Former Robben Island political prisoner Tokyo Sexwale, now a businessman, has ordered an independent investigation into claims that senior figures at Trillian Capital Partners knew about #Nenegate before it happened and that the company was set to benefit. Nenegate is a reference to the short-term switching of finance ministers that sent shock waves through the markets and hammered the rand’s value in December. It is alleged that Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas was offered a quick cash bonus of R600 000 and a staggering R600m to do the dirty work of the rich Indian Gupta family by taking the job of Finance Minister over from Nhlanhla Nene. Des van Rooyen – also referred to as the ‘weekend special’ – was subsequently appointed after Jonas reportedly turned down that offer. Van Rooyen, in turn, was quickly replaced by a previous finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, after an outcry. Sexwale noted that he joined Trillian as independent non-executive chair in April, months after the Nenegate scandal unfolded. Sexwale, who was with Nelson Mandela in prison, has urged action against the ‘monster of corruption’. At Trillian, he has committed to an independent probe into the allegations published in a Sunday newspaper about Trillian’s involvement in Nenegate, citing good governance as the reason for following up on the claims. Sexwale has denied that Trillian has any links to the Gupta brothers, at the centre of allegations of state capture and known to be close to the family of President Jacob Zuma. Trillian has moved to discredit the whistleblower, however her claims dovetail with other allegations linking the Gupta family to reshuffles of senior ministers so Sexwale is taking the right step by planning an independent investigation into the matter in order to clear the air. The Trillian group has its tentacles in black economic empowerment business and the markets. – Jackie Cameron
By Carin Smith
Cape Town – Tokyo Sexwale, independent non-executive chair of Trillian, plans an independent investigation in order to fully test the veracity of allegations made in a Sunday newspaper this past weekend.
The Sunday Times alleged pre-knowledge by a member or members of Trillian concerning President Jacob Zuma’s replacing of former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene by Des van Rooyen. This move by Zuma on December 9 2015 had a big negative impact on the rand and SA’s equity markets.
The newspaper claimed the firing of Nene and replacement by Van Rooyen could have been planned months in advance, according to an affidavit given to former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela by an anonymous “whistle-blower”, who apparently used to be a former CEO of a business unit at Johannesburg headquartered Trillian Capital Partners.
Trillian Capital Partners forms part of the Trillian Group, which is 60% held by Trillian Holdings, while its sole director Salim Essa, is said to be a close Gupta associate.
The company on Sunday denied any links to the Guptas. In his statement on Tuesday Sexwale also emphasised that Trillian is not Gupta-owned. He has, therefore, made the share register of Trillian Holdings available for public scrutiny.
Sexwale said he has urgently interacted with members of senior management and viewed supporting documentation. He has the full support of the board and senior management team to launch an independent investigation.
“In such a situation, if true, it would be extremely alarming and would require a convincing explanation to the nation as to how that which was only supposed to be known by the president, became known in business circles, including Trillian,” Sexwale said in the statement.
Fighting the monster of corruption
“The monster of corruption must not be allowed to take root and overwhelm the good work achieved since 1994”.
He added that verifiable evidence, however, need to be put forward.
“Good corporate governance dictates that, although the alleged matters took place last year before I joined the company in April of this year, I should initiate an independent investigation in order to fully test the veracity of these allegations,” said Sexwale.
The independent investigation is to be led by what he describes as “a trusted public person” to fully investigate the allegations in collaboration with the relevant law enforcement agencies. He expects the name of the person to lead the investigation to be announced within the next few days.
The “whistle-blower” alleged in her affidavit that she was already informed on October 26 2015 by her direct line manager, Eric Wood, at Regiments Capital that Zuma will replace Nene.
The whistle-blower reportedly said in the affidavit that Wood told her that her former colleague, Mohammed Bobat, would be appointed special adviser to Van Rooyen. Bobat was a principal at Regiments Capital in the management consulting division and reported directly to Wood, according to the whistle-blower.
Bobat was then expected to “channel all tenders from National Treasury and state-owned companies” to a team of experts that would include expertise from Trillian Capital, the whistle-blower said.
Bobat, though, has denied the whistle-blower’s claims. The whistle-blower further said that Trillian won a R5m deal for a capital raising transaction for SA Express that allegedly never went through. Meanwhile, the company also stands accused of invoicing Transnet R10m for work that “could not have taken place”.
Wood denied all allegations by the whistle-blower and described her as a “disaffected employee” and fraudster who has stolen confidential company information.
In its statement on Sunday Trillian said “those wild and unsubstantiated allegations have extremely damaging repercussions for the reputation of an emerging and growing black-owned Financial Services Group and to that of Dr Wood”.
The company also accused the whistle-blower of being a “disgruntled former employee”.
Fin24
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