DELEGATES attending the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba 2018 said they did not want the event opened by South African mines minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, owing to the catalogue of corruption allegations he is facing.
Peter Leon, a mining lawyer with Herbert Smith Freehills, told BusinessLive: “Zwane should obviously not open the indaba given all the corruption allegations surrounding him, not least in relation to the alleged R220m misappropriation from the Gupta dairy project in the Free State.”
“Under the circumstances, it would be best if the indaba was opened by the well-liked deputy mines minister, Godfrey Oliphant,” he said.
Said another delegate: “The clearest message this government can send is to not have Zwane at the indaba. It would tell us they are serious about corruption and digging this industry out of the mess it’s in”.
