THE Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs) for Shiva Uranium, an operation formerly owned by the Gupta family’s Oakbay Resources, has resigned amid litigation by one of the mine’s shareholders, the government-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), said BusinessLive in an article.
The IDC is owed R287.5m by the gold and uranium mine — which ran into financial difficulties and was placed in rescue along with seven other Gupta companies in coal mining and services, said BusinessLive. The IDC has been unhappy with the business rescue process under BRPs Louis Klopper and Kurt Knoop.
While expressing relief at no longer having to deal with Shiva, Klopper said there was a buyer — BEK Holdings — for the mine, which had only produced gold and no uranium under Gupta ownership. BEK was set up by Elias Khumalo, who has been named in various media reports as a friend to former president Jacob Zuma, who was a Gupta benefactor.
“Mr Khumalo is very well respected in mining circles, currently running three uranium mines in North West province, thus the contemplated sale to his entity makes a lot of economic sense,” Klopper told BusinessLive. “He is also well respected by the National Nuclear Regulator for running good, clean and highly efficient operations, fully compliant with all regulations and safety requirements,” he said.
