[miningmx.com] — THE middleman in several deals between Chinese companies and President Jacob Zuma’s nephew Khulubuse Zuma is convicted murderer Jen-Chic “Robert’ Huang, a South Africa-based Taiwanese man, according to a Mail & Guardian (M&G) report.
The Chinese company touted to rescue Aurora Empower Systems – of which Khulubuse is a director – is the Shandong Gold Group, a state-owned entity. The M&G reported Huang has played a central part in promoting the potential deal.
Aurora has been struggling for more than a year to raise funds to pay for the mines of the liquidated Pamodzi Gold. In December, Aurora was given until end-February to produce funding guarantees by the High Court in Pretoria.
At the time, joint liquidator Enver Motala said the guarantees would be issued by a Chinese company. According to the M&G, Aurora is in negotiations with Shandong Gold for a $100m capital injection that would buy the Chinese group about 65% of Aurora.
Huang was also instrumental in introducing Chinese vehicle manufacturer Dong Feng Motor Corporation to Khulubuse. Last year Dong Feng announced a joint venture with Khulubuse and Huang to distribute its products in Africa.
According to the report, Huang was convicted for the murder of a Taiwanese businessman Ching-Ho Kao in 1998. However, he became a reborn Christian in prison and assisted the police in solving a large number of crimes in the Chinese community, leading to a significant reduction in his 12-year sentence.
When he was released in 2003 he set about establishing Mpisi Trading and has built the company into a import-export business, specialising in forwarding services for mineral exports from Southern Africa to China.
