[miningmx.com] — ZONDWA Mandela is likely to be the fall guy for the
Aurora debacle.
Aurora Empowerment Systems – which, until recently was responsible for operating
two mines that belong to the insolvent mining company Pamodzi Gold – is facing a
liquidation inquiry to determine whether there are any grounds for fraud and theft
charges.
But in his testimony last week, which was held in camera, Aurora chair Khulubuse
Zuma apparently exonerated himself.
Zuma’s lawyer, Eddie Claassen, told City Press that Zuma did not want to comment
on his testimony, because in terms of the law it was secret.
City Press has spoken to several former employees of Aurora’s mines, who confirmed
that both Zuma and fellow Aurora director Michael Hulley were not involved in the
day-to-day running of the mine. They also fingered Mandela, Thulani Ngubane and
the Bhana family for running the mines into the ground.
Members of the Bhana family were still due to testify. City Press understands that
Zuma blames the Bhanas for what happened at Aurora.
Aurora’s financial records, which City Press has seen, suggest strongly that the
Bhana family and their associates received payments of at least R1m from Aurora.
At least four members of the Bhana family had money paid into their personal
accounts in October and November of 2009.
The relationship between the Bhanas and the head liquidator of the mines, Enver
Motala, will also be scrutinised. Motala faces criminal investigation charges related to
a possible conflict of interest in his involvement in the liquidation of Aurora.
He is expected to meet with the police on Monday, and a warrant of arrest may be
issued if he does not show up.
In court papers, Christine Roussouw, Deputy Master of the North Gauteng High
Court, said Motala only negotiated with Aurora – an investment company with no
mining experience – to take over the liquidated mines, and that he did not
investigate other options.
“It appears that what commended Aurora to Motala was the fact that a nephew of
President [Jacob] Zuma and a grandson of former president Mandela were among its
directors, and that it was in effect run by two friends of Motala, Messrs Faizel and
Solly Bhana,’ Roussouw said.
Motala has previously denied that he knew the Bhanas before the Aurora deal.
According to sources privy to evidence heard at the in camera inquiries, Zuma
fingered Mandela as a mastermind of Aurora, along with the Bhana family and fellow
director Ngubane.
Mandela has been ducking and diving the inquiry, and will have to appear before a
magistrate on criminal charges.
In November he claimed that he was too ill to testify, and that all the documents
supporting his testimony had been stolen from his car.
Mandela has another dilemma that will expose him and could send him – alone –
straight to jail. His company, Kaunda Global Mining Resources, which managed
Aurora, is in final liquidation. As sole director, he will have to account for its missing
millions.
Kaunda ran the mines on behalf of Aurora and was responsible for paying the salaries
of workers and managing the pension fund money. The pension fund money, as well
as other money in the company, simply disappeared.
The inquiry into Kaunda’s insolvency could eventually lead to criminal charges being
laid against Mandela for, among other things, deductions from employees’ salaries
that were not paid to the pension fund.
Mandela did not respond to requests for comment.
Mandela’s fellow director, Ngubane, who was also intrinsically involved in running the
mine, will also have to appear before a magistrate on charges of perjury. The inquiry
commission was apparently scathing about his testimony, believing it to be full of
holes and lies.
But Ngubane denied that he was obstructing the commission, which he said was
illegally constituted.
“I was not treated fairly by the commission,’ he said last week. “I believed I was as
frank as I could be about Aurora.’
Ngubane has also gone to court to prevent the inquiry from subpoenaing documents
– including bank statements and Aurora’s founding documents – and pursuing
questioning. He claimed this was beyond the inquiry’s permissible ambit.
So far, Khulubuse Zuma had been the face of Aurora.
The inquiry came after Aurora mines – Grootvlei on the East Rand and Orkney in the
North West – failed to pay 2,000 workers wages for the past two years and after
evidence emerged that the mines were being asset-stripped.
– City Press
