over their exclusion from a land debate with the ruling party, Pan Africanist Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters and Freedom Front Plus, which was broadcast live on SABC.

At the same time, in Upington in the Northern Cape, DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko, along with premier candidate Andrew Louw, held a "We can win" rally.

"The rally went very well," DA media liaison told the M&G. "We are getting more supporters on a daily basis and we're positive that we can win the Northern Cape and Gauteng in the upcoming elections."

Zille, along with the provincial DA leader Athol Trollip and other parliamentary candidates, went door-to-door in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape on Sunday.

While in Alexandra, Gauteng, Maimane visited people living in hostels.  "The living conditions are bad and the people are fed up," said Clark. "They are looking for a new political home."
– Additional reporting by Sapa          

Published on Mail & Guardian Online on 14 April 2014. 

Digging dung… Reflections on amaBhungane

Photo: www.fifdirect.org.uk

Being an investigative journalist feels a bit like being a detective (not that I’ve ever been a detective, but I’m sure this is what it would feel like).
So for this post I’m being pretty lazy (yes, detectives are lazy too) and am adapting the exit report I wrote for amaBhungane after my three month long investigative journalism internship.
For those who are wondering, let me first tell you more about what amaBhungane is before I waffle on about my internship experience. amaBhungane AKA the M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism, is a “non-profit company founded to develop investigative journalism in the public interest”.
amaBhungane means “dung beetles” in isiZulu and they have possibly the best slogan in the world… “Digging dung, fertilizing democracy.”
To read more about amaB (as it is fondly known) and about why investigative journalism and the non-profit model is important, click here (see, I’m being lazy again).
The amaB offices are based at the Mail & Guardian offices in Johannesburg (although some of the amaB team members are also based in Cape Town and Durban), and the stories written are published in the newspaper, which comes out every Friday and is distributed across southern Africa.

Now, back to my experience…

The amaB internship was an incredible, and unfortunately went by way too quickly. When I got the phone call in October last year offering me the internship, I couldn’t believe it. I had applied for it knowing that I didn’t fully meet all the requirements that were set out in the advert (namely that I wasn’t working in mainstream media and had virtually no investigative journalism experience).
As such I arrived at amaB full of hope, excitement and ready to really make the most of the opportunity, but also not entirely confident. It was fairly daunting knowing I was coming to a very politically orientated publication – when I have had almost no experience in this field.
Despite knowing about my background, the amaB team treated me with confidence from the beginning and that in turn bolstered my own confidence.

Stories and what I learnt (The dodgy pastor)

I had a few stories published while working for amaB, and you can scroll down on my blog to read them.
The first story that I did was about a pastor who was appointed municipal manager at Camdeboo Municipality in the Eastern Cape, despite numerous charges of fraud and corruption hanging over his head. Although relatively speaking a small story, it was a very good initiation for me.
 One of the biggest things that I learnt from that story and which is something that I have to continue to work on, is how to process a large amount of information/documentation, but not get bogged down by the details and essentially learn how to take the main points out of them and put those across in a story.
Drew Forrest (amaB associate partner and intern supervisor) was really great at helping me with this and frequently brought me back down to earth when I got too wrapped up in small, complicated details.

amaB is awesome

Something that’s really awesome about amaB, is that even if you’re working alone on a story, you actually aren’t. The team meets three mornings a week (via skype) and discusses what everyone is working on. I found that very stimulating. Being able to share ideas, get advice, be asked questions, ask questions, have other people review the documents/evidence/information was fantastic. It not only helped me to further my stories, focus them, to know what to do, think about new aspects, but it was also obviously good for me to know that someone else was “checking up on me” to make sure I wasn’t screwing up. It was also useful to talk about the other journalists’ stories during the skype meetings, just in terms of broadening my horizons and hearing how they were approaching their stories etc.
Writing such long, complicated investigative pieces was also a massive learning curve. It was a challenge to work out what the lede (intro) is and how to write it in a catchy, “sexy” way (Drew is great with this), how to order the story, how to make things flow, and basically just how to put massive amounts of info down in the most sensible, “simple” and reader-friendly way possible.
I would sit with Drew while he edited my stories. He is a magician when it comes to writing things in the most concise manner, swopping paragraphs around to change the order and the flow and using certain words to make the jumps between topics more seamless. I learnt so much about writing and about editing just from these few intense editing sessions.
Apart from that I also learnt about more tricks and tools of the trade used by investigative journalists and better ways of protecting sources and keeping sensitive information secret.

Stories and what I learnt (Blvoor Mine)

I worked with one of the permanent investigative reporters, Sally Evans, and the other two interns, Tileni Mongudhi (from Namibia) and Justice Kavahematui (from Botswana) on a story about Blyvoor Mine in Carletonville.
It was good to work with one of the permanent investigative reporters, because it gave me an insight into how she does things, how she operates and approaches a story, what kind of things she asks her sources, etc.
We had to do this story fairly quickly and it was a massive pull-together team effort between the four of us. I landed up interviewing some of the main “protagonists” of the story, and had to keep my cool through various rants and personal abuses thrown at me.
Myself and the other two interns, as well as a photographer, also visited the Blyvooruitzicht town to speak to people on the ground and popped in at the mine, where I nearly got arrested. Never a dull moment!

Stories and what I learnt (Hydro power)

While working at amaB, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to the Northern Cape for a few days to do some more research on a story I was writing about the proposed hydroelectric schemes for the Orange River - the most contentious being the ones planned at Augrabies Falls and Orange Falls.
The trip to the Northern Cape is a story in itself, which I will endeavour to write up sometime soon. But what was really valuable for me, was that when I got back to work, Drew was on leave. As such, I had to deal with the newsroom myself in sorting out what photos needed to be used, dealing with the sub-editors and finalising the pages. It was very interesting for me to be part of the production process.

“Aha” moment

Graphic: krystle-rose.blogspot.com

To end off, I want to describe a feeling I had very early into the internship. It was probably about the second or third week when I had an “aha” moment - finally realising that this is why I am doing journalism. When I went to university my lecturers laughed at me for saying I was studying journalism in order to save the world. And at my previous publication I was mindlessly churning out fluffy pieces… This internship made me realise that I want to be a dung beetle, doing investigative journalism. I love digging. I love the challenge of it. I love the satisfaction one gets when you finally get information, or get hold of a source, or figure out a piece of the puzzle. I love going beyond just the everyday surface level stories. But most of all I love that feeling of uncovering wrong-doing and injustice, in the hope that by exposing it something will then be done about it and a contribution will be made towards democracy.

Aurora rerun at West Rand mine?

Written by Sally Evans and Gabi Falanga

Blyvoor Mine.
Photo: M&G photographer, Madelene Cronje

Members of the controversial Bhana family – of liquidated airline Velvet Sky and Aurora mining notoriety – appear to have seized yet another questionable financial opportunity, this time involving an insolvent gold mining company on the West Rand.

Once again, however, it seems that the father-and-son team of Solly and Fazel Bhana have tried to keep their involvement under wraps.

More than 1 600 miners have been hoping for the best since December last year, when the provisional liquidators of Blyvooruitzicht Gold Mine (Blyvoor) in Carletonville signed a sale agreement with a then unknown company, Goldrich Holdings (Goldrich), to buy the mine. The understanding was that Goldrich would kick-start the mine's operations this month.

The miners' fate, however, also rests with Thulani Ngubane, a director alongside Khulubuse Zuma and Zondwa Mandela of Aurora Empowerment Systems, which was liquidated in 2011 following its botched takeover of two Pamodzi Gold mines.

But, although Goldrich has paid about R5-million towards the sale, Blyvoor's joint provisional liquidators cancelled their contract with it earlier this month when the company allegedly failed to meet further payment obligations, an allegation Goldrich strenuously denies.

Goldrich was barred from Blyvoor's premises last Friday. The company subsequently brought an urgent court application against the provisional liquidators and the mine for ­"unlawfully evicting" them.

On Thursday, the South Gauteng High Court ruled in Goldrich's favour and the company is now allowed back on the mine, according to Goldrich's lawyer, David Swartz.

Denials

Swartz, of Phillip Silver and Associates – the same firm that represented the Bhanas in the Aurora matter – denied the liquidators's allegations that Goldrich had not made certain payments.

Swartz claimed that his client had already paid R4.8-million, the second of about 12 payments.

Bonginkosi Mthethwa, a KwaZulu-Natal businessperson, is currently the only person listed as a Goldrich director. The company was ­registered in February last year.

Yet Mthethwa is not acting alone in the deal. Aurora's Ngubane told amaBhungane that he was on Goldrich's board. It was in this capacity that he signed sale and interim agreements in December and January on behalf of Goldrich with the liquidators.

Ngubane also noted that Mthethwa was a "personal friend" and that his involvement with Goldrich went back 20 years. He said that he would become a director of the company "at a later stage".

Fazel Bhana, who with Solly was specifically named as a key driver in the collapse of the two Pamodzi gold mines under Aurora's management (see sidebar), appears to have also played a major role in negotiating Goldrich's deal with Blyvoor's provisional liquidators.

Main negotiators

An anonymous source, whose information was corroborated by amaBhungane, said that the "main negotiator in the transaction" was Fazel Bhana. The source also noted that both Fazel and Solly Bhana were "at the mine daily, flanked by Mr Thulani Ngubane".

Solly Bhana's involvement at Blyvoor could not be confirmed.

Fazel seems to have tried to keep a low profile during negotiations over Blyvoor.

In particular, he has spelt his name "Fazil" with an "i" and, according to one of the joint provisional liquidators, Bhana junior only ever used his first name during their interaction. The only time he mentioned his surname was when he was told to sign it on a registry at a meeting with the mineral resources department.

Ngubane, however, defended Fazel's role. He said that the company was using him because, as a "lawyer by profession … he has the right expertise" and that he was "indispensable and irreplaceable".

Liquidators were appointed to take over Blyvoor in August last year after a declining gold price and rising overheads forced it into provisional liquidation.

According to newspaper reports, two mining companies, DRDGold and Village Main Reef, both abdicated responsibility for the mine.

The workers were left jobless and the mine became a magnet for illegal miners or "zama zamas".

It appears that this is not the first time the Bhanas have been party to a possible deal to buy Blyvoor.

Deal cancelled

In 2009, a deal between DRDGold and Aurora – in which Aurora would pay R376-million for a 60% stake – was cancelled.

According to a 2010 MiningMx news report, DRDGold chief executive Niel Pretorius said the deal was thwarted as a result of suspicion about the role of Aurora's "advisers", although Pretorius did not specifically name the Bhanas.

Goldrich took occupation of Blyvoor on December 6, about 10 days after the company swooped in and mysteriously secured power to the mine's main asset, Shaft No 5, from Eskom, which was days away from shutting off the shaft's electricity supply. Blyvoor is about R90-million in arrears with Eskom.

According to joint provisional liquidator Leigh Roering, Goldrich "saved the day" when it managed to keep Eskom from turning off the power. Roering said the power utility had threatened liquidators with a November 29 deadline.

"We have no idea how it did it. The main thing is to save the Shaft No 5 for employment purposes. It managed to secure power to the shaft, and that is how it got involved," he said.

Joint provisional liquidators signed an interim and sale agreement with the company.

Ngubane denied that there was anything "sinister" about Eskom staying its hand.

Total cost

Roering noted that Goldrich referred to "foreign funds that were going to be brought in" to help to pay off the instalments agreed upon between the parties. The total cost for the mine would have been about R70-million.

Ngubane said that funding for Goldrich was "from a private family trust in Holland".

"Goldrich is not a listed company. I don't have to open up my chest. And the private equity firm from Holland will remain private as well," he said.

Referring to the insolvency of Blyvoor mine following ownership issues between DRDGold and Village Main Reef, Ngubane said: "At Goldrich, we have a heart. We want to save 450 jobs."

But it was the company's alleged inability to fulfil its financial obligations that led to its eviction from the premises.

In claims that are reminiscent of the Aurora debacle, Roering said: "There was always a reason for why they couldn't pay.

"They were waiting for funding, apparently from Dubai. But it never came."

Ngubane denied the nonpayment, allegations and blamed the liquidators, "who have revoked our agreement and that is why we are taking them to court".

Fazel Bhana and Swartz had not responded to questions by the time of going to print. ­
– Additional reporting by Tileni Mongudi and Justice Kavahematui.

Pamodzi mine controversy drags on

Pamodzi mine controversy drags on Aurora Empowerment Systems, whose board members included President Jacob Zuma's nephew Khulubuse Zuma, Nelson Mandela's grandson Zondwa Mandela and businessman Thulani Ngubane, was seen as the saviour of liquidated mining company Pamodzi Gold when it took over two of its mines in 2009.

Aurora was appointed as the preferred bidder by the joint provisional liquidators of Pamodzi, one of whom was controversial liquidator Enver Motala. Then a new company, packed with a "who's who" of political heavyweights allegedly presented a "beautiful" bid to the liquidators to buy Pamodzi's gold assets for close to R400-million.

But cracks soon began to show when it became clear that the father-and-son team of Solly and Fazel Bhana, who were brought on by Aurora's board as "consultants and advisers", were "calling the shots". During a 2012 inquiry into the collapse of Pamodzi Gold, questions were raised about allegations that tens of millions of rands made from gold sales were surreptitiously being diverted into private accounts, mostly belonging to members of the Bhana family, whereas thousands of mineworkers went unpaid.

At the time, Aurora's management denied that money was being used for non mining purposes or that it was involved in asset-stripping, but allegations persisted regarding shady deals at the mine. Some of the allegations related to "mystery" trucks that were said by sources to be removing equipment from the shafts.

Aurora removed as bidder

Following the removal of Aurora as the preferred bidder to run the two mines in late 2011, after which the company was itself put into liquidation, liquidators sought to have Fazel and Solly Bhana, along with Zuma, Mandela and Ngubane, held personally liable for the R2-billion debt owed to Pamodzi.

In a 2012 court application, one of Pamodzi's joint provisional liquidators, Johan Engelbrecht, claimed that the men had "managed the affairs of Aurora recklessly with the intent to defraud" Pamodzi's liquidators and creditors.

Engelbrecht also noted that Pamodzi had "proved claims in the insolvent estate of Aurora" to the value of R122-million in gold sales and R1.8-billion incurred through the destruction of the mines' assets.

The Bhanas tried to distance themselves from the management of Aurora during the Pamodzi inquiry.

But in his testimony, Zuma said that the controversial pair were involved in Aurora "prior to negotiations which ensued for the purchase of Pamodzi".

Engelbrecht noted in his court affidavit that Zuma "confirmed that, in his experience, the Bhanas were the main contributors to the decision-making of the running of the company".

The matter brought against the Bhanas and former Arurora directors by the Pamodzi liquidators has been set down for August this year.
– amaBhungane reporters

Written for amaBhungane and published in Mail & Guardian on 24 January 2014. 

Graft-rap pastor lands top job

Reverend Noel Pietersen.
Photo: Oudtshoorn Courant

An ANC-led Eastern Cape municipality has openly defied the local government minister, Lechesa Tsenoli, by employing a municipal manager who is facing a raft of criminal charges – including corruption and fraud – despite a written warning from Tsenoli that the appointment is illegal.

In November Tsenoli sent the Camdeboo district council a formal determination that Reverend Noel Pietersen was unsuitable for the municipal manager post and declaring his appointment null and void.

Despite this, Pietersen began working at the council in December and is still in the position.

On Monday the Democratic Alliance (DA) laid criminal charges against Pietersen, the Camdeboo mayor, Hanna Makoba, and five ANC councillors, alleging fraud and contraventions of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Municipal Systems Act.

Asked for comment, Tsenoli told amaBhungane that he was “interacting with the municipality and the province … At this stage we do not want to be drawn into speculation.”

Pietersen's checquered history

Pietersen, an ordained minister of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, has a chequered history.

In 2009 he was suspended by the Oudtshoorn municipality over his use of council funds to fight a personal defamation case. He was dismissed, but later reinstated by the council through a settlement agreement in terms of which he was paid out and resigned. A criminal conviction related to the same matter was overturned on appeal.

Tsenoli’s letter points out that Pietersen is attending court for six criminal cases arising from investigations by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into his work as Oudtshoorn municipal manager.

These include charges of fraud, corruption, theft and contraventions of the Municipal Finance Management Act.

Tsenoli records that Pietersen claimed the charges “will collapse in court” and “were engineered by biased investigators who serve the interests of a certain political party” – presumably the DA.

Adverse findings against Pietersen

Tsenoli also refers to adverse findings by the auditor general over Pietersen’s handling of finances while municipal manager for Ukhahlamba district (now Joe Gqabi) municipality, also in the Eastern Cape, between 2001 and 2006. Tsenoli’s letter says that Pietersen was sued by the Ukhahlamba council after he allegedly sold his official vehicle and pocketed the proceeds. The dispute was settled out of court.

Tsenoli points out that, during his interview for the Camdeboo job, Pietersen failed to disclose that he was under criminal investigation – though he had highlighted the one case in which he had been found not guilty on appeal.

When this was drawn to his attention, he had confirmed that he was facing charges of corruption and fraud. However, he said he was not guilty of the offences and that he had made representations to the National Prosecuting Authority.

But Tsenoli found this explanation was no justification for Pietersen’s failure to disclose the unresolved cases against him.

“It is our considered view that he withheld the information to mislead … if anything, it shows he has little regard for basic principles of good governance.”

Pietersen rubbishes claims against him

In an interview last week, Pietersen dismissed questions about his fitness for the Camdeboo post as “DA rubbish … I was elected because I was the best. Maybe the DA doesn’t like me because I’m here to put transformation in the economy of the town.

“They [the SIU] claim I had given contracts to people to suit the ANC and to suit my pockets. They have nothing to prove it,” Pietersen told amaBhungane. “They can’t find evidence that I’ve received personal gain. I was advancing people that were marginalised while I was there [at Oudtshoorn].”

In his letter Tsenoli also mentions Pietersen’s claim that the SIU investigation was part of a conspiracy and the supposed “lack of apprehension by the president and the minister of justice, of the manipulation of their well-intended objectives to serve certain political ends”.

"Unconvincing" explanation

Tsenoli found this explanation unconvincing.

“The candidate’s past conduct displays a nagging lack of adherence to professional ethics and a propensity to squander municipal resources for personal benefit. His maintenance of accounting records … as proof of proper use of municipal finances … falls far short of the expected professional standards,” wrote Tsenoli.

When the DA caucus, a minority on the Camdeboo district council, first brought the planned appointment to the minister’s attention, it highlighted the fact that Camdeboo is one of the few well-run South African municipalities.

Tsenoli’s report confirms this, saying that for all but one of the past 15 years Camdeboo had received unqualified audit reports. In 2010 it was named the “Best Performing Municipality” by the Vuna Awards.

Backdating salary allegations

AmaBhungane has also seen a letter from the Eastern Cape local government minister, Mlibo Qoboshiyane, sent in September, which endorses Pietersen’s appointment and encourages Camdeboo mayor Hanna Makoba to ask the national treasury to relax the minimum competency requirements.

Asked to explain this, Qoboshiyane said his letter had been sent before the minister’s investigation. He added that the council had been advised to “strike a balance between presumption of innocence until proven guilty and its commitment to clean governance, bearing in mind that it is not illegal to appoint a person with pending criminal charges”.

But Tsenoli roundly rejected this view. His letter notes: “It is not only anomalous but irrational to purport to be serious in the fight against corruption while on the other hand as government we sanction the employment of a person who is currently facing a criminal trial, amongst others, for corruption and fraud.”

Camdeboo mayor Makoba refused to answer questions.

The charges laid by the DA relate to the backdating of Pietersen’s salary.

DA caucus secretary Samantha Jankovich revealed that, after receiving letters from his attorneys, a special meeting of the council had decided to backdate Pietersen’s salary to the beginning of December, rather than paying him from December 17 when he started work.

Pietersen also sent a letter to Camdeboo’s acting chief financial officer, Gerrar Maya, titled “Instruction for payment of salary: Myself”.

Written for amaBhungane and published in Mail & Guardian on 17 January 2014.