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Kebble – SA’s own JR Ewing
By Christelle du Toit
JOHANNESBURG – Brett Kebble was described as the JR Ewing of South Africa – an unscrupulous, charismatic businessman who was almost larger than life.
Killed on Tuesday, September 27, 2005, the mining magnate left behind him a world of shady dealings and political controversy.
He was twice forced to resign as the chief executive of Western Areas mining. In 2000 he was found to have “committed a breach of corporate governance” after a secretive share-buying scheme was exposed. The director of public prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, launched a probe into the matter.
In 2002 Kebble registered JCI on the stock exchange after merging his company with Consolidated African Mines Limited (CAM). At the time he said the Kebbles were “the first to release mines from burdensome management contracts, initiating a period of profound transformation in the South African gold mining industry.”
Kebble added fuel to the fire when Ngcuka was being investigated by the Hefer commission on charges of being an apartheid spy by accusing the national director of “pursuing a private agenda”.
Kebble was found to have donated millions to the ANC’s coffers while simultaneously assisting with the cash-flow of the official opposition, the DA. He said he would “support any political party that upholds patriotic and democratic principles”.
Shock waves were felt around the country as the news broke of Kebble’s death at the age of 41. His lawyer at the time, Willem Heath, as well as a business associate with strong ANC links said they believed his death to have been a “deliberate hit”.
After his death his interests in diamond mining attracted a good deal of attention with his death being likened to that of Hazel Crane, a convicted diamond smuggler who was killed in her car shortly before she was to testify on illegal diamond trading in SA. Kebble was reported to have clinched a diamond-concession transaction in Angola shortly before his death.
It also came to light after his death that millions of rands worth of shares in Randgold & Exploration that he controlled had “disappeared”. In a radio interview with Kebble at the time, a large portion of these shares were said to have been used to finance his Angolan diamond interests.
Kebble’s estate was declared insolvent after his death and most of his belongings, such as cars and antique furniture, were auctioned off to recover business losses.
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