/qnotables22/ - ===Q Notables 2022===

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/15510152 (311624ZJAN22) Notable: Ex-South African president appeals ruling in corruption case

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Ex-South African president appeals ruling in corruption case

By Mogomotsi Magome | AP January 31, 2022

JOHANNESBURG — Former South African President Jacob Zuma on Monday continued with legal proceedings to remove the prosecutor in his corruption.

Zuma’s lawyers are appealing the court’s rejection of his application for prosecutor Billy Downer to be removed, saying he is biased and unfit to lead the prosecution. Zuma’s lawyers have also accused Downer of leaking documents related to his case to the media.

His initial application for Downer to be removed was dismissed by the Pietermaritzburg High Court in Oct. last year.

Zuma is facing corruption charges linked to the country’s controversial 1999 arms deal in which he is alleged to have received bribes from French arms manufacturer Thales through his financial advisor Schabir Shaik, who has already been convicted of corruption for that transaction.

In a separate case last year, Zuma was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for defying an order of the Constitutional Court to appear before a judicial investigation into allegations of corruption while he was president from 2008 to 2019.

Zuma, 79, went to prison in July and a few months later was released on medical parole. The courts have ruled that the parole was invalid and that Zuma should go back to prison, but his lawyers are appealing that decision.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ex-south-african-president-appeals-ruling-in-corruption-case/2022/01/31/a488df8a-82a2-11ec-951c-1e0cc3723e53_story.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/15510185 (311628ZJAN22) Notable: South Africa's rand recovers, central banks in focus

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South Africa's rand recovers, central banks in focus

Contributors Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo Reuters

Nqobile Dludla Reuters

Published

Jan 31, 2022 10:45AM EST

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 31 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed on Monday, regaining some ground after weakening last week when the country's central bank signalled a gradual pace of policy tightening and expectations grew for aggressive U.S. rate hikes.

At 1529 GMT, the rand ZAR=D3 traded at 15.4700 against the dollar, 0.83% firmer than its previous close.

Last week, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) raised its main lending rate by 25 basis points in a "measured" move, but its forward guidance was less hawkish than the market had positioned for.

In contrast, bets for U.S. rate hikes increased on a hawkish shift by the Federal Reserve.

"Market expectations on interest rates are likely to eventually become more rational, but sensitivities remain high this quarter," Annabel Bishop, a Chief Economist at Investec, wrote in a note.

Focus in the week remained on central banks, with key Australian, UK and European central bank meetings taking place in the days ahead.

Locally, the trade surplus narrowed to 30.14 billion rand ($1.94 billion) in December from a surplus of 35.83 billion rand in November.

In the equity market, stocks were buoyed by mobile operator MTN Group MTNJ.J, tech stocks and a rise in commodity prices, with the Johannesburg All-Share index .JALSH up 1.16% to 74,304 points, while the Top-40 index .JTOPI climbed 1.19% to 67,820 points.

MTN topped the blue-chip index, surging 10.11% to 191.97 rand, a just over six-year high. Its biggest operation, MTN Nigeria Communications MTNN.LG, reported a strong set of full-year financial results on Friday, with margin improvement across the board and a spike in profits.

Oil rose on Monday as a supply shortage and political tensions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East put prices on track for their biggest monthly gain in almost a year.

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Adds stocks, updates rand levels

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 31 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed on Monday, regaining some ground after weakening last week when the country's central bank signalled a gradual pace of policy tightening and expectations grew for aggressive U.S. rate hikes.

At 1529 GMT, the rand ZAR=D3 traded at 15.4700 against the dollar, 0.83% firmer than its previous close.

Last week, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) raised its main lending rate by 25 basis points in a "measured" move, but its forward guidance was less hawkish than the market had positioned for.

In contrast, bets for U.S. rate hikes increased on a hawkish shift by the Federal Reserve.

"Market expectations on interest rates are likely to eventually become more rational, but sensitivities remain high this quarter," Annabel Bishop, a Chief Economist at Investec, wrote in a note.

Focus in the week remained on central banks, with key Australian, UK and European central bank meetings taking place in the days ahead.

Locally, the trade surplus narrowed to 30.14 billion rand ($1.94 billion) in December from a surplus of 35.83 billion rand in November.

In the equity market, stocks were buoyed by mobile operator MTN Group MTNJ.J, tech stocks and a rise in commodity prices, with the Johannesburg All-Share index .JALSH up 1.16% to 74,304 points, while the Top-40 index .JTOPI climbed 1.19% to 67,820 points.

MTN topped the blue-chip index, surging 10.11% to 191.97 rand, a just over six-year high. Its biggest operation, MTN Nigeria Communications MTNN.LG, reported a strong set of full-year financial results on Friday, with margin improvement across the board and a spike in profits.

Oil rose on Monday as a supply shortage and political tensions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East put prices on track for their biggest monthly gain in almost a year.

Meanwhile spot palladium XPD= rose 0.6% to $2,390.30 by 1523 GMT, with the auto-catalyst metal set for a monthly gain of nearly 26%, its best since February 2008. Platinum and Silver prices were also up. GOL/

Higher prices pushed the mining index .JMINI up 3.79%, with Impala Platinum IMPJ.J topping that index as it closed 5.46% stronger.

In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark 2030 government bond ZAR2030= was down 2.5 basis points to 9.400%.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/south-africas-rand-recovers-central-banks-in-focus-0

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/15510222 (311632ZJAN22) Notable: A crisis of faith in South Africa: ‘People have given up on the state’

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A crisis of faith in South Africa: ‘People have given up on the state’

Struggling even before Covid, communities are taking it upon themselves to try to fill the gaps left by the government

by Jason Burke in Thembokwezi, Graaff-Reinet and Franschhoek January 4, 2022

One evening a week, Natasha Msweswe and Zanele Madasi leave their children at home and set out to patrol the streets of Thembokwezi. They return at midnight. This is potentially very dangerous but they feel they have little choice.

“It can be scary but we want to protect our community,” said Madasi, 31. “We want to make a difference.”

Thembokwezi is a neighbourhood of Khayelitsha, a sprawling, overcrowded township overlooked by Table Mountain that has long been infamous for high levels of gang violence, drug abuse and unemployment. South African police are stretched very thin and so a network of neighbourhood watch organisations play a key role in fighting crime here. Thembokwezi is more prosperous and safer than much of the rest of the township, and those who live here want to keep it that way.

“We work with the police of course … but if we fold our arms as a community, the criminals will run amok,” said Phindile George, the leader of the Thembokwezi neighbourhood watch, which counts 50 volunteers including Msweswe and Madasi among its members.

Across South Africa, tens of thousands of people are making similar resolutions. Some teach, secure reliable electricity supplies, organise vaccination drives, repair roads, deliver protective gear to hospitals or distribute water. Many work almost alone, others in NGOs or for wealthy businesses that are now setting aside large sums for philanthropic work.

What all share is an almost total lack of faith in South Africa’s government to provide any kind of a solution for their problems. “People have given up on the state as a protector … There is a massive loss of faith. It’s a tragedy,” said William Gumede, a respected analyst and academic in Johannesburg.

The retreat of the state from everyday life in the continent’s most developed country has widespread consequences, changing the way people think, behave and interact, especially in a time of crisis. The death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was almost universally revered, provided a moment of paradoxical hope as well as grief: reminding many South Africans of what they have in common after many months where circumstances have conspired to drive them apart.

Most South Africans were suffering even before Covid struck, and discontent with the ruling African National Congress (ANC), in power since the end of the racist, repressive apartheid regime in 1994, has been growing for years. Economic growth was already slowing even before the nine-year rule of Jacob Zuma, the populist president ousted in 2018 amid widespread corruption allegations.

Despite the good intentions of the current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, a former labour activist turned tycoon, there has been little to celebrate since. The pandemic has delivered a series of crushing blows to the economy. Rolling power cuts shut down businesses and factories for weeks on end, while the public healthcare system has been lethally undermined by mismanagement and corruption.

The government claims 90,000 South Africans have died from Covid, but reliable excess mortality figures suggest the real death toll is between two and three times higher. Depending on the definition, unemployment could be as high as 46.6%.

In July, in the worst breakdown in public order for decades, hundreds of shopping malls were looted, warehouses torched and key infrastructure targeted across a swath of South Africa. Much of the violence appears to have been instigated by renegade factions within the ruling party, angered by the jailing of Zuma on contempt of court charges. This shook faith in the state too, and a few people turned to vigilante violence.

The neighbourhood watch in Thembokwezi aims to reinforce official efforts, but in a rougher part of Khayelitsha a community has come together to confront local authorities. When a strict lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 led to widespread illegal evictions, hundreds of homeless people occupied a patch of wasteland and built homes of tin and wood.

“For years the politicians said they would use this land for homes for us. They failed to fulfil their promises … So we decided to take it over and do it ourselves,” said Mabhelandile Twani, 40, a community leader.

More:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/04/a-crisis-of-faith-in-south-africa-people-have-given-up-on-the-state

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/15510235 (311634ZJAN22) Notable: Anglo American Platinum Sells 50% Interest in South Africa Project to Sibanye-Stillwater

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Anglo American Platinum Sells 50% Interest in South Africa Project to Sibanye-Stillwater

Published: Jan. 31, 2022 at 1:27 a.m. ET

By Anthony O. Goriainoff

Anglo American Platinum Ltd. said on Monday that it sold its 50% interest in the Kroondal and Marikana Pool-and-share Agreements to Sibanye-Stillwater Ltd. for 1 rand (6 cents).

The South African miner said the conditional transaction will extend the project's life-of-mine, and that Sibanye will take over all closure costs and rehabilitation liabilities.

"By enabling Kroondal to mine through the boundary at Sibanye-Stillwater's Rustenburg operations, we will extract our attributable share of the Kroondal reserves more quickly and efficiently than under the previous mine plan, unlocking greater value for Anglo American Platinum and Sibanye-Stillwater," the company said.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/anglo-american-platinum-sells-50-interest-in-south-africa-project-to-sibanye-stillwater-271643610446

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/15510248 (311636ZJAN22) Notable: South African Coffee Industry Landscape to 2025 - Featuring AVI, Caffeluxe and Chilla Beverage Among Others - ResearchAndMarkets.com

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South African Coffee Industry Landscape to 2025 - Featuring AVI, Caffeluxe and Chilla Beverage Among Others - ResearchAndMarkets.com

January 28, 2022

DUBLIN(BUSINESS WIRE)Jan 28, 2022–

The “South African Coffee Industry Landscape Report 2021” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.

This report provides a dynamic synthesis of industry research and carefully uncovers the South African Coffee market, based on the latest intelligence and research. This Industry Landscape Report provides a holistic perspective of the Coffee market, including the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the potential future impact it will continue to have on the market.

In particular, it provides detailed insights into the entire value chain - from manufacturing to retailing, as well as a pricing analysis. Furthermore, the report provides an overview and insights into the latest global and South African market trends, innovation and technology, drivers and challenges, to present an objective insight into the South African Coffee market environment and its future.

Key Questions This Report Answers

The South African Coffee Industry Landscape Report 2021 provides a holistic overview of the global and South African market and will help answer the following questions:

For the Global Coffee Industry Section

What are the current market dynamics (overview, market environment, and regional overview) of the Global Coffee industry?

What are the latest Global Coffee industry trends, innovation and technology, drivers, and challenges?

For the South African Coffee Industry Section

What are the current market dynamics of the South African Coffee Industry - market size, market value, market volumes: 2015-2020 Actual, 2021-2025 Forecasts (including the impact of COVID-19), distribution channels, sustainability?

What are the latest South African Coffee industry trends, innovation and technology, drivers, and challenges?

For the South African Coffee Manufacturer & Distributor Section

Who are the key manufacturing players, distributors and importers/roasters in the South African Coffee industry?

Which popular Coffee brands and products do the respective companies manufacture/distribute?

For the South African Coffee Retail and Pricing Analysis Section

Who are the key retail players (retail outlets, franchised and independent Coffee shops, and supermarkets) in the South African Coffee industry?

What are the prices of popular Coffee brands (OOH, instant, fresh and ground, beans, capsules and Ready-To-Drink Coffee) across South African retail outlets?

Since early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically stirred up the global and local Coffee industries. Increased demand has been witnessed within the Coffee industry, largely driven by consumers staying home due to pandemic-related restrictions, but still wanting to enjoy their favourite Coffee drinks. This has led to more consumers seeking out at-home alternatives to their favourite Coffee orders, as well as brewing advice and equipment, to improve their at-home Coffee experience.

In South Africa, the local Coffee market experienced positive growth, in terms of off-trade retail value RSP at constant 2020 prices, achieving a 2.1% year-on-year growth relative to 2019. This increase is expected to continue, with the market forecast to grow at a CAGR of 2.5% between 2021 and 2025. This growth, both globally and locally, is being driven by several factors, including the increase in at-home Coffee consumption.

More:

https://apnews.com/press-release/business-wire/coronavirus-pandemic-technology-business-health-covid-19-pandemic-d0febeeb2a4f426c8dffa1677055924d

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/15544456 (041706ZFEB22) Notable: Covid Bun / Approval of COVID vaccine made in South Africa could take 3 years, WHO says

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Approval of COVID vaccine made in South Africa could take 3 years, WHO says

Reuters February 4, 2022

Feb 4 (Reuters) - The mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine produced at the World Health Organization-backed vaccine hub in South Africa could take up to three years to get approval if companies do not share their technology and data, a WHO official said on Friday.

The WHO-backed tech transfer hub in South Africa was set up in June to give poorer nations the know-how to produce COVID-19 vaccines, after market leaders of the mRNA COVID vaccine, Pfizer (PFE.N), BioNTech (22UAy.DE) and Moderna (MRNA.O), declined a WHO request to share their technology and expertise.

Martin Friede, coordinator of the WHO Initiative for Vaccine Research, said if companies with approved COVID vaccines or late stage clinical data shared their technology and data with the consortium, the vaccine produced in South Africa could be approved in 12 to 18 months.

"..It could be 12 months if there was a partnership with a company that already has an approved vaccine. Otherwise, it's more like 24 to 36 months depending on what the approval process is."

On Thursday, South Africa's Afrigen Biologics, which was part of WHO's consortium, said it has used the publicly available sequence of Moderna's mRNA vaccine to make its own version of the shot.

The WHO has been trying to persuade Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech to join forces with its African tech transfer hub.

Friede said the vaccine will be going into first clinical trials in fourth quarter of this year.

"Now have the challenge of having to scale this up. And this is of course where we're going to run into some challenges."

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/approval-covid-vaccine-made-south-africa-could-take-3-years-who-says-2022-02-04/

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/15557324 (060225ZFEB22) Notable: Covid Bun / In South Africa, The End Of The Covid Pandemic Is In Sight

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==In South Africa, The End Of The Covid Pandemic Is In Sight

Christopher Elliott Feb 5, 2022

The pandemic has all but ended in South Africa. Sure, there are still signs warning everyone to maintain a social distancing. And people continue to wear masks in public. But talk to South Africans, and you get the sense that it is, as they say in the American South, all over but the shoutin'.

The way South Africa successfully handled the latest wave of the pandemic offers a preview of what could happen elsewhere. That's because it's a few weeks ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to the highly infectious omicron variant. A massive wave of infections hit South Africa in mid-December but crested by early January. The daily new-infection rate is now around 3,000, roughly the same as in mid-September.

The end of the pandemic is fascinating to watch up close here in South Africa. South Africans seem to be a few steps ahead of the government, slowly removing their masks and resuming normal social activity days or weeks before it's officially allowed. It's not happening a moment too soon for South Africa's beleaguered tourism industry, which took an omicron-size hit in December when many countries banned travel to and from South Africa. But there is finally a sense that this pandemic is in its final stages.

No country needs that more than South Africa.

How did Covid-19 affect South Africa?

Covid-19 has hit the South African economy hard. A recent report by the World Bank predicted a modest bounce-back for 2021, with a 4% growth rate. But that was before omicron slammed the brakes on the country's recovery. Even if that hadn't happened, growth was expected to slow to 2.1% this year and to just 1.5% in 2023.

But omicron hit the tourism sector the hardest. The surge coincided with high season, during the summer months of December and January. Visitors usually come to Cape Town to enjoy the balmy weather or go on safari. Travelers couldn't or wouldn't come here to South Africa because of the travel warnings and fear of catching Covid-19. And, for the most part, they haven't returned yet, further depressing South Africa's hotel and tour businesses.

In its latest annual report, South African Tourism reported that it welcomed just under 3 million tourists last year, compared to slightly more than 10 million visitors in 2019. Even domestic trips dropped 40% as residents stayed home to avoid infection. Making matters worse was omicron, which hit South Africa the hardest.

"South Africa was under attack with the association of the new variant originating in South Africa as was thus dubbed the South African variant," the report noted. "This was repeatedly reported on global platforms and as a result, some countries issued travel advisories and travel bans to and from South Africa."

Put differently, there may be no country on earth that got hit harder than South Africa during the pandemic.

When will Covid-19 end in South Africa?

It's a question of when — not if — Covid will end in South Africa. In Cape Town, Covid looks like it's almost over.

If you're arriving on an international flight, a customs official will ask you for a printout of your PCR test, but they''ll just give it a cursory glance before welcoming you to South Africa. By contrast, I had to show proof of vaccination, download a contact tracing app on my smartphone and submit to regular tests when I visited the Middle East last month. In South Africa, your vaccination status doesn't matter, and there is no mandatory contact tracing app.

Earlier this week, South African authorities announced that people who test positive for the coronavirus but show no symptoms of Covid-19 no longer have to self-isolate. The government also reopened schools to in-person learning.

The only remnant of COVID is a mask requirement for public places, but only about half the people I saw in Cape Town wore masks. Several residents told me they expect the mask requirement to be dropped within the next week.

This what the the end of the pandemic looks like in South Africa

About two hours northeast of Cape Town, at Aquila Private Game Reserve & Spa, there are mixed feelings about the end and the speed with which it's happening. The resort offers everything you'd expect from a South African safari — you can see elephants, Cape buffalo, giraffes, lions and hippos on a two-hour jeep excursion.

More:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherelliott/2022/02/05/in-south-africa-the-end-of-the-covid-pandemic-is-in-sight/?sh=66627d360602

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/15815144 (082257ZMAR22) Notable: Ships Sail For South African Coal After Russia Sanctions

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Ships Sail For South African Coal After Russia Sanctions

Bloomberg March 4, 2022

By Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg) Europe’s surging demand for coal is reviving an infrequent trade lane for shipments from South African mines.

The fossil fuel typically heads east from Richards Bay Coal Terminal, the continent’s biggest export hub. Of the 59 million tons of coal shipped from the South African port last year, only 4% went to Europe and more than 86% was delivered to Asia.

There may have been a shift in that balance since Feb. 20 as a handful of bulk carriers have headed west round the Cape of Good Hope after calling at Richards Bay, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. At least two stopped directly at RBCT.

Europe’s key coal price climbed to a record on Wednesday as sanctions and companies’ own decisions to stop trading with Russian counterparties mean traders are trying to buy elsewhere. There are also concerns further sanctions and war could tighten the ability of utilities to source coal from Russia if they need to.

European utilities have “ramped up volumes in the last few weeks” of South African coal, said Bevan Jones, chief executive officer of consultants African Source Markets. There are also notable flows of coal from the U.S. and Colombia to Europe, he said.

Stockpiles at Richards Bay are dropping and coal miners have experienced rail logistics issues on the main line to the port, but it “seems to be coping for now,” Jones said.

https://gcaptain.com/ships-south-africa-coal-russia-sanctions/

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/15853546 (130923ZMAR22) Notable: Void left by ban on key metal from Russia can't be filled

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General Research #20047 >>>/qresearch/15853506

Void left by ban on key metal from Russia can't be filled

Curbs on palladium exports by Moscow could have devastating effects on global markets

12 Mar, 2022

South African producers will not be able to make up for a possible reduction in the supply of key commodities from Russia, primarily palladium and other platinum group metals. This was announced on Thursday by South African media firm SABC, citing the director of the largest mining company, Sibanye-Stillwater, Neil Froneman.

“Acceleration of projects to expand production is possible, but a significant increase in production will take months and even years,” Froneman said.

He noted that car manufacturers are now trying to replace palladium, which is used in catalytic converters, which convert as much as 90% of the harmful gases in automobile exhaust, with platinum.

Russia to ban foreign trade of certain commodities & raw materials READ MORE: Russia to ban foreign trade of certain commodities & raw materials

Russia and South Africa are the world's largest palladium producers, with a combined market share of 80%, or 5.4 million troy ounces. Russian company Norilsk Nickel produces up to 38% of the world's palladium as a byproduct of nickel mining.

Palladium prices have skyrocketed 80% this year to all-time highs, as financial sanctions on Russia, which produces 25-30% of global supply, disrupted shipments and worsened a supply shortage.

The Russian government announced on Wednesday it was banning the export of certain commodities and raw materials. The measure was aimed at ensuring Russia's security amid Ukraine-related sanctions, Moscow explained.

https://www.rt.com/business/551629-russia-sanctions-metal-ban/

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16264922 (130341ZMAY22) Notable: South Africa's Harmony Gold reports four mine deaths

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South Africa's Harmony Gold reports four mine deaths

May 9, 2022

May 9 (Reuters) - South African miner Harmony Gold (HARJ.J) on Monday reported that four workers died on Saturday in a maintenance-related accident at its Kusasalethu mine, 90 kilometres (55.92 miles) west of Johannesburg.

"Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited regrets to report that four of its employees have tragically lost their lives following an infrastructure maintenance-related incident on Saturday, 7 May 2022, at its Kusasalethu mine, near Carletonville, in the Gauteng province," the company said in a statement.

Harmony, South Africa's biggest gold producer, said the affected part of the mine had been closed pending investigations.

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africas-harmony-gold-reports-four-mine-deaths-2022-05-09/

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16264942 (130346ZMAY22) Notable: South Africa president abandons rally after booing

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==

South Africa president abandons rally after booing==

May 2, 2022

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa had to leave a May Day rally after workers stormed the stage where he was speaking.

Chanting "Cyril must go," they held up signs demanding a wage increase during a ceremony in a stadium near the north-western city of Rustenburg.

The protesters, who worked at a local mine, have been striking for weeks.

President Ramaphosa tried to address the miners' concerns but was greeted by booing.

The workers want an annual salary pay rise of 1,000 rand ($63; £50) - a demand which President Ramaphosa addressed directly.

"We have heard that message and we will be dealing with that matter," he is quoted as telling the miners by the IOL news site.

He also pledged to speak to the relevant authorities to meet their demands, IOL reports.

In a two-minute video of the disruption, the president can be seen making repeated attempts to calm the workers down, only to be greeted with further jeering and booing.

At Sunday's event, which had been organised by South Africa's trade union federation Cosatu, police had to step in while a bodyguard led the president away from the venue, according to IOL.

The workers were from Sibanye-Stillwater, which is a metal mining company and the world's largest primary producer of platinum, according to its own website.

South Africa's economy has been hit hard by the Covid crisis, and unemployment is now around 35%.

Mining is one of South Africa's most important sectors - accounting for 8-10% of national income and employing almost 450,000 people - but it has been in decline in recent years.

Potential foreshadowing of re-election woes

Analysis by Lebo Diseko, BBC News, Johannesburg

May Day is a key event in the yearly calendar of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its trade union allies, and usually draws huge crowds. The fact that what looked like just a few hundred workers turned out to see the president speak was an indication that he was not welcome.

Questions are now being asked about how and why security assessments did not pick up that this might happen.

But perhaps the more important question is why the ANC and Cosatu leaders seem to have been surprised at the level of anger on the ground. It suggests a level of disconnect between the experiences of ordinary people, and those in power.

It is worth noting that some of those who jeered President Ramaphosa at the rally were members of the union he helped to found. Mr Ramaphosa was the first general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers.

This is a year in which the ANC holds elections which will decide who leads the party into the country's next general election. This sort of reception from a key constituency - workers - may foreshadow some of the challenges Mr Ramaphosa could face in seeking re-election.

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/south-africa-president-abandons-rally-after-booing/ar-AAWPe24

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16264961 (130350ZMAY22) Notable: Covid Bun / South Africa COVID-19 test positivity rate nears record

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South Africa COVID-19 test positivity rate nears record

By Bloomberg News May 7, 2022

South Africa’s daily coronavirus test positivity rate neared a record, rising above 30% on Saturday for the first time in almost five months as two sublineages of the omicron variant spread rapidly ahead of the nation’s winter season.

There were 8,524 new COVID-19 cases identified, representing a 31.1% positivity rate of those tested, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in a statement on its website. That’s the highest rate since the 32.2% recorded on Dec. 15, when a record 26,976 cases were recorded. The surge means South Africa is close to its highest positivity rate yet. The record so far was 34.9% on Dec. 14.

The positivity rate is taken as an indicator of how fast the disease is spreading through the community as many cases go undetected.

Still, only five deaths were recorded in the last 48 hours and just over 2,600 people are in the hospital with the disease. At the peak of the wave in mid-2021 when the delta variant was rampant, hundreds of people were perishing daily and hospitalizations peaked at about 16,000.

South Africa, which together with Botswana identified the omicron variant in November, was the first country to experience a wave driven by the strain and the way it played out was seen as an indication for what could happen elsewhere. Last month South African scientists identified two omicron sublineages, BA.4 and BA.5, and laboratory experiments have since shown that those strains can reinfect those who have already had the original omicron strain.

The current surge in infections and positivity shows that even though previous waves have been caused by the emergence of new variants the sublineages are now having the same effect, Tulio de Oliveira, who runs gene sequencing institutes in South Africa said on Twitter.

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2022/05/07/breaking-news/south-africa-covid-19-test-positivity-rate-nears-record/

I notice they like to broadcast the number of positive tests but skip those recovered, those with no symptoms, and how many of the positives have no to mild symptoms

What say you South Africa? How are things really going there?

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16298769 (181747ZMAY22) Notable: The Long and Winding Rhodes – #4 (Running Governments and a Diamond Cartel) – Oppenheimer families’ fingers are all over

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The Long and Winding Rhodes – #4 (Running Governments and a Diamond Cartel) – Oppenheimer families’ fingers are all over

https://economicbrain.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/the-long-and-winding-rhodes-4-running-governments-and-a-diamond-cartel/ - Below are excerpts

The problem with Diamonds is not that they’re rare — but that they aren’t. Hence, the cartel. Cecil Rhodes understood this from the very start, and was ruthlessly and restlessly ahead of the game in getting what he wanted, in order to further (naturally) the expansion of the British empire What flows from this, besides blood, arms, is history. Up til now. This first article is just to document how the U.S. Clinton Administration helped persuade the UN to play into to the concept that De Beers had some humanitarian concerns related to African countries. Rhodes Scholar ex-President Bill Clinton did well in helping the overall plan...

The problem with diamonds isn’t their scarcity, but their abundance. They are found not only in geological formations like volcanic pipes that can be fenced off and mined, but also in vast alluvial areas like river beds or beaches, places that can’t be restricted. When Europe ruled Africa, the cartel had little problem making arrangements with colonial administrators to police or close down freelance diamond gathering.

After African colonies got their independence, the cartel came to terms with dictators like Mobutu Sese Seko, whose police kept out — and occasionally massacred — suspected smugglers. Where governments were less cooperative or capable, the cartel commissioned mercenaries to suppress, often by maiming or killing, prospective diamond hunters.

Where governments were less cooperative or capable, the cartel commissioned mercenaries to suppress, often by maiming or killing, prospective diamond hunters. At one point in the 1960s, the cartel gave bounties to remnants of the Katanga gendarmerie to hunt down “smugglers” in Angola…The cartel now has found an ingenious new mechanism for achieving its ends: the United Nations. After spending months laying the conceptual groundwork in the media, as well as working through the Clinton administration and human-rights communities, it has convinced the U.N. Security Council to impose a global ban on “undocumented” gem diamonds from “conflict zones.”

Instead of using colonial administrations, dictators or mercenary gangs to stop Africans from gathering and selling stones, the U.N. will use its resources (backed, no doubt, by the cartel’s own contingent of lawyers and detectives) to accomplish that task. The cartel managed this favorable outcome by playing on the guilt of the West. The idea that “blood diamonds” were responsible for ferocious civil wars in Africa was too much for altruists and activists in developed nations. Mr. Clinton, meanwhile, saw diamonds as an opportunity to enhance his own standing among these groups. On July 21, he called for “an international conference to consider practical approaches to breaking the link between the illicit trade in diamonds and armed conflict . . .” Mr. Clinton’s press release made no secret of the liaison with the diamond cartel, noting that at a May conference in South Africa, the U.S., Britain and Belgium, among others, had agreed with De Beers upon the importance of establishing a global certification scheme for diamonds.

Apparently De Beers hadn’t figured out to extend the “Forbidden Zone” out far enough to sea, therefore Collins’ discovery (and enterprise; he then started to mine smaller diamonds) was able to get up and running. However, De Beers wasn’t going to quit that easy, and later managed to squeeze the Texan out of business by threatening the Israeli manufacturers to make a choice: If they took from the Texan company — they can forget receiving DeBeers diamonds for manufacture.

This then bankrupted Collins’ (the Texan’s) company – which, being in distress, Harry Oppenheimer (below) bought out. Harry being the son of Ernest Oppenheimer.

Please do so and begin to understand just how much this DeBeers company (and with Oppenheimer involvement, i.e., Sir Ernst and Harry both come up in the narrative) is involved in foreign government and what truly is a cartel, double-dealing, dirty playing, etc., and involving any number of South African governments in transition. In one case a man’s contact in Portugal died suddenly on an operating table. Namibia, Angola, Tanganyika (Tanzania), Israel, London, New York, Portugal, unbelievable stuff.

Just a sample, challengers from Jolis, Winston, Collins (all Americans) appear to have been squeezed out — it was necessary to seize control of foreign countries to do so, of course, double-dealing, who knows how many people were killed in the process also:

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16298818 (181758ZMAY22) Notable: Idi Amin Bun | Updated ANC Bun / Anglo’s involvement with the ANC prior to the 1994 election

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Anglo’s involvement with the ANC prior to the 1994 election

https://behind-the-news.com/the-changing-of-the-guard-part-4-of-a-4-part-series/

From the moment of the unbanning of the ANC, the whole organization was enveloped by the Anglo complex. Between February 1990, and the elections of April 1994, Anglo poured the sum of R364 million rand ($180 million) into the coffers of the ANC.

At the same time, Tiny Rowland of the British multinational Lonrho was also funding the ANC. Lonrho is within the Rothschild orbit, and is a business partner of Anglo, with extensive interests in South Africa, covering gold, coal and platinum. The ANC was given $20 million by Lonrho to move their offices from Lusaka, Zambia to Johannesburg to consolidate their internal support. The idea was to set up a political machinery in South Africa, and that costs a lot of money.

[This is the same building where the Shell House massacre occurred – “South Africa March 28 1994 Pre-Election Zulu-ANC Violence in Johannesburg”, https://youtu.be/H18dCmjTlmo (embedded)]

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16298848 (181805ZMAY22) Notable: South Africa-Mandela Attacked Re 'Shoot To Kill (video)

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>>120733

>[This is the same building where the Shell House massacre occurred – “South Africa March 28 1994 Pre-Election Zulu-ANC Violence in Johannesburg”, https://youtu.be/H18dCmjTlmo (embedded)]

Remember, Mandela gave the order

“South Africa-Mandela Attacked Re 'Shoot To Kill'”- https://youtu.be/6Xe8ZnzDzro

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16298879 (181809ZMAY22) Notable: New York Times, 1977 article – US delegate to the UN was Oppenheimer’s guest in South Africa

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>>120732

>This first article is just to document how the U.S. Clinton Administration helped persuade the UN to play into to the concept that De Beers had some humanitarian concerns related to African countries.

New York Times, 1977 article – US delegate to the UN was Oppenheimer’s guest in South Africa

https://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/16/archives/oppenheimer-apartheid-foe-faces-snag-political-rebuff-is-seen-as.html

Prime Minister John Vorster, in a remarkable and much‐criticized outburst in parliament, questioned the executive's loyalty to South Africa.

During an attack on the Carter Administration and on those in South Africa who support its demand for full political participation by blacks, the Prime Minister described Mr. Oppenheimer as “the spiritual father” of the Progressive‐Reform Party, the most liberal group in parliament. “It is time,” Mr. Vorster added, “that he told South Africa where he stands and what he is doing.”

Mr. Vorster declined to retract his comments, and it was generally assumed that he intended the remark as a warning to Mr. Oppenheimer in the wake of the visit to South Africa of Andrew Young, chief United States delegate to the United Nations. Mr. Young spent two days in Johannesburg as Mr. Oppenheimer's guest.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16298907 (181815ZMAY22) Notable: Harry Oppenheimer : The King of Diamonds (USSR dealings) – Edwards Jay Epstein Diary, December 4, 1978

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>>120732

>This first article is just to document how the U.S. Clinton Administration helped persuade the UN to play into to the concept that De Beers had some humanitarian concerns related to African countries

Harry Oppenheimer : The King of Diamonds (USSR dealings) – Edwards Jay Epstein Diary, December 4, 1978

Keep in mind, the Soviet Union provided the ANC with weapons and training.

http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/diary/opp.htm

If one man can be said to control the world's diamonds it is Harry Frederick Oppenheimer.

The block-long building, with its imposing neocolonial facade and marble entranceway, looked much more like a government institution than the headquarters of the mining company. As it turned out, it housed in its offices far more power than most government buildings. Indeed, Oppenheimer even had a private treaty with the Soviet Union, although the terms have never been publicly revealed.

I had come to South Africa to write a book on the diamond business. Oppenheimer's father, Ernest Oppenheimer, had developed the monopoly, De Beers, that runs it. Oppenheimer explained that it was no secret that De Beers acquired through subsidiaries all the uncut diamonds that the Soviet Union wanted to sell on the open market.

"We paid the Soviet Union more than half a billion dollars last year," he answered. "This is not a sum it can easily replace, and I can see no conceivable reason why it would want to abandon such a profitable arrangement." His logic was brutally direct: De Beers provided the Soviet Union with its single largest source of hard currency (only petroleum was a more important export for Soviet trade in 1977)If the Soviet Union withdrew its diamonds from De Beers, it would have to find other outlets to sell its uncut diamonds. And if it precariously dumped these diamonds on the market, the price would collapse, and the Soviet Union would lose an important source of foreign exchange. "What could the Russians possibly gain by competing with us?" he asked rhetorically.

He further pointed out that De Beers provided the Soviets with certain types of industrial diamonds that were important for drilling and producing electronic wiring. Its Siberian mines apparently did not produce these strategically important diamonds. By selling gem stones to De Beers, the Soviet Union received the credits for importing the industrial diamonds it needed.

The Soviet Union also had considerable influence in other diamond producing areas in Black Africa, such as Angola [ANC had camps in Angola, the most notorious was Quatro]. I wondered if the logic of the arrangement between De Beers and the Soviets required the Soviets to use their power in those countries to help De Beers retain its control over diamond mines there.

Oppenheimer was concerned with the possibility of the United Nations imposing economic sanctions against South Africa, since his empire exported billions of dollars worth of South African commodities. He did not believe, however, that they could affect the diamond trade. "I can think of no commodity less susceptible to dangers from UN sanctions than diamonds," he said. He was stating the obvious: diamonds were after all one of the most convenient commodities to transport across borders. For example, an entire month of production of diamonds from the Namibian mines, worth $40 million, could be smuggled out of Namibia in an attache case.

Oppenheimer also gave little credence to the fear that De Beers might be running out of quality diamonds. He pointed out that De Beers was developing vast new mines in the Botswana desert, which he planned to visit the next day. These Botswana mines would provide the world with an ample supply of diamonds well into the 1990s.

Oppenheimer insisted that the black-white confrontation in Africa would not present a problem for De Beers. He termed the arrangement between De Beers and Black African nations "Mutually advantageous." He further suggested that it might be useful for me to inspect at first hand some of De Beers' mining operations in independent nations to more fully understand how the "arrangement" works. He offered to provide me air transportation and access to the mines in Botswana, Lesotho and other independent nations.

[take note, Lesotho did not lose its independence in 1994 unlike other Bantustans/Homelands in South Africa like Bophuthatswana, Transkei, etc.]

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16299738 (182116ZMAY22) Notable: Don’t forget the murders of Prime Minister Dr. HF Verwoerd and Bernt Carlsson (video)

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>>120732

>who knows how many people were killed in the process also

Don’t forget the murders of Prime Minister Dr. HF Verwoerd and Bernt Carlsson

Prime Minister Dr. HF Verwoerd assassinated on 6 September, 1966, and following changes occured about a month later.

Botswana (diamonds) – Independence day, 30 September 1966

Lesotho (diamonds) – Independence day, 4 October 1966

Namibia (diamonds) - in October 1966, the UN General Assembly decided to end the mandate, declaring that South Africa had no further right to administer the territory, and that henceforth South West Africa was to come under the direct responsibility of the UN (Resolution 2145 XXI of 27 October 1966). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Namibia

Dr Verwoerd was an implacable foe of the Money Power and wanted to achieve independence for South Africa. He commissioned the Hoek Report from Professor Piet Hoek of Pretoria University, and the report showed that the Anglo American Corporation controlled the English language newspapers and 70% of all companies in South Africa, while paying 10% of the tax.

http://reclaimingrhodesia.com/hendrick-verwoerd/

Bernt Carlsson who died in the Lockerbie bombing

United Nations Assistant Secretary-General & UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, who would have assumed control of the country until Namibia's first universal franchise elections had been held, was unable to attend the signing ceremony, being one of the 243 passengers killed when Pan Am Flight 103 crashed at Lockerbie on 21 December 1988.[7]

Following the UN Commissioner's death at Lockerbie, South African foreign minister Pik Botha went ahead and signed the Tripartite Accord on 22 December 1988. However, instead of handing control of Namibia to the United Nations, Pik Botha put the apartheid regime's Administrator-General, Louis Pienaar, in charge.

No investigation by the Scottish Police, the CIA, the FBI or the United Nations has ever been conducted into the evident targeting of Bernt Carlsson on Pan Am Flight 103, despite the branding of apartheid South Africa as a "terrorist state" by Governor Michael Dukakis, Democratic nominee in the 1988 US presidential election campaign.

https://wikispooks.com/wiki/The_How,_Why_and_Who_of_Pan_Am_Flight_103

“Bernt Carlsson and The Case of the Disappearing Diamonds [Namibia] Part 3” - https://youtu.be/IHIDaGrIsmY (embedded) [The Thirion report exposed the cartel]

Following Bernt Carlsson's untimely death in the Lockerbie bombing, the case against URENCO [the joint Dutch/British/West German uranium enrichment company] was inexplicably dropped and no further prosecutions took place of the companies and countries that were in breach of the United Nations Council for Namibia Decree No. 1.

https://www.serendipity.li/more/lockerbie_bombing.htm

Thirion Report – “The three hundred and fifty page mining report from Judge Thirion and his team paints a devastating portrait of the world wide De Beers diamond cartel and its behaviour towards Namibia.”

http://www.gordonbrownisinnocent.co.uk/thirionreport.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16299757 (182123ZMAY22) Notable: Oranjemund Journal; Swapo and De Beers: Are They Engaged to Wed? – dated 1989

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>>120737

>Namibia (diamonds) - in October 1966, the UN General Assembly decided to end the mandate, declaring that South Africa had no further right to administer the territory, and that henceforth South West Africa was to come under the direct responsibility of the UN (Resolution 2145 XXI of 27 October 1966). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Namibia

In 1973, the UN recognised the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) as the official representative of the Namibian people

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namibia

Oranjemund Journal; Swapo and De Beers: Are They Engaged to Wed? – dated 1989

https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/10/world/oranjemund-journal-swapo-and-de-beers-are-they-engaged-to-wed.html

While Namibia remained under South African rule, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. enjoyed a monopoly through its subsidiary, Consolidated Diamond Mines of South-West Africa.

The multinational corporation, whose lease here was not due to expire before the end of the year 2010, has been cultivating new ties with the South-West Africa People's Organization, or Swapo, which is expected to win the elections next month for a constituent assembly that will draft a constitution for the country.

Nicholas F. Oppenheimer, the deputy chairman of De Beers, met with the organization's representatives in London, a company executive said, and other officials from Swapo have twice been flown down from Windhoek, Namibia's capital, to view the diamond mining operation.

Oranjemund, the administrative center for diamond mining, is a company town visited by invitation only. Two hundred miles of southern coastline have been closed off to form a zone prohibited to outsiders that reaches up to 60 miles into the desert. The active surface mining area is surrounded by a wire fence and is accessible only through a set of electronically controlled doors.

Everyone leaving the site, including company executives, must submit to random X-rays for diamonds, which give off a telltale fluorescence.

Mining officials say they would be content with the kind of arrangement De Beers enjoys in neighboring Botswana, where diamond mines are jointly owned by the Government and the mining corporation.

Regardless of which government comes into power, we feel we are quite able to develop a meaningful track record, Mr. Stockill said.

[SWAPO has been ruling Namibia since 1994]

During the wave of decolonization in Africa, armed struggle was used by a number of liberation movements as a means to carry out their ‘inalienable’ right to self-determination. Such was the case regarding Namibia’s turbulent road to independence. Between 1960 and the attainment of its independence in 1990, the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) fought tenaciously for the liberation of Namibia from South African occupation. At the outset of its emergence, this movement maintained, ‘we have no alternative but to rise up in arms and bring about our liberation’.1 SWAPO had widespread international support, as evidenced through many United Nations (UN) General Assembly and Security Council Resolutions. Leading scholar on terrorism, David C. Rapoport classifies the events regarding movements of national liberation within the third ‘wave’ of modern terrorism, as this violence was a manifestation of the struggle to assert self-determination.2 In essence, it was a dimension of terrorism that was characterized by the resistance ‘against larger political power. . . specifically designated to win political independence or autonomy’.3 In this chapter, terrorism will be viewed as the deliberate use of violence or the threat of violence against civilians with the intent of achieving a specific ideological or political objective. Terrorism is also linked to generating an atmosphere of violence within a specific population.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203093467-19/swapo-united-nations-struggle-national-liberation-shaloma-gauthier-shaloma-gauthier

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16305521 (191931ZMAY22) Notable: Lonrho’s History – Connections to MI6 and the British Royals

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>>120733

>The ANC was given $20 million by Lonrho to move their offices from Lusaka, Zambia to Johannesburg to consolidate their internal support. The idea was to set up a political machinery in South Africa, and that costs a lot of money.

Lonrho’s History – Connections to MI6 and the British Royals

https://ebin.pub/tiny-rowland-the-ugly-face-of-neocolonialism-in-africa-0943235081-9780943235080.html

Sir Basil Smallpeice was taken on by Lonrho as deputy chairman in 1972, after the near-collapse of Lonrho in a criminal scandal. Smallpeice had been Comptroller and Managing Director of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), and Chairman of Cunard Steam-Ship Co. At the time of his appointment to Lonrho, Smallpeice was Administrative Adviser to the Queen’s Household, or, as Rowland later put it, “Comptroller of Buckingham Palace,” a position he held from 1964 until 1980.3 Gerald Percy played an essential role in Lonrho’s African business. Since the 1950s, he was an Africa operative of MI-6. Born in 1928, he is the son of Lord William Percy, 5th son of the 7th Duke of Northumberland, one of the most ancient and powerful families in Britain. His relative. Sir Algernon Percy, became Lord Steward of Her Majesty’s Household in 1973. Gerald Percy emigrated to South Africa in 1951, married the daughter of a prominent industrialist, and joined the British South Africa Company, Cecil Rhodes’ old firm, where he was personal assistant to the chairman. Lord Robins. On more than one occasion, the dubious activities of Rowland’s company have brought frantic Royal appeals to protect the Windsors from contamination by their Lonrho connection. On November 19, 1969, two senior members of the British Establishment paid a visit to Angus Ogilvy. Lord Burke Trend, Secretary of the Cabinet since 1963, and Lord Greenhill of Harrow, Permanent Undersecretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, were acting officially on behalf of the Queen.

Though pressured to resign from Lonrho, Ogilvy did not at that time. But there were more scandals to come. In 1971, Lonrho treasurer Fred Butcher and two other company officials were arrested in the Republic of South Africa, on charges of fraud against minority shareholders in Lonrho subsidiaries. The documentation was precise; Lonrho had been caught red-handed.

After Butcher’s arrest, an evidently panicked Princess Alexandra telephoned South Africa, awakening a journalist in the middle of the night, to try to estimate the damage. The Royal links of Lonrho were openly talked about in Africa at the time. The Rhodesian monthly Property and Finance wrote, “As P&F has reported several times, the British Royal Family is directly involved in the entire affair. The Hon. Angus Ogilvy, an executive director, was its representative on the Lonrho board; and Sir Basil Smallpeice (former chairman of BOAC and then of ill-fated Cunard), who is a close adviser to the Royal Family, was appointed to the board last year at the insistence of the Bank of England.”7 In the hubbub after Butcher’s arrest, “a small notice in the [South African] Government Gazette appeared saying that a London investment company handling the risk capital of the British Royal Family had quietly removed substantial Royal assets from So. Africa to Britain.”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16305798 (192016ZMAY22) Notable: Idi Amin Bun | Updated ANC Bun / Onslaught against the Peoples of SA - Part 1 (video)

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>>120738

> terrorism will be viewed as the deliberate use of violence or the threat of violence against civilians with the intent of achieving a specific ideological or political objective.

>>120733

>From the moment of the unbanning of the ANC, the whole organization was enveloped by the Anglo complex. Between February 1990, and the elections of April 1994, Anglo poured the sum of R364 million rand ($180 million) into the coffers of the ANC.

>At the same time, Tiny Rowland of the British multinational Lonrho was also funding the ANC. Lonrho is within the Rothschild orbit, and is a business partner of Anglo, with extensive interests in South Africa, covering gold, coal and platinum. The ANC was given $20 million by Lonrho to move their offices from Lusaka, Zambia to Johannesburg to consolidate their internal support. The idea was to set up a political machinery in South Africa, and that costs a lot of money.

Onslaught against the Peoples of SA - Part 1

https://youtu.be/7GhPmys_QFw

“ANC & SA Communist Party indiscriminate onslaught against the Peoples of South Africa during the 80's in the name of the struggle and justice. Since coming to power the violence has worsened and spiralled out of control!”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16321313 (221303ZMAY22) Notable: Lonmin plc, formerly the mining division of Lonrho plc

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>>120733

>The ANC was given $20 million by Lonrho to move their offices from Lusaka, Zambia to Johannesburg to consolidate their internal support. The idea was to set up a political machinery in South Africa, and that costs a lot of money.

>>120736

>Oppenheimer insisted that the black-white confrontation in Africa would not present a problem for De Beers. He termed the arrangement between De Beers and Black African nations "Mutually advantageous."

>>120740

“Lonmin plc, formerly the mining division of Lonrho plc”

Lonmin plc, formerly the mining division of Lonrho plc, is a British producer of platinum group metals operating in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its registered office is in London, and its operational headquarters are in Johannesburg, South Africa.[2]

Lonmin rose to international attention following the Marikana miners' strike in August, 2012, in which over 100 striking Lonmin employees were shot (36 killed, 78 wounded) by South African Police Service officers. [At the time, Cyril (Ramaphosa) was a non-executive director of Lonmin. His company Shanduka was a minority shareholder in Lonmin, so this meant their profits were very much part of his business too. https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/marikana-what-did-cyril-ramaphosa-do/]

History

The Company was incorporated in the United Kingdom on 13 May 1909 as the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company Limited.[3]

Businessman Tiny Rowland was recruited as chief executive in 1962.[4] For many years during the second half of the twentieth century it was frequently in the news, not only due to the politically sensitive part of the world in which it had mining businesses, but also – as it strove to become a conglomerate not wholly dependent on these businesses – in a number of takeover battles, most notably for the Harrods of Knightsbridge department store.

In 1968, Lonrho acquired Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, a gold mining business in Ghana.[5] The former Conservative minister Duncan Sandys, a director of Ashanti, became Lonrho's chairman in 1972.[6]

Sir Angus Ogilvy, married to a member of the British royal family (Princess Alexandra), was a Lonrho director and this increased media interest in the company's affairs. Ogilvy's career ended when Lonrho was involved in a sanctions-busting scandal concerning trade with Rhodesia. Prime Minister, Edward Heath, criticised the company, describing it in the House of Commons in 1973 as "an unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism."[7]

By 1979, Lonrho employed 140,000 people worldwide.[8]

During the 80s, Lonrho entered the British newspaper market, buying the Sunday newspaper The Observer in 1981[9] and the newly launched daily Today in 1986.[10] Today was sold to News International the following year,[11] while the Guardian Media Group bought the Observer in 1993.[9]

Tiny Rowland was finally ejected from Lonrho in October 1993 after a boardroom tussle with director Dieter Bock.[12] He was replaced by Nick Morrell, a former chief executive of The Observer.[13]

Two months before Rowland's death (on 26 July 1998) the assets of Lonrho were split. Two publicly listed companies, Lonrho plc and Lonrho Africa plc were created – the former retaining all the non-African businesses and mining assets.[14] In 1999, Lonrho plc was renamed as Lonmin plc and a new era as a focused mining company began.[15] In 2000 Gordon Haslem became CEO.[16]

In 2004 Brad Mills became CEO: Mills in turn announced his intention to resign from his position in 2008. Mills leaves behind a "significant contribution in developing the company over the past four years" according to chairperson, Sir John Craven, as his introduction of mechanized mining has increased safety for the miners, as well as increasing productivity.[17] Lonmin indicated that former chief strategic officer responsible for the company’s business development, Ian Farmer, would replace him.[18]

On 1 October 2008, after building a 24.9% stake in Lonmin, Xstrata announced it was not proceeding with a takeover pitched at £33 per Lonmin share, blaming the failure of its bid on "unprecedented uncertainty in financial markets" caused by the Global financial crisis.[19] Xstrata and its 24.9% stake in Lonmin was later acquired by Glencore on 2 May 2013.[20] Glencore announced on 11 February 2015 that it intends to divest its 23.9% stake in Lonmin, which it inherited through the acquisition of Xstrata. Glencore's divestment in Lonmin will be implemented by way of a distribution in specie to Glencore shareholders.[21]

Farmer resigned as CEO in 2012 for health reasons.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16321406 (221335ZMAY22) Notable: Lonmin plc, formerly the mining division of Lonrho plc

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>>120743

Here is the link, http://yamm.finance/wiki/Lonmin.html.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16326020 (231143ZMAY22) Notable: Judge Johann Kriegler and the Legal Resources Centre

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>>120740

>Judge Johann Kriegler [was a board member of Oppenheimer’s Urban Foundation] casually uses the word "breakdown" to describe the election he is running. He concedes that many ballots never left the warehouse, that polling places failed to open, that ballot boxes were stuffed "to a significant degree," that voting places often had no impartial monitors and that some election officials were partisan, if not crooked.

>But there is no doubt in South Africa that within a few days he will baptize the new democracy by pronouncing the required four-word benediction "substantially free and fair" over the results.

Judge Johann Kriegler

”Judge Johann Kriegler - 2011 IFES Democracy Awards” - https://youtu.be/6r5pjYNNu5I (embedded)

“Judge Johann Kriegler of South Africa accepts the 2011 Charles T. Manatt Democracy Award from IFES on Sept. 15. IFES presents the award each year to three individuals a Republican, a Democrat and a member of the international community who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to democracy and human rights. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida were also honored.”

https://www.wikimzansi.com/judge-johann-kriegler/

Johann Kriegler, a one-time human-rights lawyer in apartheid South Africa, headed his country’s transitional elections in 1994 and later served on its first Constitutional Court. Since retiring from that court he has, at the behest of the United Nations, the African Union and a number of governments and national and international NGOs, been engaged as an expert in many parts of the world, more specifically in electoral administration and dispute resolution as well as in training electoral administrators, judges, prosecutors and trial lawyers.

His involvement in these and other human-rights, good-governance and rule-of-law initiatives has extended from Timor-Leste through Maldives, Afghanistan, the Middle East and much of Africa to the Caribbean and Ibero-America. He has chaired international enquiries into judicial independence in Uganda and Malawi, audits of violence-torn presidential elections in Kenya and of Bangladesh’s criminal-justice system, an international tribunal into the Iranian massacre of political prisoners and the selection of electoral commissions for Iraq and Sierra Leone. In addition Judge Kriegler currently lectures in one or other of his fields of expertise, most recently in Libya, Sudan, Pakistan and Egypt.

At home in South Africa he conducts arbitrations and serves as a trustee of several human-rights NGOs: Freedom Under Law, of which he is founder chair, actively engages in strategic litigation defending the rule of law against executive abuse. He is an extraordinary professor of law at his alma mater, an honorary life member of the Johannesburg Bar and an honorary bencher of Gray’s Inn.

https://www.wikimzansi.com/johann-kriegler/

Johann Kriegler is a life-long human-rights lawyer who headed South Africa’s transitional elections in 1994 and was subsequently appointed a founding justice of the newly established Constitutional Court. Since completing his term in 2002 he has been engaged in some 40 countries on five continents — from East Timor through Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Maldives and Libya to West and most of sub-Saharan Africa — on behalf of the UN, the AU, the Commonwealth and various international NGOs in electoral work, training judges and advocates, and conducting inquiries. He was a founder of the Legal Resources Centre and Lawyers for Human Rights, currently chairs SECTION27 and Freedom Under Law while serving on the boards of a number of human rights/rule of law bodies, and from time to time conducts arbitrations/mediations.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16326385 (231348ZMAY22) Notable: Gencore/Billiton Bun | Gill Marcus Bun / Gill Marcus – Links to Mining Companies, including Glencore

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>>120748

Gill Marcus – Links to Mining Companies, including Glencore

https://www.miningweekly.com/article/wals-gill-marcus-joins-gold-fields-board-as-nonexec-director-2007-02-14/rep_id:3650

Western Areas chairperson Gill Marcus had been appointed as a nonexecutive director of Gold Fields with immediate effect, the company said in a note to shareholders on Wednesday.

This follows a successful takeover bid by Gold Fields for the smaller gold-miner, which became a fait accompli in late January, after 94% of Western Areas shareholders tendered their shares into Gold Fields' all share offer of 35 of its own shares for every 100 Western Areas shares.

https://www.miningweekly.com/article/gill-marcus-steps-down-from-gold-fields-board-2009-07-21/rep_id:3650

South African mining company Gold Field reported on Tuesday that Gill Marcus would resign from its board, effective from July 20.

Marcus’ resignation followed her appointment as Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, effective from November, when she replaces Tito Mboweni.

https://talent4boards.com/glencore-announces-gill-marcus-board-independent-non-executive-director/

Glencore plc (LSE:GLEN), announces the appointment of Gill Marcus as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company with effect from 1 January 2018.

Ms Marcus was the non-executive chairperson of the Absa Group from 2007 to 2009. She has also been a non-executive director of Gold Fields Ltd and Bidvest .

Ms Marcus has acted as chairperson of a number of South African regulatory and supervisory bodies, including the Financial Services Board and the Standing Committee for the Revision of the Banks Act. She has also served as a non-executive director of the Advisory Board of the Auditor General and was a member of the Millennium Labour Council.

Glencore is one of the world’s largest global diversified natural resource companies and a major producer and marketer of more than 90 commodities. The Group’s operations comprise around 150 mining and metallurgical sites, oil production assets and agricultural facilities.

With a strong footprint in both established and emerging regions for natural resources, Glencore’s industrial and marketing activities are supported by a global network of more than 90 offices located in over 50 countries.

Glencore’s customers are industrial consumers, such as those in the automotive, steel, power generation, oil and food processing sectors. We also provide financing, logistics and other services to producers and consumers of commodities. Glencore’s companies employ around 155,000 people, including contractors.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16344476 (261343ZMAY22) Notable: SA's Electricity crisis | An interview with Eskom CEO André De Ruyter (video)

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“SA's Electricity crisis | An interview with Eskom CEO André De Ruyter”

https://youtu.be/BxqGNJLeunQ

“South Africa's electricity crisis continues to be front and centre of everyone's minds. Many people just want an end to the rolling blackouts. eNCA reporter Heidi Giokos had a one-on-one sit-down with Eskom's CEO, Andre De Ruyter about issues facing the power utility.”

[Electrical plants are in disrepair due to corruption and are experiencing sabotage and theft as well. The perpetrators have not been brought to book.]

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16345842 (261740ZMAY22) Notable: Africa: A possible solution for Europe’s energy troubles Parts 1-3

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“Africa: A possible solution for Europe’s energy troubles” – Part 3

https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/africa-a-possible-solution-for-europes-energy-troubles/

Challenges

The plethora of ongoing and upcoming oil and gas projects in Africa underscores the critical opportunity for African countries to play a more central role in the global energy market as European countries look for alternative suppliers. However, if African countries are to take advantage of this opportunity, they need to overcome and address certain bottlenecks.

The foremost issue is the considerable lack of investment in gas infrastructure which has hampered the energy industry, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This lack of transnational infrastructure makes Africa’s natural gas reserves difficult to export. For African countries to adequately meet Europe’s gas needs by having enough pipelines and adequate storage and processing facilities, they need a significant uptake in investments in African gas and infrastructure by financial institutions, energy companies, and European countries.

Ensuring the security of energy supplies is another challenge. Most of the energy exported from sub-Saharan Africa would need to pass through the Sahelian region. The region faces multiple political, social, economic, and security challenges, which are exacerbated by terrorism, violent extremism, and communal violence. The situation on Africa’s eastern coast is also no different, where Islamist insurgency in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado forced TotalEnergies to halt work and withdraw its personnel due to growing insecurity.

For the EU, reducing reliance on Russian gas is not going to be an easy task. However, if the capital necessary to build Africa’s gas infrastructure is accrued and the security of energy supplies from the continent is ensured, Africa has the potential to reduce Europe’s energy dependence on Russia.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16350209 (271253ZMAY22) Notable: Are Foreign Investors Colonising Africa?

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>>120753

>>>/qresearch/16347722 - The image can be found in the wayback machine; http://web.archive.org/web/20111104174034/http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/are-foreign-investors-colonising-africa

Are Foreign Investors Colonising Africa?

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

New economic powers India and China are being accused of buying land cheaply and uprooting indigenous communities.

Indian, Chinese and U.S. companies are among many inking land-investment deals in Africa, including Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Sudan, Mali, and Mozambique. According to a study by the U.S.- based Oakland Institute, foreign investors bought or leased a land area in sub-Saharan Africa about the size of France in 2009 alone.

American universities’ trusts (including Harvard’s) are also buying up land, reportedly displacing millions of farmers in the process.

Advocates say the land is being taken from indigenous communities by often violent means, and that land rights are handed over without proper contracts after closed-door deals. A lack of regulations in these countries allows foreign firms to purchase or lease large tracts of arable land, leaving little recourse for displaced residents.

Investors claim to be growing food for the global market that will indirectly alleviate food shortages in Africa, but land is very often used to grow non-edible export commodities such as flowers and biofuels.

Defendants of the deals say local farmers who are employed by foreign firms earn more working the land than they otherwise could, and that infrastructure developments (like clean water facilities or improved irrigation systems) are there to help them.

But many of the long-term social and environmental costs are more hard to predict, and critics say the “land grabs” are already causing “deprivation and destitution” for locals.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16350432 (271344ZMAY22) Notable: Zuma's self-survival rooted in being ex-ANC intelligence operative

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>>>/qresearch/16347737

Zuma may have played along initially but there seems to be a big push against him now.

Ramaphosa became a billionaire since the ANC started ruling the country, so he is living very comfortably.

“'Zuma's self-survival rooted in being ex-ANC intelligence operative'”

https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/zumas-self-survival-rooted-in-being-ex-anc-intelligence-operative-11636924

President Jacob Zuma’s inclination to appoint his close friends into leadership positions, including in the SABC and other state entities, has a lot do with his being a former ANC intelligence operative.

Intelligence officers, according to Professor Somadoda Fikeni, have a tendency to be suspicious of other people and operate on the basis of self-survival and preservation.

Fikeni said Zuma, a former member of Umkhonto we Sizwe and intelligence head of the ANC during the fight against apartheid, had carried with him all those characteristics of an intelligence operative into his reign as president of South Africa.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16351131 (271614ZMAY22) Notable: Are Foreign Investors Colonising Africa?

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>>120757

>>120759 - Then they push for urban planning

“Sound urban planning now a need in Africa”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/africa/urban-planning-in-africa/

27-05-2022

Rapid urban growth and an increasing number of climate change related disasters, such as the recent floods in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, have put the importance of sound urban planning in Africa in the spotlight.

There are good reasons for arguing for this shift. Master plans are often viewed as colonial legacies, modelled on modernist visions of utopian urban futures. Strategic planning on the other hand responds more directly to local needs and realities, especially in the context of cities in the global South.

By tracing Africa’s planning trajectory over time we show that master planning has served the entwining interests and ambitions of international as well as local actors in Africa. The dominant Western narrative fails to take account of this. This narrative successfully explains why master planning, which once dominated in the West, has been supplanted by strategic planning approaches. But it does not engage with the diversity of practices globally.

In particular, it fails to observe the persistence of master planning traditions in East Asia (China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and elsewhere) and the Middle East. It also says nothing about the influence of these regions on other parts of the world. This includes urban Africa.

We conclude that these practices are not simply a throwback to a previous era. Rather, they serve the real interests, political or functional, of national and local elites.

Nevertheless, in post-colonial years master planning, with its focus on shaping the future, became an important instrument for asserting national identity and development.

A range of master plans were prepared for existing and new cities. They involved a diverse range of international expertise, actors and partnerships. Among them were Greek, Croatian, Hungarian and Japanese planners and architects.

The 1980s were a relatively quiet period for master planning as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s Structural Adjustment Programmes dominated. Then in the 1990s, international development agencies such as UN Habitat worked to introduce more strategic and participatory approaches to planning.

RESURGENCE OF MASTER PLANNING

During the first two decades of the 2000s, there has been a resurgence of master planning in Africa. This has happened for both new and existing cities. In our article, we identify over 20 new city developments across the continent. Here master planning is about design on an empty canvas and has been undertaken mainly by large international architecture and design firms.

These new cities reflect the ambitions of individual politicians, an expanding middle class with new lifestyle demands, as well as increased foreign investor interest in urban Africa. For example, a major developer of Africa’s new cities has been the Moscow based firm, Renaissance Capital, through its property developer Rendeavour.

Much more complex is master planning for existing cities where there is no empty canvas but rather a complex set of local and international actors and interests. The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is a big player, having prepared master plans for cities from Lilongwe to Cairo.

Singapore’s Surbana Jurong is another actor. It has secured contracts or prepared urban master plans for the Rwandan capital, Kigali and Burundi’s Bujumbura among others. The Chinese are not directly involved but have a powerful demonstration effect in the many study tours to their master-planned cities. Large firms based in London, New York, Tokyo, Beirut, Dubai, Cairo, and Johannesburg, are also involved in master plan preparation.

International interests in master planning may be geopolitical as well as economic. For example, they may be pursued in the hope that by preparing a master plan for an African city there will be downstream opportunities for infrastructure investment.

National and local actors have different interests, although sometimes there are synergies with international players. They support master planning in the hope of, for example, securing foreign investment, to mediate difficult local conflicts, to manage growth or impose urban order.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16367561 (301257ZMAY22) Notable: Amandla! Collective Bun / Amandla! Advisory Board

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>>120762

>>120763

Amandla Advisory Board

To name a few;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yunus_Carrim

Yunus_Carrim

Yunus Carrim is a South African politician who served as the Minister of Communications from 2013–2014.[1][2] Carrim is a self-proclaimed Marxist and serves on the South African Communist Party Central Committee and is a Politburo member.[3]

Currently, Honorable Carrim is also a Board member of The Parliamentary Network on the World Bank & International Monetary Fund.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Cronin

Jeremy Cronin

Jeremy Patrick Cronin (born 12 September 1949) is a South African writer, author, and noted poet. A longtime activist in politics, Cronin is a member of the South African Communist Party and a former member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress.[1] He served as the South African Deputy Minister of Public Works from 2012 until his retirement in 2019.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregs_Govender

Pregs Govender

Pregaluxmi "Pregs" Govender (born 15 February 1960) is a South African human rights activist, author, and politician.

Brought up in a political family she was taking action against apartheid by the age of 14. She became a teacher in Durban joining unions and the ANC. In 1994 she entered the first South African Democratic parliament where she argued for women's rights including the laws permitting abortions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Achcar

Gilbert Achcar

Gilbert Achcar (Arabic: ; 5 November 1951) is a Lebanese socialist academic and writer. He is a Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London.

His research interests cover the Near East and North Africa, the foreign policy of the United States, Globalization, Islam, and Islamic fundamentalism.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16381002 (011813ZJUN22) Notable: 163404208 Albie Sachs/Sujit Choudhry Land Grab and judging the judges (videos)

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>>120766

>Sachs became the architect of the post-apartheid constitution of 1996.

“Albie Sachs adds his voice to the land issue”

https://youtu.be/HxH7askckLA

Jul 27, 2018

“Retired Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs believes land expropriation without compensation can be achieved without changing the Constitution. He says a very strong case can be made for this. Sachs was giving the opening address at the land colloquium being held at the University of Cape Town.”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16386558 (021746ZJUN22) Notable: 163404208 Albie Sachs/Sujit Choudhry Land Grab and judging the judges (videos)

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>>120739

>>120766

>>120767

“Judging the Judges After Transition: The Kenyan Experience” – Albie Sachs Speaking, Presented by Sujit Choudhry

https://youtu.be/GPBpbHnCPiU

“On April 16, 2013, the Center for Constitutional Transitions at NYU Law and the NYU African Law Association brought Albie Sachs, Former Justice, Constitutional Court of South Africa, for a lecture on the reform of the Kenyan judiciary. A panel discussion followed with Professor Barry Friedman, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law and Professor Sujit Choudhry, Cecelia Goetz Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Center for Constitutional Transitions.”

4:38 – Choudhry: “Albie’s talk today about the Kenya experience, in a way is sort of a soft launch for a large international research project that we are participating at NYU on what to do with judges after transitions and political transitions… It is not a problem confined to Kenya, it is a pervasive problem in many transitional democracies. And this is a project that we are working on with the Bingham Centre for Rule of Law.”

5:52 – Albie: “Late in 2010, in a very large hall in Nairobi, the Chair of the Electoral Commission got up to announce the results of a very hotly contested presidential campaign part of the general elections in Kenya and he stood and he said, not giving you the exact figures but it was something like this. “Nairobi, Kebaki 544,399; Odinga 495,232. Somebody stood up, those are not the figures that I sent in. The officer went on… My informant told me that we saw that, the way she put it, saw the elections being stolen on television. The next day, the final tally was announced and in the evening without any of the ceremonies or the people attending and the fanfare, almost in secret, the winner declared by the head of the election agency was sworn in. There was mayhem after that. People went out into the streets, members of one party starting attacking other members of another party. It extended beyond that.”

8:38 – Albie: “It was in the areas where there been the most living together, where the people were the most interactive, mixed up, living cheek by jowl. That’s where the most vicious attacks took place and it went on for days. And gangs roamed with pangas and they burnt down houses. Chopped up people.”

9:26 – Albie: “And the question was asked but if you saw the elections being stolen on TV and you had slam dunk evidence, why didn’t you go to court? Kenya has a judiciary that has buildings, very erudite judges. Why didn’t you go to them? And the opposition party that claimed that the elections have been stolen from said, it would have been a total, total waste of time. No matter how powerful the evidence, how compelling, the judges would have found a way to twist the facts, to twist the law and to ensure that Kebaki was confirmed as president.” [Does this not sound familiar?]

17:12 – Albie: “The team of the [Kenya judges and magistrates vetting] board includes 3 Kenyan lawyers, 3 Kenyan non-lawyers and 3 foreign judges. In fact, judges they say of some distinction from commonwealth countries who going to participate as full members of the board. A friend of mine, Lord Stephen Sedley [father was a Jewish immigrant, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Sedley] a wonderful judge from the court of appeal in England, retired had agreed. He’d helped with the drafting of the regulations… I had some contact with Kenya and the judiciary having been invited about 10 years before that to attend a meeting in which a number of judges and others were considering the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission in Kenya and they wanted to hear about the South African experience.”

1:04:56 – Albie: “The strongest argument in his favour was that he [Willy Mutunga] had never been a judge, he had been a law professor, he had been imprisoned, he had been part what they called a second liberation. So he was appointed chief justice, a strong new supreme court was established, the judicial service commission became truly independent, that’s choosing judges properly and they managed to get 2.5 times the budget they got before. And so our vetting process was just part and parcel and I think this is a very important aspect of transitional justice.”

1:06:21 – Albie: “The revolution in a way was created through the constitution. There was a revolution and the constitution came afterwards to deal with the past.”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16386621 (021809ZJUN22) Notable: 163404208 Albie Sachs/Sujit Choudhry Land Grab and judging the judges (videos)

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>>120768

>“Judging the Judges After Transition: The Kenyan Experience” – Albie Sachs Speaking, Presented by Sujit Choudhry

“Sujit Choudhry Talks About the Center for Constitutional Transitions | NYU Law”: https://youtu.be/vocvUJ-QLjA

Sujit Choudhry

https://sujitchoudhry.com/

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

Sujit Choudhry practices constitutional law, both in Canada and globally

A constitutional law resource for counsel, governments, and businesses

Sujit Choudhry has a broad public law practice on questions of constitutional law, administrative law, public international law and international human rights law, in the Canadian courts, including in judicial reviews, appeals, and arbitrations. He frequently appears as counsel, including in the Supreme Court of Canada. He also has an extensive counsel practice. Choudhry is often retained by other lawyers across Canada to work with them on complex constitutional cases, including to serve as co-counsel. He also holds the Q.Arb designation from the ADR Institute of Canada.

Democracy support, constitutional reform and peace processes

Choudhry is an internationally recognized authority on comparative constitutional law. He has been an advisor to democracy support, constitutional reform, and peace processes for over 20 years, including in Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Libya, Myanmar, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia, Ukraine, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16399968 (051413ZJUN22) Notable: MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards (Parts 1-8)

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MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards – Part 1

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/07/308817/mwn-investigation-reveals-amnesty-internationals-reckless-double-standards

Below are excerpts

Human rights NGO Amnesty International’s reporting on the case of Moroccan journalist Omar Radi has thrown into light the organization’s clear pro-Western bias. A closer look at the history of Amnesty International [AI] and its reporting on alleged human rights violations in the Middle East and North Africa region, as well as other Global South states, reveals clear double standards and a neo-colonial standpoint towards developing countries.

American human rights lawyer and former Amnesty International board member Francis Boyle said in a 2002 interview for Global Policy Forum: “Amnesty International is primarily motivated not by human rights but by publicity. Second comes money. Third comes getting more members. Fourth, internal turf battles. And then finally, human rights, genuine human rights concerns.”

On July 2, the government released a second statement calling on Amnesty International to back up their claims with tangible evidence. The statement said the NGO’s allegations “are in line with the strategy Amnesty International has been employing for years against Morocco’s interests, attempting to undermine the country’s internationally-recognized progress in the field of human rights.”

Morocco’s government reiterated its belief that the NGO is aiming to become a “political actor” in Morocco and is operating with a clear agenda after Amnesty launched a targeted social media campaign in Morocco.

Double standards in reporting US and UK privacy breaches

The use of spyware and invasion of personal privacy is not new. However, Amnesty International’s loud and strongly-worded protestations are. In 2013, the revelations of whistleblower Edward Snowden shone the spotlight on both the US and the UK.

The leaks revealed that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had accessed the telephone records of millions of American citizens. Meanwhile, the British intelligence service, GCHQ, has been accessing private information online through a surveillance program known as Prism.

Amnesty International brought a claim against the UK after it was revealed that the British intelligence service had hacked the communications of an Amnesty staff member. The claim was accompanied by a gentle reminder.

A press release dated August 29, 2013, gave the US and the UK a softly toned reprimand, in sharp contrast to the outrage and vitriolic condemnation of Morocco’s alleged breaches of the right to privacy. The double standard reflects Amnesty international’s pro-Western lens and unwillingness to bite back at those who pay the bills.

Morocco World News asked Amnesty International about social media campaigns and mainstream media campaigns: “Amnesty International launched a series of targeted posts warning Moroccan journalists about spyware but the same did not happen in the US or the UK in 2013 after Amnesty found that both countries were using spyware. Why the difference in handling?”

Amnesty International declined to comment.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16399979 (051417ZJUN22) Notable: MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards (Parts 1-8)

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MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards – Part 2

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/07/308817/mwn-investigation-reveals-amnesty-internationals-reckless-double-standards

Below are excerpts

AIUSA and Israel

The Moroccan government’s theory that the report and one-sided investigation are part of a “defamation campaign” is understandable, bearing in mind Amnesty’s history of manipulating investigations and campaigns to fit certain political agendas.

The shocking truth about Amnesty International dates back decades. Boyle, a founding member of the Amnesty International Middle East Coordination groups, shared the story of his disillusionment with Morocco World News. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, breaking international law and violating human rights laws. Both Amnesty International and Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) stood by in silence as over 20,000 people died.

Boyle contacted Nobel Peace Prize winner Sean MacBride, calling on him to intervene with AI in London. MacBride persuaded the general secretary of AI to appoint Boyle as a human rights consultant for AI’s work in the Middle East.

At the first meeting, Boyle warned the AI Mid-East Co-Group that they must respond strongly to the atrocities Israeli forces were carrying out in the Middle East, with full USA support. “Soon thereafter, I found out that the Members of the AIUSA Mid-East Co-Group had been instructed to have nothing more to do with me by a direct order coming from the AIUSA Board of Directors,” Boyle recounted.

Boyle outlined how AIUK and AIUSA consistently failed to crack down on human rights violations and instances of Israeli government-approved torture against Palestinians for over a decade.

“I am confident the pro-Israel groups threatened the AI Secretary General that they would have their members withhold or reduce their contributions to AI and AIUSA if AI/London did not reign in its pathetic, pitiful, and meager criticisms of Israel. While I was on the AIUSA Board, AIUSA paid about 20% of the budget for AI/London. He who pays the piper calls the tune,” the human rights lawyer explained.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16399981 (051418ZJUN22) Notable: MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards (Parts 1-8)

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MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards – Part 3

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/07/308817/mwn-investigation-reveals-amnesty-internationals-reckless-double-standards

Below are excerpts

War mongering

On December 19, 1990, the world collectively shivered in horror after Amnesty International released a chilling report of atrocities in the Middle East.

“Iraqi forces in occupied Kuwait have tortured and executed hundreds of unarmed civilians, some of them children, arrested thousands of others and cut off 312 premature babies from hospital incubators, according to a report released here today by Amnesty International,” the Washington Post wrote.

Boyle had seen the report ahead of publication and found that it lacked tangible evidence, was rife with technical errors, and was missing facts. Boyle feared that the US and the UK would use the report as evidence to provoke a war with Iraq, and warned Amnesty International UK not to publish it. The NGO ignored the warnings and proceeded to launch what Boyle calls a “Disinformation” campaign against Iraq.

“From this episode I could only conclude that AI/London deliberately intended the Dead-Babies Report and Campaign to be used in order to tip the balance in favor of war against Iraq,” he said.

At the height of the US warmongering campaign, Amnesty International had no qualms about confidently stating that it had “verified” the accusations peddled by a Kuwaiti girl named Nayirah. In a recriminating 82-page report it published in December 1990, Amnesty International left no doubt in the minds of readers that the evidence was airtight.

The report was strongly worded, and included no hint that the sources may not be reliable. It was presented as a substantiated and wholly “verified” report whose legitimacy was beyond doubt.

Seven US Senators used the spurious testimony, legitimized by Amnesty International, to justify their support for the war. President George H.W. Bush used the report on six occasions in the following weeks. Then, on January 9, 1990, the president cited the report in a letter he sent to university newspapers across the US.

Some time later, it became clear that the stories of Iraqi soldiers unplugging premature babies were fabricated. The 15-year-old who peddled the allegations turned out to be the daughter of the then Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States. Amnesty then launched a coverup campaign to disassociate itself from the political machinations the report had facilitated.

Perhaps, like former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in May 1995, Amnesty International thinks that the price “was worth it” to build “democracy” and establish human rights in Iraq, further corroborating the idea of Amnesty International as a neo-colonial tool.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16399984 (051418ZJUN22) Notable: MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards (Parts 1-8)

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MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards – Part 4

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/07/308817/mwn-investigation-reveals-amnesty-internationals-reckless-double-standards

Below are excerpts

Apartheid and Amnesty

Boyle fears that nothing has changed at Amnesty International in the intervening years. “For all I know, the same people at AI/London who waged this Dead-Babies Disinformation Campaign against Iraq are still at AI/London producing more disinformation against Arab/Muslim states in the Middle East in order to further the political and economic interests of the United States, Britain, and Israel. Because of its Dead-Babies Disinformation Campaign against Iraq and its ensuing coverup, Amnesty International will never have any credibility in the Middle East!”

Boyle believes a similar campaign of disinformation and refusal to take on diplomatic heavyweights, such as the US, defined Amnesty’s response to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

According to Boyle, Amnesty was the only human rights body in the world not to intervene in the battle to end apartheid. The NGO claimed they could not work against this type of government.

“But the truth of the matter was that Amnesty International is headquartered in London, and AIUSA is headquartered in New York and Washington. The biggest political supporters of the criminal apartheid regime in South Africa were the governments of Britain, the United States, and Israel. Likewise, the biggest sources of economic investments in the criminal apartheid regime in South Africa came from Britain and the United States. Once again, he who pays the piper calls the tune,” Boyle said, bringing the argument back to funding and political influence.

The human rights professor outlined Amnesty International’s refusal to report on violations in Ireland and Puerto Rico, echoing his fundamental belief that Amnesty International exists as a neo-colonial global policeman, unwilling to bite the hand that feeds it.

“Effectively, Amnesty International and AIUSA function as tools for the imperialist, colonial and genocidal policies of the United States, Britain, and Israel,” he said.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16399985 (051419ZJUN22) Notable: MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards (Parts 1-8)

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MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards – Part 5

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/07/308817/mwn-investigation-reveals-amnesty-internationals-reckless-double-standards

Below are excerpts

Iraq as a victim of international politics – in part through reckless reporting

Amnesty International’s report fueled the US decision to start a war that resulted in the deaths of as many as 1.5 million Iraqi civilians. The international community and Amnesty International, did not, however, learn from the mistakes of the 1991 Iraq war.

In 2003, the US administration declared their intention to invade Iraq again, enjoying support from the UK despite opposition from a number of fellow UN member states, including France. The UK, under Prime Minister Tony Blair, tried and failed to secure support from the UN Security Council but pledged support for the US regardless.

The operation to invade Iraq was, for the UK, based on spurious evidence that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The US aimed to remove Saddam Hussein from power, a motive the UK could not legally support.

Years later, the Chilcot Inquiry found that the claims Iraq was developing WMDs were baseless, meaning Blair had led his country to war with lies in pursuit of the US agenda in the wake of 9/11.

Despite the repercussions of the first Iraq war and Amnesty International’s involvement in lighting its fuse, the NGO remained fairly neutral on the prospect of a second war in Iraq based on the spurious evidence that Iraq was developing WMDs.

On March 19, 2003, Amnesty International General Secretary Irene Khan penned an open letter to Blair, President George W. Bush, and Saddam Hussein. The letter does not warn against going to war with Iraq, but sets a low bar in gently prompting both sides to adhere to human rights laws during the conflict.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16399986 (051421ZJUN22) Notable: MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards (Parts 1-8)

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MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards – Part 6

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/07/308817/mwn-investigation-reveals-amnesty-internationals-reckless-double-standards

Below are excerpts

‘Uncorroborated and highly manipulated information’

Amnesty International’s tendency to side with the money and the controlling politics of Western powers reared its ugly head again in 2018 when the NGO released a series of reports on the civil society protests in Nicaragua.

Conscientious objector and anti-war activist Camilo Mejia wrote an open letter to Amnesty International, accusing the NGO of “destabilizing” the situation in Nicaragua and “contributing to the chaos in which the nation finds itself.”

Mejia said the Amnesty International reports on the protests created a misleading narrative, disseminating a strong anti-government message which covered up the complexities of the situation on the ground.

“Amnesty International’s assertions are mostly based on either testimony by anti-government witnesses and victims or the uncorroborated and highly manipulated information emitted by US-financed anti-government media outlets and non-profit organisations collectively known as ‘civil society,’” he wrote.

Mejia emphasized that the vast majority of news organizations and sources Amnesty International cited in its two reports on the unraveling political chaos and violence in Nicaragua are funded by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and, by extension, the US.

The anti-war protestor and Iraq War veteran shone the spotlight on Washington’s historic hegemony in Latin America, arguing that, to preserve US dominance through economic control, the capitalist superpower aimed to sabotage the potential success of an independent Nicaragua.

In 2019, Mejia published a report in collaboration with the Alliance for Global Justice in which he set out the disinformation in Amnesty International’s Nicaragua reports, highlighting the clear bias and gaping holes in evidence.

Amnesty International’s intervention in Nicaragua, and refusal to see the situation as anything other than a black and white narrative of good vs. bad, reflects the neo-colonial, imperialist lens through which the NGO views the world.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16399988 (051421ZJUN22) Notable: MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards (Parts 1-8)

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MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards – Part 7

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/07/308817/mwn-investigation-reveals-amnesty-internationals-reckless-double-standards

Below are excerpts

Money, money, money

Amnesty International relies on donations and membership payments for survival. Access to detailed information about the nationality of donors and members is nigh on impossible. However, the little transparent information that is available strongly suggests the NGO’s membership is largely based in Western countries, including Australia (250,000), Canada, Sweden (upwards of 100,000), and Germany. Of Amnesty International’s two million members, nearly half come from the Netherlands (255,000), the US (350,000), and the UK (200,000) alone.

The organization’s worldview, including prejudices and stereotyping, echoes that of its membership, who, sitting comfortably in a warm armchair, credit card in hand, feel that they are doing their part to help in far away crises: Crises that affect other people, in other cultures, and other countries.

However, the question of funding goes much deeper than that of membership. The organization’s neo-colonial, teacher-child view on developing countries echoes and takes its cue from US foreign policy, among others.

Amnesty International’s 2017 financial review states, “We are independent of any government, ideology, economic interest and religion. Our only interest is in achieving human rights for all.” The review also explicitly states that the NGO does not accept donations from governments or political organizations. However, previous reports show that this is not the case.

A 2017 report by Reseau International shows that Amnesty International received funding from the “National Foundation for American Democracy (NED), which is officially funded by the United States Congress, through the budget of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).”

The Reseau International report explains that the NGO is far from transparent in terms of access to information, and that information about donors is increasingly difficult to find. “Today, it is almost impossible to find direct evidence that in 2008, the Israeli branch of Amnesty International accepted a donation of NIS 130,186 (£30,277) from the State Department of the United States government,” the report notes.

The Embassy of the Netherlands in Israel, the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID), the US government, through other associations, and the Norwegian Telethon are among other Western organizations with lobbying weight.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16399993 (051422ZJUN22) Notable: MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards (Parts 1-8)

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MWN Investigation Reveals Amnesty International’s Reckless Double Standards – Part 8

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/07/308817/mwn-investigation-reveals-amnesty-internationals-reckless-double-standards

Below are excerpts

Where is the money going?

In 2010, facing fierce international criticism for its response to human rights abuses in Iraq at the hands of British and US soldiers, Amnesty International made the decision to overhaul its management. Among the heads to roll were former General Secretary Irene Khan, the organization’s first Muslim leader, and her deputy, Kate Gilmore.

The organization paid Khan £533,103 to leave Amnesty International, while Gilmore was sent packing with £325,244. The massive payoffs sent waves of doubt throughout Amnesty’s membership, with many wondering how much of their donations went to paying corporate-sized salaries and hush money.

In a less-than-transparent statement, Amnesty International’s international executive committee (IEC) chairman, Peter Pack said the "substantial majority (of the payments) reflected contractual entitlements.”

Before the giant cash-in-hand payoff, Khan was earning £132,490 a year, without bonuses, relocation grants, and support for expenses. Upon leaving Amnesty International, Khan stepped straight into a chair on the British Charity Commission board, having been appointed by the British government via the Cabinet Office.

The former general secretary’s replacement, however, has topped the City of London-style salary. Salil Shetty earns £192,800 a year on top of a £7,800 annual housing allowance.

When asked directly how far donors can “restrict” their contributions and where the 4% of restricted donations come from, Amnesty refused to comment.

MWN also asked the NGO where the 10% classed as “other income” comes from. Amnesty again refused to comment, sending only a link to another defamatory report about Morocco.

Moving forward

The NGO’s consistent refusal to engage with questions over its lack of transparency and bias is reflective of a lack of respect for Morocco and the journey it has made, and continues to make, since its independence in 1956.

It would be ludicrous to deny that human rights violations go on in Morocco, or in any other country in the world. No state, however established its democracy or developed its economy, is immune. Striving to eradicate human rights violations will be humanity’s mission for centuries to come. This said, every state, however established its democracy or developed its economy, should be viewed and judged on an equal basis.

Amnesty International, however, is willing only to see, and actively look for, the negative aspects of Moroccan policy and security, in line with its own entrenched imperialist world view of Muslim-majority and Global South countries.

Until the NGO revitalizes its world view with a modern, impartial perspective based on truth rather than international agendas and neo-colonial attitudes, the blindly negative, condemnatory narrative about these countries will not change and Amnesty International will not achieve the global impact its noble goals deserve.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16400008 (051424ZJUN22) Notable: Bertha Foundation, Clooney Foundation and Amnesty International’s Support of Omar Radi | Morocco Condemns Amnesty International's "Political Interference"

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>>120770

>Human rights NGO Amnesty International’s reporting on the case of Moroccan journalist Omar Radi has thrown into light the organization’s clear pro-Western bias.

>>120766

Bertha Foundation, Clooney Foundation and Amnesty International’s Support of Omar Radi

STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR OMAR RADI, BERTHA CHALLENGE FELLOW

https://berthafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Statement-in-support-of-Omar-Radi-July-2021.pdf

At Bertha Foundation the year 2020 will always be remembered for two events: the outbreak of Covid and its devastating impact on the most vulnerable people across the world and the year that Omar Radi, Moroccan investigative journalist and Bertha Challenge Fellow, was subjected to lengthy and relentless state sponsored harassment, which ultimately led to his imprisonment in July 2020. Almost a year to the day, on 19 July 2021, he was sentenced to six years in prison on spurious charges of rape and espionage.

Bertha Foundation, after more than a decade fighting for a more just world, knows that the world is becoming increasingly repressive and dangerous for journalists. The Bertha Challenge fellowship has supported some of the bravest and most talented journalists and activists working across 26 different countries. Omar, together with the 2020 cohort, investigated how the relationship between property, profit and politics contributes to land and housing injustice. His work focussed on how the Moroccan state is using expropriation of tribal lands for its own enrichment.

Omar is a kind and loyal colleague with a deep love for justice and truth and for marginalised and landless people of his country, Morocco. At Bertha we are proud to be associated with him and we are deeply concerned that the Moroccan government did not allow for a fair trial as evidenced by an independent report from the Clooney Foundation.

Morocco Condemns Amnesty International's ‘Political Interference’

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/03/348032/morocco-condemns-amnesty-international-s-political-interference

Amnesty International has been claiming that Morocco used spyware against activists and journalists, including Moroccan journalist Omar Radi.

A Moroccan court sentenced Radi to six years in prison in July 2021. Casablanca’s Court of Appeal upheld the sentence against Radi, confirming the charges he had been arrested for – including “rape” and “receiving funds from a foreign agent” to “undermine Morocco’s security.”

Prior to and after his trial, Amnesty International continued to release reports and statements, accusing Morocco of using spyware against the journalist.

In response, the Moroccan government has been asking the NGO to provide evidence for its claims, which Amnesty International has failed to answer.

Morocco renewed its request demanding evidence from Amnesty International on February 28 of this year. Moroccan authorities emphasized on March 19 that the NGO did not send any evidence to back its claims.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16400015 (051428ZJUN22) Notable: “Moscow-Pretoria expose widens” – Dated February 7, 1984 (Parts 1 & 2)

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>>120736

>As it turned out, it housed in its offices far more power than most government buildings. Indeed, Oppenheimer even had a private treaty with the Soviet Union, although the terms have never been publicly revealed.

“Moscow-Pretoria expose widens” – Dated February 7, 1984 – Part 1

https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1984/eirv11n05-19840207/eirv11n05-19840207_013-gold.pdf

Last week on this page I reviewed the evidence of Soviet-South African collaboration in the gold market; in parallel, the West German weekly Der Spiegel, something of an equivalent to Newsweek, published a similar story which I had the opportunity to review after filing. Whether Der Spiegel's sources are better than mine, I cannot tell; in any event, many believe that the Hamburg journal has intimate ties to Soviet intelligence, among other services. Its publisher, Rudolf Augstein, is in any event a leading advocate of German "neutrality" and reunification.

What Der Spiegel reports is well known to informed financial circles in Western Europe, if not to American newspaper readers, and certainly not to gold investors, many of whom appear to view South Africa as some sort of bastion of virtue. In truth, apart from the repugnance of Pretoria's racial policies, its strategic ties to the Russians should be a matter of concern for the West at large. It is striking, the extent to which these ties are coming to the surface.

I translate from the Spiegel report, which appeared in the Jan. 23 issue:

"In November of last year, the apartheid state had its first official exchange of diplomaric notes with the Soviet Union since the break of relations 27 years ago. And since then, all movements from the 'land of atheistic enslavement,' as Premier Pieter Willem Botha calls it, are painfully recorded.

"Foreign Minister Roelof Botha openly admitted the exchange of notes with Moscow-at the height of the latest South African invasion of Angola last week, while Pretoria's soldiers were involved in heavy fighting with Cuban-supported and Soviet-armed Angolan troops.

"In any event Moscow's note to Pretoria did not strike one as friendly; Soviet diplomats in the United States, according to Botha, had given over a document which emphatically cited Moscow's 1976 friendship treaty with Angola ....

"But despite the noisy reaction of the premier and some army officers to the note, the foreign ministry in Pretoria last week was not excluding 'some possibilities for rapprochement for Southern Africa. '. . .

"In fact, the Soviet Union and South Africa are the world's largest producers of gold, chromium, vanadium, manganese, platinum, and diamonds.

"That is good for profits, beyond political emnity,. Thus the Soviets and South Africans meet regularly in the official Wozchod-Handelsbank in Zurich, to consult over the erratic movements of the gold market; the two countries control more than 80 percent of world sales.

"In the case of the precious metal platinum, the political arch-enemies cover 94 percent of world supply .... 'It can't be proven that there is price-fixing, ' wrote the I nternational Herald Tribune. 'but contacts contribute to orderly marketing.'

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16400023 (051430ZJUN22) Notable: “Moscow-Pretoria expose widens” – Dated February 7, 1984 (Parts 1 & 2)

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>>120736

> As it turned out, it housed in its offices far more power than most government buildings. Indeed, Oppenheimer even had a private treaty with the Soviet Union, although the terms have never been publicly revealed.

“Moscow-Pretoria expose widens” – Dated February 7, 1984 – Part 2

https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1984/eirv11n05-19840207/eirv11n05-19840207_013-gold.pdf

"Many threads are spun between South Africa and the Soviet Union in the glass-and-steel world of Johannesburg's high finance. In the west of the city are based the Anglo-American Corporation and its sister firm in the diamond industry, De Beers. Chairman of the board of the worldwide enterprise is Harry Oppenheimer. . . .

"Oppenheimer's intimate and former son-in-law Gordon Waddell was spotted in the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, 'just passing through.'"

This refers to the first reports of Soviet -South African gold market discussions, revealed by EIR on July 20, 1980, months before our reports made their way to the London Financial Times.

Otherwise, the article reviews the familiar facts of Soviet diamond marketing through De Beers' sales monopoly, the Central Sales Organization (CSO).

"In the Soviet Union, the secondlargest producer of jewel diamonds in the world, the capitalist management of the CSO is highly prized," reports Spiegel. "When the CSO conducts its sales of 'packets' of diamonds of different size and quality, mixed in are stones of Soviet origin.

"The economic ties of political opponents in southern Africa are entirely paradoxical, as in the case of Angola. The Luanda government is viewed as linked to Moscow, because it accepts help from the Soviets and Cuba in its fight against South Africa and the Unita guerillas. But one of the greatest sources of state revenues (after the American-managed oilfields in the north) depends on the sale of diamonds, through the South African CSO."

We permit readers to draw their own conclusions concerning the implications of such collaboration over the gold price during a period of financial turmoil.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16401000 (051919ZJUN22) Notable: Amandla! Collective Bun

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Amandla! Collective Bun

>>120762 Fourth International and the Amandla! Collective

>>120763 About Amandla!

>>120764 Amandla! Advisory Board

>>120765 Alternative Information and Development Centre [AIDC]

>>120766 Bertha Foundation funds Amandla! - Albie Sachs Connection

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16404192 (061441ZJUN22) Notable: The Oppenheimer family have gone beyond the South African borders (video)

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>>>/qresearch/16400996

The Oppenheimer family have gone beyond the South African borders

“Jonathan Oppenheimer speaks at the 10th annual Oppenheimer Research Conference”; https://youtu.be/6aLPYuUB7aQ (discussing “climate change”)

https://briefly.co.za/60119-jonathan-oppenheimer-age-children-wife-parents-businesses-net-worth.html

Jonathan was among the decision-makers who delisted De Beers in 2001 and sold the Oppenheimer family shares to AngloAmerican in 2012 for $5.1 billion. At De Beers, he served for many years.

Jonathan co-founded Brenthurst Foundation with his wife. It spearheads the growth of Africa. The Oppenheimer's family and Temasek Holdings came together and established Tana Africa Capital that invests in various business opportunities in Africa. He is also the non-executive director of a chemical company called Umicore.

The Presidential Advisory Committee on the Economy in Malawi, which was established by Brenthurst Foundation, is one of the many boards and advisory panels that he has sat on.

https://www.thebrenthurstfoundation.org/about/story/ - The Brenthurst Foundation states;

Our team engages with experts, policy specialists, and senior government officials in Africa and beyond. Our activities focus on:

Policy advice

We identify and share international best practice with governments, addressing not just what to do but how to do it. Our wide experience across different African countries affords us unique insights.

Thought leadership

Drawing on our global network of analysts we undertake research and develop new thinking to address Africa’s challenges and support economic transformation.

We work at the invitation of African governments.

Born in 2004, the Brenthurst Foundation was established by the Oppenheimer family to build on the work of the Brenthurst Initiative of 2003. This was a programme that instigated debate around policy strategies in South Africa to accelerate economic expansion. The debate continues across the continent, driven by the sharing of ideas, data, and experiences.

The Brenthurst Foundation is part of Oppenheimer Generations, a community consisting of a collection of autonomous but interconnected entities, each playing a critical and unique role to fulfil our long-term commitment of leaving our world better than how we found it.

We bring together policy-makers and policy-shapers.

Since its inception, the Foundation has regularly brought together the world's leading thinkers and practitioners to consider ways to enhance the continent's economic growth and development. We are fortunate to count these key players, from presidents and finance ministers to renowned scholars and UN officials, among our advisors and associates.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16404434 (061548ZJUN22) Notable: Oppenheimer family taps Asia’s wealthy

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“Oppenheimer family taps Asia’s wealthy”

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/2021-10-20-oppenheimer-family-taps-asias-wealthy/

The Oppenheimers join a growing number of billionaires turning to Singapore as fortunes surge across Asia

The family office for Nicky Oppenheimer and his son, Jonathan, has set up an outpost in Singapore to boost its Asia exposure and partner with the region’s wealthy.

Edoardo Collevecchio, the former chief of staff for Oppenheimer Generations, is moving from London to build and lead its team in Singapore, while Yi Ling Ong joins from Temasek Holdings as head of investment for the Asia unit, the company said in a statement.

The investment firm, which represents a branch of the dynasty that founded mining giant Anglo American and turned De Beers into the world’s largest diamond producer, said it hopes a presence in the city-state will help drive investments between Asia and its home market of Africa.

“Over the next 20 or 30 years, the synergies between Africa and Asia are going to be substantial,” Collevecchio said in an interview. “We want to be here at the start of that journey.”

The Oppenheimer family has a combined net worth of $8.2bn, largely through the 2012 sale of their stake in De Beers for about $5bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The Oppenheimers join a growing number of billionaires turning to Singapore as fortunes surge across Asia.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin and vacuum-cleaner billionaire James Dyson have both set up investment firms to manage their wealth in the city-state, known for its high standard of living, political stability and plethora of tax treaties. Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio also signalled in 2020 he would open a family office there to run his investments and philanthropy in the region. The number of family offices in Singapore rose fivefold between 2017 and 2019, according to government data.

“We look forward to deepening relationships with like-minded partners,” Jonathan Oppenheimer, the family office’s executive chair, said in the statement.

The Oppenheimers trace their fortune to the 1917 formation of Anglo American in SA. The firm later took control of De Beers, where Nicky Oppenheimer was chair from 1998 to 2012.

Oppenheimer Generations, which was created after Anglo American bought the family’s 40% stake in the diamond firm, now has more than two dozen employees in SA, the UK and Jersey, according to LinkedIn data. Its other investments include Tana Africa Capital, a private-equity joint venture set up a decade ago with Temasek to invest in African companies.

“This is an incredibly exciting challenge,” Collevecchio said about Asia. “We see so much potential.”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16404473 (061554ZJUN22) Notable: Oppenheimer family sells stake in Anglo to Chinese group – report – dated 10th November 2006

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“Oppenheimer family sells stake in Anglo to Chinese group – report” – dated 10th November 2006

https://www.miningweekly.com/article/oppenheimer-family-sells-stake-in-anglo-to-chinese-group-report-2006-11-10/rep_id:3650

The Oppenheimer family sold a third of its stake in Anglo American Plc, the company it founded in 1917 and which has grown into the world's second-biggest miner, to China Vision Resources, controlled by billionaire Larry Yung, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The stake is worth 419-million pounds, some $803-million, based on Anglo's closing price of Thursday, the news service said. The Oppenheimers will retain more than 2%.

The sale underscores China's attempts to bolster its hold on mining resources and accelerates Anglo's transformation from a chiefly South African gold and platinum producer to an international industrial metals producer.

Bloomberg quoted a political analyst, from Cape Town, Nic Borain as saying that it was “extraordinary significant” for China to take over from what symbolised old colonial capital.

“It's the end of an era and beginning of new one in which China will have a much bigger role in Africa.”

The family company, E Oppenheimer & Son, would invest more of its money in African nonmining businesses and South African private equity units, Bloomberg reported.

It quoted Oppenheimer as saying on Friday that the Oppenheimer family had a “long and emotional” debate, but that the logic was quite simple. “Its all to do with asset allocation.”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16405067 (061814ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore redirected over $75 million in mining payments to scandal-hit friend of Congolese President, Global Witness reveals

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“Glencore redirected over $75 million in mining payments to scandal-hit friend of Congolese President, Global Witness reveals”

https://www.globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/glencore-redirected-over-75-million-mining-payments-scandal-hit-friend-president-global-witness-reveals/

March 3, 2017

Below are excerpts.

Between 2013 and 2016 mining giant Glencore paid over $75m to Dan Gertler, a controversial businessman accused of bribing senior officials in Democratic Republic of Congo to advance his mining interests, Global Witness revealed today. These payments were due to be paid to Congo’s state mining company Gécamines under the terms of the original contract it had with Glencore.

Glencore did not disclose in company filings that it was instead making these payments to Gertler, a known corruption risk. That he was the recipient of the payments comes to light only weeks after Glencore bought Gertler out of mining assets it held jointly with him in Congo in a billion dollar deal.

A Global Witness investigation found that from 2013 to 2016 Toronto-listed Katanga Mining, majority-owned by Glencore, made “signature bonus” and other payments totalling over $75 million to Dan Gertler’s Africa Horizons company, registered in the Cayman Islands. Under the original contract these payments would have gone to Gécamines, but Global Witness wrote to Glencore after reviewing company documents and filings that raised questions over the true recipient of the payments. Glencore admitted that they were made to Gertler’s company.

“It’s outrageous that Glencore has been making payments to a friend of the Congolese President who has been accused of bribery and corruption, and then not telling its shareholders or the public that it’s done so,” said Pete Jones from the Congo team at Global Witness. “Glencore has been in business in Congo with Gertler for a decade and has known about the allegations that have been made against him for years.”

Gertler is a close friend of Congo’s President Joseph Kabila and has been a focus of major foreign bribery investigations in the US and UK. In a finding by US authorities in September against the hedge fund Och-Ziff, an “infamous Israeli businessman” was identified as having paid bribes to Congolese officials to win mining licences for Och-Ziff. The businessman is widely understood to be Gertler. He is reported to be a central focus of a corruption investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office into Kazakh mining company ENRC, based in part on ENRC’s deals with Gertler in Congo. Gertler’s spokesman told Bloomberg that his company “vigorously contests any and all accusations of wrongdoing in any of its dealings in [Congo]”.

Congo has vast natural resource wealth, but corruption, mismanagement and the sale of mines below market value have helped keep it one of the world’s poorest countries, consistently languishing near the bottom of the UN Human Development Index.

Glencore has now admitted, in a letter to Global Witness, that these payments actually went to Gertler from 2013 to 2016.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16405077 (061815ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / “Cyril Ramaphosa’s history a red flag – expert” - Glencore

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>>120785

>Glencore has now admitted, in a letter to Global Witness, that these payments actually went to Gertler from 2013 to 2016.

“Cyril Ramaphosa’s history a red flag – expert” - Glencore

https://www.security.co.za/news/47386

3 June 2022

Glencore denied Ramaphosa’s direct involvement in its operations

A leading scholar on the workings of multinationals, has poohpoohed as “an evasion of tough questions” a move by mining house Glencore to absolve President Cyril Ramaphosa from day-to-day operational involvement in a major coal mine supplying Eskom.

Ramaphosa was chair and co-owner of the company’s subsidiary Optimum Coal Holdings (OCH) prior to being appointed deputy president in 2014.

University of Johannesburg sociology professor Patrick Bond was responding to this week’s statement by Glencore, in which it denied Ramaphosa’s direct involvement in the company’s operations, or in its Eskom-supplying Optimum Coal Mine (OCM).

“Mr Ramaphosa divested his entire interest in OCH on 22 May 2014 – prior to him taking office as deputy president and prior to his involvement with the Eskom war room,” the statement read. [They are covering up for him]

Citing Ramaphosa’s past involvement as a director of London Stock Exchange-listed Lonmin, Bond said: “We have learnt a lot about what multinational mining houses want from Cyril Ramaphosa – for example his e-mail on 15 August 2012, to political decision-makers.

“What these multinationals need is a licence to do what they want to do in any country, by assimilating a guy who has influence. In the case of Lonmin, it regrettably meant using Ramaphosa to put down a strike,” said Bond.

“We saw this in an e-mail he sent to then minerals minister Susan Shabangu, describing the Lonmin strike as a criminal act and not a labour dispute.

“We must remember what followed when the police force went overboard in doing what they thought he wanted [now known as the Marikana Massacre].”

Turning to the Glencore saga in which the company was last week fined more than $1.5 billion (about R23 billion) after pleading guilty in the US to bribery and market manipulation, mainly against Africans, Bond said: “The fine of $1.5 billion they paid is not compared to the revenue they collected over this period, which amounted to $3.2 trillion.

“This is a slap on the wrist. And Washington collects the fine, not victims in Africa.

“They are the single biggest mining and commodities trading house in the world.

“The other question is that when Glencore was fined, its share price went up by six percent on the London Stock Exchange and Johannesburg Stock Exchange. How does this happen?

“Here we are dealing with a company employing bribery as its main technique – seen in other parts of the world like Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, elsewhere in Africa and Venezuela.”

Former Eskom chief executive Matshela Koko this week told The Citizen of his intention to submit documents to the US attorney-general about flaws in the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, which he maintained failed to properly investigate Ramaphosa’s role in pushing Optimum’s agenda.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16408650 (071229ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Scandal-hit mining companies BHP and Glencore pay record $12bn to investors

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“Scandal-hit mining companies BHP and Glencore pay record $12bn to investors”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/15/scandal-hit-mining-companies-bhp-and-glencore-pay-record-12bn-to-investors

15 February 2022

Scandal-hit mining companies BHP and Glencore have paid out a record $12bn in dividends to investors as the price of the materials the companies mine continues to boom.

BHP, the world’s biggest mining group which scrapped its dual stock market structure dropping London last year for a sole listing in Sydney, announced a record $7.6bn half-year dividend on Tuesday.

The company makes most of its profits from mining iron ore in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, where it has ministerial permission to destroy as many as 40 sites of cultural importance to the country’s native Aborigines.

Following investor outrage at its mining plans, the company subsequently pledged not to damage any of the sites without “extensive consultation” with native owners.

BHP is aiming to transition its business to derive half of revenues from “future facing commodities” – metals needed in a low-carbon economy beyond fossil fuels – by 2030. BHP made $9.7bn in adjusted profits for the half year to the end of December, a 57% year-on-year increase.

Anglo-Swiss rival Glencore, one of the world’s biggest miners and commodity traders, has also benefited from the soaring price of oil, gas and metals as economies seek to recover from the pandemic.

The company paid a $4bn dividend to shareholders as it reported record adjusted profits of $21.3bn last year, an 83% increase over 2020. Glencore also said it had set aside $1.5bn to pay for the costs of investigations into bribery and market manipulation.

The company is facing corruption investigations in the US, UK and Brazil relating to its mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to the world’s largest reserves of cobalt, a crucial metal in electric battery manufacture, as well as Venezuela and Nigeria.

“We recognise there has been misconduct in this company historically. We’ve worked hard to correct that,” said Gary Nagle, chief executive at Glencore. “Looking forward, we remain focused on our strategy … while operating in a responsible manner across all aspects of our business.”

Glencore, which said it expects to resolve the US, UK and Brazilian investigations this year, still faces potential corruption and bribery investigations by other countries, including Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Instead of selling or spinning off its coal operations as a number of its peers are – a strategy activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners has also urged the company to do – Glencore is instead pursuing a strategy of running them down with the aim of closure by the mid-2040s.

“Touting the work the company is doing in reducing its exposure to fossil fuels is one thing but while its peers are distancing themselves from coal, Glencore seems happy to hang onto it and deplete its use ‘responsibly’,” said Dan Lane, senior analyst at Freetrade. “The best PR machine out there wouldn’t be able to convince the market that the coal division is a sustainable or responsible one.”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16408706 (071251ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore’s Corruption guilty verdict vindicates Critics of the New Dawn’s blind trust in dodgy Mining Houses – Zambia

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“Glencore’s Corruption guilty verdict vindicates Critics of the New Dawn’s blind trust in dodgy Mining Houses” – Zambia

https://www.lusakatimes.com/2022/06/02/glencores-corruption-guilty-verdict-vindicates-critics-of-the-new-dawns-blind-trust-in-dodgy-mining-houses/

June 2, 2022

The New Dawn government has been accused of being too cosy to the mining houses despite their poor record. The UPND administration’s development strategy is mainly anchored on mining without making changes to decades old agreements and unfair incentives, through negotiations with mining houses, despite overwhelming evidence in the past 20 years which shows that they have been ripping Zambia off with all sorts of legal machinations as well as through financial and environmental criminal practices.

The corruption guilty verdict in the US, of Glencore, the former owners of Mopani Copper Mines (MCM), vindicates the New Dawn critics. Glencore bought MCM for $30m and sold it back to Zambia for $1.5billion, after 20 years of paying no income taxes, claiming losses throughout the period.

Glencore, is expected to pay to authorities in the US, UK and Brazil the sum US$1.5bn after pleading guilty to a 10-year international bribery scheme as well as a plot to manipulate commodity prices. Guess what, the penalty may even be paid from the loan repayments they receive from Zambia for MCM which they sold us at such an exorbitant amount having bought it for a song.

“The scope of this criminal bribery scheme is staggering,” Damian Williams, US attorney for the Southern District of New York told a press conference. “Glencore paid bribes to secure oil contracts. Glencore paid bribes to avoid government audits. Glencore bribed judges to make lawsuits disappear. At bottom, Glencore paid bribes to make money – hundreds of millions of dollars. And it did so with the approval, and even encouragement, of its top executives.”

According to the US Department of Justice, Glencore was involved in a “decade-long scheme by Glencore and its subsidiaries to make and conceal corrupt payments and bribes through intermediaries for the benefit of foreign officials across multiple countries”. And between 2007 and 2018, Glencore paid around US$80mn to third-party intermediaries to secure business with state-owned or state-controlled entities. The practices took place in several African and Latin American countries, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil and Venezuela. Glencore is also said to use inflated invoices, sham consulting agreements and intermediary companies to conceal payments to foreign officials

In its recent opinion piece on the verdict, the UK Financial Times wrote: “Glencore is not alone in needing a cultural overhaul on bribery. Broadly, the contribution of global resources companies to the impoverishment and penury of African nations was considered a niche concern in the Square Mile.” (the Square mile is the City of London- Central London- which has been a doyen of dirty and bloody money which we never knew until the Ukraine-Russia was has exposed the City)

The Financial Times Opinion clearly show that Glencore is not the only Mining house involved in corruption but others are also guilty of this. But Glencore appears to have been in the premier league of Multinational corruption and has been caught red handed. Although Zambia is not mentioned by name in guilty the verdict, it is included in the phrase “multiple countries”, “African Countries”. It follows that Zambia should not be naïve and have blind trust of other Mining houses. In any case, Vendetta Resources is another mining house in Zambia whose record in Zambia for various crimes is well documented.

It is with the above back ground, that critics including the author of this article have been critical of the New Dawn’s fallacious belief that ramping up production to 3million tonne will benefit Zambia without negotiating better deals, including revision of the archaic development agreements. The reality is that increased production will only benefit foreign mining houses’ shareholders and very little will remain in Zambia for development. The argument by critics is that Zambia will not sufficiently benefits from increased mining production as Mining houses having been involved in widespread schemes financial crimes like corruption, tax evasion through transfer pricing and other machinations to deny Zambia sufficient benefits from their natural resources due to pure greed by foreign investors and their local accomplices.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16408715 (071256ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / China’s GEM Co. Ltd and Glencore extend their long-term strategic cobalt partnership

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“China’s GEM Co. Ltd and Glencore extend their long-term strategic cobalt partnership”

https://www.glencore.com/media-and-insights/news/Chinas-Gem-Co-Ltd-and-Glencore-extend-their-long-term-strategic-cobalt-partnership

Baar, Switzerland 7 October 2019

GEM Co. Ltd (GEM) and Glencore are pleased to announce that they have entered into a five year agreement for the supply of cobalt hydroxide (cobalt).

Under the terms of the agreement, Glencore will provide a minimum of 61,200 tonnes of Cobalt for GEM between 2020 and 2024.

Mr Xu, Chairman of GEM commented:

“GEM is very pleased to announce this long-term strategic co-operation with Glencore. This agreement represents a major cornerstone in GEM’s cobalt sourcing strategy as it will support GEM’s continued contribution to the Chinese New Energy Market.

“In an ever-changing and fast evolving cobalt environment, GEM and Glencore have managed to maintain a very strong working relationship.

“By securing a key battery raw material, GEM clearly demonstrates its ability to implement and deliver its vision for an electrified, carbon-free transportation system.

“GEM will continue focusing on the development and the manufacturing of high quality sustainable cobalt products to meet the fast growing demand for cobalt containing battery products.

“GEM truly appreciates Glencore’s long term approach and its support in establishing a stable and sustainable cobalt supply chain.”

Nico Paraskevas, Head of Marketing, Copper & Cobalt, Glencore, commented:

“The extension of our long established partnership with GEM further endorses Glencore’s important role in supplying the materials that enable the energy and mobility transition. Furthermore, this long term partnership provides Glencore with a stable outlet for a significant portion of its expected future Cobalt Hydroxide production.”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16408721 (071300ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / China Huaneng Group and Glencore sign MOU on CCUS Project – Australian Funding

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”China Huaneng Group and Glencore sign MOU on CCUS Project” – Australian Funding

https://www.glencore.com/media-and-insights/news/china-huaneng-and-glencore-sign-mou-on-ccus-project

Beijing, China

12 April 2021

On 10 April at the 6th China International Conference on CO2 Capture Utilization and Storage, China Huaneng Group Clean Energy Research Institute Co., Ltd. and Carbon Capture Transport and Storage Company of Glencore have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the cooperation on carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) technology, commencing with the CTSCo Project in Millmerran power station in Australia.

Glencore is one of the world’s largest diversified natural resource companies and China Huaneng is one of the world’s largest energy and technology companies.

Signing the MOU today both companies committed to supporting the deployment of low emissions technologies like CCUS to reduce greenhouse emissions from the use of fossil fuels and other industrial processes.

The CTSCo Project in Queensland, Australia will use China Huaneng’s CO2 capture technology at the Millmerran coal fired power station to capture a stream of CO2 which will then be transported and stored permanently in a non-potable aquifer at a depth of more than 2 kilometres.

“This is the first integrated international carbon dioxide capture and storage project that China has participated in. Huaneng will work with Glencore to complete a high-quality carbon capture project in Australia's Surat Basin, build a high-quality cross-industry international cooperation project, help coal-fired power generation achieve "near zero emissions", and enhance its international influence,” said Dr Li Weidong, Chairman of China Huaneng Group Clean Energy Research Institute Co., Ltd.

Glencore CEO, Ivan Glasenberg, welcomed the ongoing collaboration with China Huaneng. “We are very pleased to strengthen our collaboration with China Huaneng on the CTSCo Project. This project is vitally important because it can scale up to support the reduction of Scope 3 emissions from the use of fossil fuels across a broad range of industrial sectors.”

The CTSCo Project is Australia’s most advanced onshore CCUS project and will demonstrate CCUS at an industrial scale. Key funding and project participants include Glencore, China Huaneng, Low Emission Technology Australia (LETA), Australian National Low Emissions Coal Research and Development (ANLECR&D) and the Australian Government.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16408829 (071328ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore to honour pre-existing Russia contracts, no new deals

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“Glencore to honour pre-existing Russia contracts, no new deals”

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/glencore-honour-pre-existing-russia-contracts-no-new-deals-2022-03-30/

March 30, 2022

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Global mining and trading Glencore (GLEN.L) said on Wednesday it had "no realistic way to exit" its stakes in Russian company En+ Group and state oil firm Rosneft (ROSN.MM) after reviewing its business ties.

The London-listed miner added in the statement that it would "not enter into any new trading business in respect of Russian origin commodities unless directed by the relevant government authorities".

On March 1, the Swiss company said it was reviewing its business activities in Russia.

Western companies began severing ties with Moscow days after its invasion of Ukraine, under pressure from governments and shareholders.

Glencore holds a 10.5% stake in aluminium and hydropower company En+ that in turns is the majority owner of Russian aluminium producer Rusal (RUAL.MM).

Glencore has a 0.57% stake in Rosneft.

It does not have any board or management representation in either company.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rusal-glencore-idUSKBN21L1AO

“Rusal, Glencore agree aluminium deal worth up to $16.3 billion” – April 3, 2020

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s Rusal has approved a new long-term aluminium supply contract with Glencore worth up to $16.3 billion, it said in a Hong-Kong regulatory statement on Friday.

Swiss trader and metals producer Glencore has long been one of the main clients of Hong Kong-listed Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer outside China.

Glencore owns a stake in Rusal parent En+ Group.

The new contract is for 2020-2024 and can be extended for 2025, Rusal said.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16408886 (071345ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Calls mount for SA probe into Glencore – Ties to the ANC

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“Calls mount for SA probe into Glencore” – Ties to the ANC

https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/companies/calls-mount-for-sa-probe-into-glencore-39c35f28-3721-46ea-828f-c4e94419f468

THE CALLS for a local investigation into the activities of diversified miner Glencore are intensifying as civil society organisations have requested South Africa to look at its relationship with the company following it being found guilty of corruption.

Bench Marks Foundation, Corruption Watch and South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), supported the calls from civil rights groups in countries where bribes took place to conduct further probes into Glencore.

The Anglo-Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company this month admitted to paying more than $100 million (R1.5 billion) in bribes to officials in Brazil, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, South Sudan and Venezuela between 2007 and 2018.

On Friday, the Bench Marks Foundation, which has conducted investigations on Glencore on pollution in some African countries, said there needed to be an investigation into Glencore in Africa, particularly in South Africa.

It said it was not surprised by the latest allegations that had come out regarding corruption of Glencore and its officials.

In an interview, Bench Marks chief researcher David van Wyk said: “In the past, we pointed out direct incidents of very problematic allegations that are now proven in the US, which happened in the DRC. We have been saying this since 2010, and now it's come out.”

Van Wyk said Glencore and South Africa had a long history and that warrants an investigation on its South African dealings.

“We suspect that Glencore was involved in bribes in South Africa, but worse we suspect that it and other companies are involved in tax haven fraud. These companies are registered in tax havens like Zurich in Switzerland or Cayman Islands. They mine the minerals here and sell them below global prices to themselves in those countries and then sell them at high global prices, that way they avoid paying tax here,” he said.

Van Wyk said if Glencore could be found guilty of corruption in the US, how was South Africa exempted?

“If they could participate in bribing and price-fixing around America, how much of that happened in Africa? How is it that SA escaped that? I don’t believe that for a moment,” he said.

Van Wyk said an investigation of Glencore in South Africa would depend on the upcoming ANC conference, as the company has ties to the ruling political party.

“If the current factions win that conference there will be no investigation. If the opposing faction wins that conference, then, there will be an investigation. This means the investigation would not be based on principle, or on ethics, it would be based on opportunism, and faction power in the ruling party,” he said.

“It is the culture of that organisation. That company was the one that managed to get arms in SA during apartheid. They also got oil from the apartheid government to run their military by dubious means,” according to Van Wyk.

Ncala agreed with Van Wyk and said: “To say that people have left the organisation as a form of defence to ward off any enquiry is preposterous. It is very disingenuous, in this particular era, we are looking for ethical leadership, we need to bear in mind that Glencore is a company that is a legal person so an entity needs to look at how it conducts itself,” he said.

Saftu on Friday also called on the government to initiate investigations into all Glencore operations.

“We have a reason to believe, because of Glencore’s notoriety in dealing with commodities across the world over the years, that it may have been involved in bribery,” it said.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16409519 (071633ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Marc Rich’s ties to Apartheid (Parts 1 & 2)

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Marc Rich’s ties to Apartheid – Part 2

https://www.opensecrets.org.za/marc-rich-open-secret/

July 17, 2013

This is the double devilry of those who profit from sanctions busting: not only do they violate international sanctions, but they also rip off the end user in the process. The National Party government estimated that South Africa paid about $22 billion more than market prices for oil between 1973 and 1984.[3]

Yet these give just a hint of the extent of the relationship, and the story has yet to be told in full. Much of what is known was pieced together during the period of sanctions by the Shipping Research Bureau, a Dutch NGO that monitored oil traffic to South Africa. Though their reports were vital in exposing unseemly secretive relationships in the oil industry at the time, the record remains incomplete.

Rich himself managed to achieve a remarkable cognitive dissonance on the question of his relationship with the apartheid state. He denied that his business had helped prolong apartheid, insisting: “I was fundamentally against apartheid. We were all against apartheid. I just was doing normal business with South Africa.”[4] (The definition of ‘normal business’ is, of course, flexible: his success in selling oil from Soviet Russia to apartheid South Africa at the height of the Cold War, is as remarkable as his ability to trade oil between Iran and Israel. An early, critical biography of Rich raised the allegation, via an anonymous ‘former shareholder’ that “We were selling Iranian and Soviet oil to South Africa in return for Namibian uranium we sold to the Soviets”[5].)

He also freely admitted that bribery was an acceptable practice in his business. Many of the mainstream business media have criticised Rich’s legacy, but how unusual was this way of doing business? United States law did not forbid the bribing of foreign officials until 1977. In Switzerland, bribes to foreign officials were treated as tax-deductible business expenses until 2000. Britain’s lax regulations on international bribery were only tightened in 2010. Rich’s approach may have been extreme, but it is a symbol of amoral business practices legitimised by weak regulation. (Not all are so equivocating: two weeks ago a columnist in the Financial Times claimed that Marc Rich “deserves credit as one of the greatest creators and sharers of wealth in business history.”)

Furthermore, those who believe that Rich’s legacy lies in the past misunderstand the nature of that legacy. One of the most remarkable things about Marc Rich was his ability to make money talk louder than politics – hence why, after 1994 he was able to continue doing business with South Africa, despite his links to the apartheid regime.

The Spectator argues: “his former protégés and apprentices now control, through his empire’s successor companies Glencore Xstrata and Trafigura, the price of just about everything.” They control a truly startling share of the world’s natural resources.

It is also worth remembering that, before his indictment in 1983, Rich was virtually unknown outside of trade circles – despite having already built up a commodities empire that was in bed with every oil-producing dictatorship and every oil hungry regime; unknown to many at the time, it even included a secret 50 percent of the entertainment empire 20th Century Fox. His indictment and eventual pardon made Rich notorious – yet it was his way of doing ‘normal’ business, no matter what the human cost, which did such terrific harm. The full extent of that harm – this is a question that still begs an answer and a far greater sense of public accountability than was ever achieved in his lifetime.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16413886 (081325ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Rich was spy for Israel – fugitive fat cat also offered aid to CIA & others

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>>120793

>>120794

>>120795

“RICH WAS SPY FOR ISRAEL – FUGITIVE FAT CAT ALSO OFFERED AID TO CIA & OTHERS”

https://nypost.com/2001/02/05/rich-was-spy-for-israel-fugitive-fat-cat-also-offered-aid-to-cia-others/

Billionaire Marc Rich lived a double life during his 20 years as a fugitive, funneling secret data to Israeli and other intelligence services about some unsavory governments.

Sensational details about Rich’s ultimate high-wire act as a spy for Israel and other countries were provided to The Post as congressional committees prepare to hold hearings into former President Bill Clinton’s controversial decision to pardon the fugitive commodities trader.

Among the issues that will be explored by the House Oversight Committee in its probe of the hotly disputed Rich pardon, according to congressional sources, are:

* Rich’s lengthy relationship with the Israeli Mossad.

* His numerous contacts with federal prosecutors in New York, during which his lawyers offered to provide intelligence to the CIA in return for leniency.

But Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak repeatedly cited Rich’s contributions to Israel’s “national security” in phone calls to President Clinton last month in which he lobbied for Rich’s pardon, according to Barak spokesman Gadi Baltiansky.

And a letter from former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit to Clinton confirming that Rich provided “assistance” to the Israeli spy agency that produced results “beyond the expected” was among the documents released last week by Rich’s lawyer Jack Quinn to support the Rich pardon.

Rich and partner Pincus Green fled the country in 1983 ahead of federal charges that they ripped off taxpayers for $48 million. Both were among the 140 people pardoned or given clemency on Clinton’s last day in office.

A storm of controversy has erupted over the unusual way the Rich pardon was handled, as well as over the involvement of Rich’s ex-wife, Denise Rich, who raised $1 million for the Democratic party and gave the Clintons $7,000 in furniture for their new homes.

Accounts of Rich’s life on the lam – provided by former prosecutors, Rich’s lawyers and the Israeli government – sound like a plot from a James Bond movie [the irony >>120797 ] as the ruthless and nimble Rich extended his empire on five continents and built up a business worth almost $30 billion.

He sold Iranian oil to Israel and Nigerian oil to South Africa.

He brokered the sale of North Korean arms to Iran and did several deals involving gold, grain, nickel and tin with the Russian Mafia and henchmen of the former Soviet Union.

Lawyers close to the case say there is no doubt that Rich had contacts with spies and security services throughout Europe and the Middle East. Those contacts not only helped him make money but may have also helped him stay one step ahead of U.S. lawmen trying to capture him, lawyers say.

Shavit, who headed the Mossad from 1989 to 1996, provided a fascinating glimpse of Rich’s role in the murky netherworld of spies. In his letter to Clinton released by Quinn’s office, Shavit said that he had a long relationship with Rich.

“We requested his assistance in looking for MIAs and his help in the rescue and evacuation of Jews from enemy countries,” Shavit wrote.

“Mr. Rich always agreed and used his extensive network of contacts in these countries to produce results that sometimes were beyond the expected.”

Murkier still were Rich’s efforts to become a superspy for the CIA.

Asked whether security and intelligence considerations involving the United States played any role in the Rich pardon, a former Clinton aide said, “I simply don’t know.”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16413927 (081339ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Marc Rich, “A Citizen of the World”

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Marc Rich, “A Citizen of the World”

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0510/S00322.htm

Craig Copetas, Marc Rich’s biographer, labels his subject one of the “Metal Men,”[1] and attempts to trace Rich’s mysterious background. The Belgian Reich family fled Europe during World War II, assisted by a Jewish placement agency, and changed their surname to Rich.

A Citizen of the World

Marc Rich fits snugly into this new world order.

For years Howard Safir, working for Rudy Giuliani as his New York City police commissioner and later as chief of operations for the U.S. Marshals Service, had been tracking Rich down from one country to another. Safir told Larry King: “He was hard to get because he had a great deal of influence in a lot of countries, and we were pretty much restricted to just a few countries where we could apprehend him. He had a Bolivian passport, he had a Spanish passport. The Israelis were very clear they weren't going to help us apprehend him. So it was very difficult to get him, plus he had a lot of money….You know, Marc Rich is one of those people who considers himself a citizen of the world, inconvenienced by the petty laws of nations. And the message that this sends is outrageous.”[11]

Such “world citizenship” makes perfect sense, of course, to those persons who make their livelihood from global trade—what can best be termed the merchant adventurer class which brought us slavery, tobacco, rum, spices, and last but not least, opium. Part of the author’s research is to explore the genealogies of various members of this class of merchant traders from one generation to another to see how their accumulated knowledge and interrelationships have been used to take control of governments throughout the world and to indoctrinate others through advertising techniques and propaganda.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16414246 (081501ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / “The toxic chocolatier – The case for prosecuting Glencore executives” – namely Ivan Glasenberg

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“The toxic chocolatier – The case for prosecuting Glencore executives” – namely Ivan Glasenberg

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-05-31-the-toxic-chocolatier-the-case-for-prosecuting-glencore-executives/

31 May 2022

By pleading guilty to decades of bribery, corruption and price manipulation around the world, Glencore confirmed a poorly kept secret – criminality was a key pillar of the company’s business model.

Yet the company’s executives, including South African Ivan Glasenberg, became extraordinarily wealthy on the back of this criminal system.

As Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams commented at a media conference last week, “Bribery was built into the corporate culture.”

Who drove this culture? Not the middle management, according to US law enforcement, who went on to add that:

“The tone from the top was clear: whatever it takes.”

Glencore traders used the codeword “chocolates” for bribe payments, hardly an effort to hide the practice from their seniors.

One executive who cashed in during this period was Glencore’s CEO, Ivan Glasenberg. Born and educated in South Africa, and now an Australian citizen living in Switzerland, Glasenberg was at the helm of Glencore for nearly two decades – from 2002 to 2021 – a period in which this system of bribery was created and entrenched.

Today, Glasenberg’s wealth is estimated at R135-billion. Though he resigned in 2021, he still has a 9% stake in Glencore.

It is not yet clear which executives the US Attorney refers to when saying that Glencore’s corruption was encouraged by “top executives”.

Take Glasenberg’s mentor, Marc Rich, the commodity trader who, by hook or by crook, established the Glencore empire. Rich is perhaps the most infamous oil and commodities trader of all time, trading with autocrats and war criminals around the world.

Glasenberg is the scion of Rich, starting work as a coal trader for Marc Rich & Co just after Rich was indicted in 1983 in the US on tax evasion charges and fled to Switzerland. This also coincided with a period in which the apartheid regime’s coal exports were under a growing global embargo for gross human rights violations, just like Russia faces today.

Glasenberg and Rich’s other protégés would go on to build and lead global commodities giants such as Glencore and Trafigura. Rich was never held to account.

Rich is the rule, not the exception. High-flying CEOs become billionaires leading multinational corporations, but are rarely held to account for crimes committed by those companies with their knowledge.

A good example is the CEOs of the banks and other financial institutions responsible for the 2008 global financial crisis and the catastrophic human costs that followed.

While US authorities collected billions in fines linked to this mass fraud, only one Wall Street banker was convicted. In this context, executives know that violation of the law in pursuit of profit is a lucrative strategy with little personal risk.

It is encouraging that the US settlement agreement does not preclude criminal prosecution of any Glencore executives. Further, there are ongoing investigations by authorities in Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Where there is sufficient evidence, criminal prosecutions must follow – and speedily.

Only this can change the calculus for corporate executives and ensure that economic crime doesn’t pay.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16414359 (081522ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Ivan Glasenberg

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>>120739

>“90% of all Jews in South Africa are Litvaks [Lithuanians]” - https://vilnews.com/2011-01-litvaks-in-south-africa

“Ivan Glasenberg – Biography Of South African Mining Billionaire” - Glencore

https://www.entrepreneurs.ng/ivan-glasenberg/

April 30, 2020

Ivan Glasenberg is the chief executive officer of Glencore, a successful commodity trading and mining company. Ivan is also on the board of Minara Resources Ltd. He is a citizen of South Africa, Australia as well as Swiss.

Ivan was born on 7th January, 1957 in South Africa. His parents names are Samuel Glasenberg (a former luggage manufacturer and importer born in Lithuania) and Blanche Vilensky.

While growing up, he lived in Illovo, Gauteng with his family. As a young boy, Glasenberg was an athlete and interestingly, became a national junior champion in race walking in his early 20s. He is a champion race walker for both South Africa and Israel.

His Journey To Glencore International

Glencore is an abbreviation of Global Energy Commodity Resources. It is a British multinational commodity trading and mining company founded as Marc Rich & Co. AG in 1974. The founder’s name is Marc Rich, a billionaire commodity trader. Glasenberg joined Glencore in 1984 working in the coal department in South Africa and Australia.

Also, he managed Glencore’s Hong Kong and Beijing offices from 1989 to 1990. Due to hard work and dedication to duties, he became the head of the company’s coal department in 1991. Then, in 2002, he became the CEO of Glencore.

Glencore Xstrata

On May 2nd, 2013, Glencore and Xstrata merged to create a multi-billion mining company. After the merger, Glasenberg assumed the position of the CEO.

Meanwhile, it was reported that Mick Davis (Xstrata CEO) was supposed to be the CEO while Ivan would be the President in a merger-of-equals transaction.

But during the negotiations, the commodities trader, Glencore increased its offer for Xstrata to 3.05 Glencore shares for each of Xstrata’s share. This was largely after Qatar sovereign wealth fund, Xstrata’s second-largest investor, threatened to block the deal. Glencore had previously offered 2.8 shares for each of Xstrata’s shares.

After the merger, Glasenberg became the CEO while Davis left the company in July 2013.

Boards Where Ivan Glasenberg Serves

•	Xstrata Plc, Executive director, since 2002

•	Minara Resources Ltd, Non-Executive director, since 2000

•	Rusal Plc, since 2007 >>120791

•	Century Aluminum Co, between 2010-2011

Loss Faced By Ivan Glasenberg

Glasenberg faced his fair share of loss in August 2011. Due to economic climate, he lost GB£788 million as his share price dropped by 13.2% leaving his 15.8% of the company worth GB£4.7billion.

However, Ivan being a future-forward businessman started buying shares of Glencore with his dividends that same year. He bought additional US$54million of Glencore stock.

As of April 2012, he held more than 15% of Glencore’s stock. This made him the 20th richest mining billionaire with Forbes estimating his net worth at US$7.3billion.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16415399 (081839ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / >>1615402, Revealed: Glencore bankrolled covert campaign to prop up coal (Parts 1-3)

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>>120790

“Revealed: Glencore bankrolled covert campaign to prop up coal” – Part 1

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/07/revealed-glencore-bankrolled-covert-campaign-to-prop-up-coal

6 March 2019

The mining company engaged Sir Lynton Crosby’s firm to push anti-renewables message and counter anti-coal activists

The multinational mining giant Glencore spent millions bankrolling a secret, globally coordinated campaign to prop up coal demand by undermining environmental activists, influencing politicians and spreading sophisticated pro-coal messaging on social media.

An investigation by Guardian Australia can reveal the covert campaign, dubbed “Project Caesar”, was orchestrated by world-renowned political operatives at the C|T Group, the firm founded by Sir Lynton Crosby and Mark Textor.

The C|T Group used teams in Sydney and London to further Glencore’s interests across the globe, including in Australia, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the project and documents seen by Guardian Australia.

Project Caesar began in early 2017 with an annual warchest of between £4m and £7m. Glencore has confirmed the project’s existence but said it moved to shut it down last month to “ensure alignment” with its recent decision to limit coal production for environmental reasons.

The campaign aimed to engage key politicians, both to gauge their views on coal and attempt to convince them of its continuing value.

Intelligence was collected about key coal detractors, including Greenpeace and 350.org, detailing their budgets, social media reach, and issues that could be used to embarrass or undermine them.

A sophisticated digital campaign was mounted to help shift public sentiment towards coal, using messaging informed by research, focus groups and polling conducted in multiple countries.

Campaign teams helped set up online grassroots groups to push positive messaging about clean coal technology, attack renewables and criticise the Australian Labor party. The practice is commonly known as astroturfing.

One source with knowledge of Project Caesar said it was linked to Energy in Australia, a Facebook group and website that attacks renewables, while supporting high efficiency, low emissions (Hele) coal plants through data, memes, graphics and video.

Posts blame renewables for blackouts in South Australia and Victoria, link renewable subsidies to “Saudi billionaires”, and stress a link between solar, wind and rising power prices. The group celebrated the formation of the Monash Forum, a group of federal MPs who speak in support of coal, including Coalition MPs Craig Kelly, George Christensen, and Tony Abbott.

Other posts warn of widespread blackouts due to the planned closure of the Liddell power plant in NSW, and tell followers that wind turbines are “desecrating our Diggers’ graves” in France, using photoshopped imagery of wind farms towering over an Anzac memorial. The wind farm, which was only in planning stages at the time, never went ahead.

Energy in Australia’s content is slickly-produced and its reach is significant. The Facebook page alone is followed by more than 20,000 people. Paid Facebook ads are also used to push posts into the feeds of other users.

Both the Energy in Australia website and Facebook group were taken offline following questions to Glencore and the C|T Group about the links to Project Caesar.

The sites are publicly authorised by a former Queensland Liberal National Party state MP, Matt McEachan.

When contacted by the Guardian, he could not say who else might be producing content for the group, aside from himself and other volunteers.

McEachan would not say who was providing funding, and said he did not know whether the C|T Group was involved in producing content for the site.

“I can’t really give you a comment or statement with any kind of authority in that respect,” he said.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16415414 (081841ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / >>1615402, Revealed: Glencore bankrolled covert campaign to prop up coal (Parts 1-3)

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“Revealed: Glencore bankrolled covert campaign to prop up coal” – Part 3

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/07/revealed-glencore-bankrolled-covert-campaign-to-prop-up-coal

6 March 2019

The revelations shed new light on the C|T Group’s inner workings. Crosby, one of its founders, was knighted by the former UK prime minister, David Cameron, and has run the UK Conservative party’s last four general election campaigns.

The strategies employed for Glencore in Project Caesar appear strikingly similar to those offered in a pitch for a £5.5m campaign designed to cancel the 2022 Qatar football World Cup.

The World Cup project, dubbed Project Ball, proposed setting up full-time war rooms across the world, lobbying friendly politicians, academics and journalists, and pushing messaging on social media and astroturfing sites. Project Ball was pitched to a Qatari opposition figure living in London in an attempt to delegitimise the Qatari government and pressure Fifa to “restart the bidding process” for the World Cup hosting rights.

Project Caesar took place as Glencore made other aggressive plays to protect its Australian interests.

In 2017, Glencore mounted a surveillance operation targeting CFMEU members who were picketing its Oaky North mine in central Queensland. Its “clandestine and quasi-military activity” was described as “appalling” by Australia’s industrial relations umpire, the Fair Work Commission.

Glencore employed private investigators to secretly surveil union members using long-lens cameras and video. A map of the homes of key CFMEU members in the nearby town of Tieri was drawn up. Operatives took notes about their movements, reporting back to Glencore on a 24-hour basis.

“Nil Glencore staff members at the piquet [sic] lines in the past 24hrs,” one briefing note obtained by Guardian Australia read.

“Approximately 30 vehicles located at CFMEU guide hall 0800 hours this morning.”

Glencore also launched an operation codenamed Project Zuckerberg to find evidence of potential social media policy breaches in discussions in private Facebook groups used by CFMEU officials at Oaky North.

Documents and images seen by Guardian Australia show Glencore also asked a contractor to enter the lodgings of Oaky North workers when they called in sick. Photos of their empty beds were taken to help build evidence against the workers.

Guardian Australia has not found evidence to suggest the actions taken against the CFMEU Oaky North members were linked to Project Caesar.

Glencore’s actions in Africa have also come under close scrutiny in recent years.

The Paradise Papers, a leaked cache of millions of documents, showed how the commodities giant acted to further its mining interests in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The company engaged the mining magnate and Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler to negotiate with the DRC government in 2009, giving him a $45m loan in pledged shares repayable if agreement was not reached within three months. The loan was repaid in 2010.

Gertler had previously been cited by a 2001 UN investigation that said he had given DRC’s president $20m to buy weapons to help fight rebel groups in exchange for a monopoly on the country’s diamonds. Gertler strongly denies the allegations.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16415450 (081849ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore: the monster has landed!

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>>120798

“Glencore: the monster has landed!”

http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10916

Published by MAC on 2011-05-24

Source: Money Morning, Business Spectator, The Guardian

On May 19th and 20th the London Times lashed into Glencore with two unprecedented exposes of the company's current operations while The Guardian followed suit with additional indictments.

The allegations included that:

	a Glencore subsidiary had procured lucrative market-sensitive information from a European Union "mole" which threatens to undermine the EU's Common agricultural policy

	Glencore's Colombian subsidiary is operating on government-owned land that was forcibly taken from its previous residents by paramilitaries; at least 18 people were murdered in a six month "campaign of terror" at El Prado, northern Colombia

	The company has been guilty of causing river pollution at its operations in Bolivia

	Members of the Wutha Native Title Climants Group in Australia had been cheated of an agreement made with Glencore in 1996, under which the company guaranteed to employ some of them in return for mining nickel on their land. (The case was settled only recently out of court)

	Century Aluminum of the USA, 44% owned by Glencore, is being pursued for damages caused by its operations, in a string of cases brought by environmental agencies, local residents and other companies.

In order to make Glencore's debut as a publically traded giant a total home run, the company solicited the interest of "cornerstone" investors to commit to purchasing some of its shares. The rich crowd drawn into the Glencore IPO is reported to include:

	Aabar Investments, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund that says it will invest $850 million as a "cornerstone" investor, and $150 million besides - bringing its total Glencore outlay to a cool $1 billion.

	The Government of Singapore Investment Corp. Pte. Ltd. - Singapore's sovereign wealth fund (SWF) that's more commonly referred to as GIC.

	Hedge fund Highbridge Capital Management LLC (owned by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM)).

	And BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK), the world's largest money-management firm.

The Key Takeaway From the Glencore IPO

That controversial chapter also closed the book on his tenure at Marc Rich & Co. In 1994, Rich was bought out of his interests in what would become Glencore International by its then managers for a reported $600 million. The rumor is that his partners forced him out after a $200 million loss on a bad Zinc trade.

There's little doubt that Glencore continued its secretive ways, while also maintaining the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Mossad connections that Rich had always been famous for.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16415472 (081852ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore prepares to join FTSE amid scrutiny of Namibia court battle

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“Glencore prepares to join FTSE amid scrutiny of Namibia court battle”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/may/19/glencore-ftse-namibia-namcor-battle

19 May 2011

Government of Namibia alleges commodity trader's high prices helped plunge state oil group Namcor into financial crisis

As Glencore prepares to join the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip businesses next week, it is also battling the government of Namibia over claims it deceived the country, and covered up secret "ambitions to control the local oil industry".

The legal case is one of many beginning to attract attention as Glencore emerges on to the public markets with its £37bn valuation – making it bigger than Tesco – after enjoying years of relative obscurity operating as a private partnership from its Swiss base.

Namibia's high court is hearing proceedings which centre on a deal the commodity trading company struck to supply the state oil group, Namcor. That agreement is being blamed by the government for helping plunge the African company into financial crisis as it was locked into paying high prices for fuel.

A Namibia cabinet briefing paper on the case, alleged: "Glencore has been negotiating with Namcor in bad faith and seems to have undisclosed ambitions to control the local oil industry in future."

Glencore has defended the contract, saying the government knew prices would be likely to rise yet it failed to put in place procedures to deal with the increases.

The report is understood to have been sent to President Hifikepunye Pohamba's office and forms part of the documents filed in a high court application where Glencore opposed the government's decision to suspend its Namcor contract. That suspension was subsequently overturned by the courts as it had ignored the parties' constitutional right to fair procedure. The Namibia government has appealed.

The legal case follows a 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers audit of Namcor, which observed that dealing with Glencore "forces Namcor to continue to purchase from its current suppliers even though other suppliers may potentially offer lower prices".

Both Glencore and the Ministry for Mines and Energy declined to comment.

The listing prospectus does reveal a Belgian criminal investigation in which Glencore's Dutch-based grain trading operation, a former employee and one current employee have all been charged with bribing European officials, but the company does not detail any further legal battles as it believes it has "meritorious" defences and that any rulings will not adversely affect its finances.

The wide collection of cases continues the company's controversial legal tradition.

Glencore was among dozens of companies accused of paying kickbacks to Iraq in 2005 by a commission that investigated the UN's Oil for Food programme. A preliminary judicial investigation found "a lack of culpable information". Meanwhile, in 2009, Glencore agreed to pay a cash settlement to Aluminium Bahrain to resolve a dispute over "controversial payments associated with a Glencore agent".

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16418776 (091156ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore 'linked to Colombian terrorist group'

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“Glencore 'linked to Colombian terrorist group'”

https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2014-07-13-glencore-linked-to-colombian-terrorist-group/

13 July 2014

Glencore, the largest mining company listed on the JSE and headed by South African Ivan Glasenberg, has been accused in a new 245-page report of mining and exporting "blood coal" from Colombia.

The report, "The Dark Side of Coal", published by Dutch nongovernmental organisation PAX in Germany last week, says that Glencore's Colombian arm, Prodeco, secretly supported the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym AUC) during that country's bloody civil war.

The AUC was listed by the US State Department as a terrorist organisation in 2005 and demobilised in 2006 after peace negotiations with the Colombian government. Colombia has not resolved its problems yet and the government is still negotiating with left-wing FARC guerrillas in Cuba.

Although the accusations against Glencore date back more than a decade, the report is likely to heighten scrutiny of the way it operates in some of its coal markets.

It has faced claims of tax dodging in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo and of selling materials to Iran for its nuclear programme.

In South Africa, communities who live on its coal mines in Belfast, Mpumalanga, accused Glencore of trampling their rights to blast for new mines in March. Glencore, which is South Africa's largest exporter of coal, has denied all these claims

In the Colombian case, Glencore is said to have supported the AUC to counter kidnappings and attacks on infrastructure conducted by left-wing guerrilla groups FARC and the ELN.

The new Colombian accusations are based largely on the testimony of José del Carmen Gelvez Alvarracín, known as "El Canoso", who was first hired as an intelligence agent by the Colombian army and then became a defence contractor for Glencore's security department in 1996, before joining the AUC in 2003.

Gelvez described meetings that took place since 1996 between the AUC and Glencore's security department head, Manuel Gutiérrez.

He testified that he and Glencore's managers, Manuel Gutiérrez and Luis Ochoa, "drove in a pick-up truck to a farm named La Ucrania ...

"On entering, we saw approximately 30 people dressed in camouflage, who introduced us to the commander who went by the alias Lucho," says the PAX report.

"Manuel Gutiérrez, as head of the security department, spoke on behalf of the company, Prodeco, about providing this group of the AUC with whatever support it might need.

"It was clear that there was a direct link between the company and the AUC."

Colombia's 50-year civil war between the state and left-wing guerrillas groups reached a climax between 1994 and 2006 with the introduction of the AUC, which was created, financed and supported by drug cartels, members of the Colombian elite, the army, local businesses and multinational companies.

The AUC was created to counter the ever-increasing size and power of FARC and the ELN, but it was also used to consolidate drug trafficking routes, murder labour union leaders and displace farmers to allow for illegal land grabs from local elites and foreign companies. Glencore-Prodeco has denied owning land that belonged to farmers displaced by the AUC. It has also denied ever having any kind of link with the right-wing forces.

Glencore has criticised the report for being one-sided and uncritical in terms of evaluating the testimonies of former paramilitaries.

The company said it had contacted the human rights organisations involved in March, when the report was being written, but PAX did not include its objections in the final draft.

Last month, Glencore's head of sustainability, Dr Michael Fahrbach, sent a letter to PAX saying: "The report is distorted and unbalanced, and blindly follows accusations made by a condemned criminal, which came up years ago, in a judicial hearing to which we had no access and didn't have the right to be heard."

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16418782 (091158ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore – “Funding violence against anti-mining activists”, “Poisoning vital water supplies”, “Bribery and corruption”

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Glencore – “Funding violence against anti-mining activists”, “Poisoning vital water supplies”, “Bribery and corruption”

https://londonminingnetwork.org/companies-in-focus-glencore/

April 2021

Funding violence against anti-mining activists

In the Philippines and Colombia, there are credible allegations that Glencore and its subsidiaries have funded the violent repression of social movements who oppose its mining projects. In the Philippines for example, Sagittarius Mines Inc – which at the time was majority owned by Xsrata – bought the rights to develop a copper-gold mine within the land of the B’laan, one of the indigenous community of Southern Mindanao. The B’laan organised against the occupation of their land and in response, Xstrata are alleged to have created and bankrolled a secret paramilitary unit that terrorised the community, murdering tribal leaders and their families for opposing the mine. Similar allegations have been levelled against the Colombian mining group Prodeco, which is wholly owned by Glencore. Former Prodeco staff and paramilitary commanders have attested that Prodeco funded and collaborated with paramilitary death squads that assassinated those who lay in the path of the mine’s expansion.

In Peru, in response to a strike called by mineworkers, an Xstrata director asked the police to take “direct, proactive and strong approach” against striking workers, who he described as “sons of whores.” The police brutally attacked the miners, and have been accused of killing two and torturing many more. Xstrata allegedly equipped riot police with rubber bullets and tear gas, and stationed them in barracks in their mine.

Poisoning vital water supplies

Glencore’s mines have had devastating impacts on their surrounding environments, with deadly consequences for those who live nearby. Entire rivers have been diverted to fuel Glencore’s mines, even in areas where water is scarce, and the remaining water supply is often so contaminated with lead and other heavy metals that it is unfit to support life.

In Cerro de Pasco, Peru, for example, waste from Glencore’s Volcan mine has left rivers contaminated with 160 times the maximum permissible level of lead. 78% of children in the city show symptoms of heavy metal poisoning. At Glencore’s Mopani mine, in Zambia, a malfunctioning pump discharged so much sulfuric acid into the water supply of neighbouring villages that over 1,000 residents were treated with severe vomiting, diarrhoea, and abdominal pains. Communities surrounding the Cerrejón mine, in northern Colombia, are currently fighting against a similar fate, and are campaigning for the reinstatement of the vital Arroyo Bruno river that has been diverted to supply the mine.

Glencore holds the dubious honour of being the first mining company to be charged with environmental contamination by a Latin American court. Xstrata vice-president Julian Rooney was charged in 2008 for environmental crimes relating to water contamination at the Alumbrera mine, Peru, and has had his assets seized whilst he awaits trial.

Bribery and corruption

The Paradise Papers leak, in 2017, shone a light onto some of the darkest secrets of mining giants, bringing to public attention the very things they had tried their hardest to keep hidden. Glencore was deeply implicated in this; the leaked documents confirmed Global Witness’s allegations that Glencore was involved in bribery and corruption in the DRC.

In 2008, Glencore subsidiary Katanga Mining was worried about the growing desire of the DRC state to retain some of the wealth from its mineral resources. Talks between Katanga and state-owned mining company Gécamines had stalled. So, Glencore co-directors and the chief officers of Katanga met with the disgraced diamond magnate Dan Gertler, and paid him $45m to shut down Gécamines’ demands and secure a favourable contract for Glencore. Gertler delivered, and Glencore’s payment reduced by three quarters, ending up at well below market rate. Gertler was extremely close to powerful members of the administration at the time, and had been criticised by the UN for an arms deal he made with the Congolese army during the brutal civil war.

The legal ramifications from these deals is still ongoing. The Ontario Securities Commission – the regulator for the Toronto Stock Exchange – fined Katanga CAD$30m in 2018, and forced board members to step down, including the head of Glencore’s copper operations, Aristotelis Mistakidis. The U.S Department of Justice has since launched its own corruption probe, the UK Serious Fraud Office is currently carrying out a bribery investigation, and the Swiss Attorney General has launched a criminal investigation.

For more detail on those events and the ruinous history of Glencore’s operations, see the timeline below.

https://londonminingnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Glencore-company-timeline.pdf

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16418789 (091203ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore traded with Iranian supplier to nuclear programme

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“Glencore traded with Iranian supplier to nuclear programme”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/apr/21/glencore-trade-iran-supplier-nuclear

21 April 2013

One of Britain's biggest companies has made millions of pounds selling goods to Iran, including to a state-owned firm that supplies the regime's nuclear programme.

Glencore, a commodity trading house run by the billionaire Ivan Glasenberg, traded $659m (£430m) of goods, including aluminium oxide, to Iran last year, the Guardian has established.

The company, which is one of the biggest businesses in the FTSE 100 and has a market value more than three times that of Marks & Spencer, has admitted that some of its aluminium oxide ended up in the hands of Iranian Aluminium Company (Iralco).

Trafigura, another commodity trading house, has also admitted to trading an unspecified aluminium oxide (also known as alumina) with Iralco in the past.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has named Iralco as supplying aluminium to Iran Centrifuge Technology Company (Tesa), which is part of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI). Aluminium oxide is an important material in gas centrifuges used to enrich uranium.

At the time of the Glencore and Trafigura trades with Iralco, it was not illegal or a breach of sanctions to supply Iran with alumina. It is unknown whether Glencore or Trafigura's alumina passed from Iralco to Tesa, or whether it was used in centrifuge construction.

Since 2006, AEOI has been subject to UN sanctions designed to prevent a drive by Iran toward nuclear armament. Trading with Tesa has been specifically banned under US, EU and UK sanctions since July 2010. Iralco was added to the EU sanctions list in December 2012.

Glencore said it "ceased transactions" with Iralco immediately when it learned of its links with Tesa, and the last trade was in October 2012. "Prior to EU sanctions in December 2012, we were not aware of a link/contract between Iralco and Tesa," the company said in a statement.

Glencore said it is "reliant on the relevant regulatory bodies/governments to advise us on developments in who we can/can't do business with".

Tehran, which some experts say already has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear weapons, is in the middle of upgrading its stock of more than 10,000 centrifuges. The IAEA said Iran is replacing outdated centrifuges with thousands of more powerful IR-2m models.

Mark Wallace, a former US ambassador to the UN, said Glencore's dealings with Iran were "completely unacceptable", adding: "We might expect this from a Russian or Chinese company, but the truth is that even those companies usually stay away from this sort of exposure."

The Guardian has learned that Glencore traded $659m worth of metals, wheat and coal with Iranian entities during 2012. Buried deep in its annual report, one of Glencore's US affiliates, Century Aluminium, 46% owned by Glencore, states: "During 2012 non-US affiliates of the largest stockholder of the company [Glencore] entered into sales contracts for wheat and coal as well as sale and purchase contracts for metal oxides and metals with Iranian entities, which are either fully or majority owned by the GOI [government of Iran]."

Glencore declined to state how much of the $659m it dealt with Iran in 2012 was related to alumina/aluminium. The trades were not illegal or against sanctions at the time. It is not the first time Glencore's activities have attracted controversy. Last year the head of its food trading business said the worst drought to hit the US since the 1930s would be "good for Glencore" because it would lead to opportunities to exploit soaring prices. It has also attracted attention by selling more than £50m worth of wheat to the World Food Programme.

Trafigura, which came to global political attention when it was revealed that a licensed independent contractor of a ship it had chartered dumped tonnes of toxic oil slops in Ivory Coast, said: "We can confirm that Trafigura has traded with Iralco in the past. In October 2011, a physical swap agreement was reached whereby Trafigura provided alumina to Iralco in return for aluminium for Trafigura to export worldwide. No deliveries have been made or exports received since new EU sanctions were published in December 2012. Trafigura Group companies are compliant with national and international law where applicable."

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16418795 (091204ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / “Glencore Paid Judges To Make Cases Disappear” Tony Yengeni Spills Beans” – South Africa

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““Glencore Paid Judges To Make Cases Disappear” Tony Yengeni Spills Beans” – South Africa

https://www.ghanamma.com/za/2022/05/31/glencore-paid-judges-to-make-cases-disappear-tony-yengeni-spills-beans/

May 31, 2022

Tony Yengeni, a veteran of the African National Congress, has now revealed that the corporation Glencore used to pay judges to make cases disappear before the court.

Supposedly, Glencore paid bribes to judges to have lawsuits dismissed, bribes to gain oil contracts, and bribery to evade government audits.

When Tony Yengeni asked people to determine who is currently at the top of South African politics and is closest to Glencore, he raised many concerns.

“Glencore paid judges to dispose of cases! Who is currently the closest political entity to Glencore?” Yengeni said.

In South Africa, according to social critics, they will await Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s response to this exposé before forming an opinion.

“As far as Eskom was concerned, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo stated that their hands and motives were clean. Zondo cannot be incorrect; these individuals are obviously captured “others said.

“In South Africa, they are exonerated and given an escape route from accountability by a factional political project known as the state capture commission, despite all the evidence presented against them.” It appears that the dots are slowly connecting, and it is only a matter of time before the entire truth is revealed.

State capture resembled a complex web, which explains why it took so long to be discovered despite the fact that a great deal was occurring.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16425138 (101409ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / How Marc [Rich] helped plunder Russia

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Is history repeating in the form of corporations?

“Could Bill Clinton's 2001 pardon of Rich affect election?” (Posted November 2, 2016) - https://youtu.be/HgGfiaZJRxw

“HOW MARC [RICH] HELPED PLUNDER RUSSIA”

https://nypost.com/2001/02/15/how-marc-helped-plunder-russia/

February 15, 2001

Overlooked so far is Rich’s role in the looting of the disintegrating Soviet Union by Communist Party officials and their associates in the early 1990s.

You can read about it in “Godfather of the Kremlin,” an exhaustively researched book about Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky [Boris Abramovich Berezovsky was born in 1946, in Moscow, to Abram Markovich Berezovsky (1911–1979),[24] a Jewish civil engineer in construction works - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Berezovsky_(businessman)], which was published last fall. The author is Paul Klebnikov, an expert on Russia and a Forbes magazine senior editor.

The book details the myriad ways Berezovsky and his minions stole untold sums from the Russian people through international financial schemes.

According to Klebnikov, Rich came into the picture around 1990, when the Soviet Union began to open up to outsiders. [About the same time South African/Lithuanian Jew, Mendel Kaplan, ran Operation Exodus for Soviet Jews to return to Israel - >>120750 ]

“Governmental authority began to crumble. All these local Communist Party bosses got to strike deals on their own,” the author tells me.

Based in Switzerland, with its secretive banking laws, Rich was in a prime position to help Russia’s plunderers carry out their dirty work. Klebnikov reported that Rich dealt in oil, aluminum, zinc and other raw commodities.

“He’d strike a deal with the local party boss, or the director of a state-owned company,” explains the author. “He’d say, ‘OK, you will sell me the [commodity] at 5 to 10 percent of the world market price.

“‘And in return, I will deposit some of the profit I make by reselling it 10 times higher on the world market, and put the kickback in a Swiss bank account.'”

For at least two years, as the Soviet Union was in its death throes, Rich was that nation’s largest trader of aluminum and oil on a spot basis.

“He made a complete mint off of Russia,” says Klebnikov.

A former foreign-trade minister told the author that Rich instructed the robber-baron elite how to skirt the law by doing secret deals through shell companies and the like.

“Marc Rich ended up being a mentor to all these young kids who came out of the Communist Party establishment, and who made billions off these schemes themselves,” Klebnikov charges.

There were allegations at the time in the Russian press and elsewhere that Rich was aiding and abetting capital flight from the country, but he was never charged.

A widely read 1999 article in the foreign-policy journal The National Interest, written by ex-CIA officer and National Security Council staffer Fritz W. Ermarth, noted that, as far back as 1985, the KGB was engaged in the massive transfer of assets abroad via commodities trading through front companies.

“The program evolved into . . . avenues for squirreling away funds for the safe retirement or political comeback of embattled communist leaders,” Ermarth writes.

If Rich had anything to do with this, then he would have had a key role in making the world safe for nuclear-armed communist tyrants who were America’s greatest enemies.

Can U.S. intelligence files from the era establish a link between Rich and the transferred KGB billions? Congress should find out.

Rich’s profitable relationship with the Russians ended in 1993, when the monster he helped create turned on him. The Russian swindlers became so good at Rich’s game that they muscled him out of the action.

“Applying the lessons they learned from Marc Rich, they bankrupted Russia,” Klebnikov alleges. “As a result, you have a ruined economy, bankrupt government, and an impoverished population.”

Tens of millions of Russians are suffering through the worst winter there in 50 years. They and their government are broke. There is no money to buy coal to run the power stations.

People are sick, cold and dying. They are freezing to death in the dark. One man told the Red Cross that life has turned into “a permanent struggle for survival. It’s not even life, it’s just existence.”

This is part of the legacy of the man pardoned by Bill Clinton. It is now part of the 42nd president’s legacy as well. Clinton, his belly full, sleeps in warmth and comfort in cozy Chappaqua. If he can sleep at all.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16425794 (101636ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / “The Slimy Trail of Marc Rich: How One of the Clintons’ Best Friends Gave the Gift That Keeps on Giving” (Parts 1 & 2)

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“The Slimy Trail of Marc Rich: How One of the Clintons’ Best Friends Gave the Gift That Keeps on Giving” – Marc Rich Part 1

https://www.americanlibertyemail.com/articles/the-slimy-trail-of-marc-rich-how-one-of-the-clintons-best-friends-gave-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/

Below are excerpts

In the years following Bill Clinton’s scandal-tainted presidency, one name keeps popping up time and time again in relation to perhaps the last great brouhaha of that era; that name is Marc Rich.

When news of the dealings was made public, Rich became public enemy number one, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Rudolph Giuliani made Rich’s prosecution his highest priority. The case dragged on two decades. Rich fled the United States to Switzerland, where he remained until his death in 2013, even after Clinton’s pardon, never to return to the country of his youth and education.

Why would Bill Clinton pardon someone so infamous and obviously disreputable? Certainly, Rich had the opposite of popular support in the U.S.; he was a billionaire who boasted of flouting the law and using tax loopholes to his advantage while the country suffered through recession during the 1980s.

The answer may be found in Rich’s wife’s donation of $450,000 to the Clinton Library and $1 million to Clinton-supported Democratic causes in the period prior to Rich’s pardon. Even to this day, Denise Rich remains a close personal friend of the Clintons and a repeated donor to Hillary Clinton’s senatorial and presidential campaigns, despite renouncing her American citizenship for tax purposes.

Denise’s good friend Beth Dozoretz, a veteran Democratic Party contributor, apparently was so close to Bill Clinton that he telephoned her 10 days before the pardon took place to give her advance notice of the good news to pass on to her pal. After Bill left office, Dozoretz was hired for a senior State Department post under Hillary after serving as the finance co-chair of her 2008 presidential campaign. In recent years, she’s supported Hillary’s “Ready For Hillary” Super PAC and donated up to $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation with her husband Ron.

Marc Rich’s former spouse isn’t the only association the Clintons retain with the now-deceased financier. The extended family of convicted money launderer and oil trader Gilbert Chagoury is also well-known to the Clintons. Chagoury sold Nigerian oil with Rich but was prosecuted in connection with embezzlement during the regime of his associate, Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. Chagoury donated to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Senate presidential run and pledged $1 billion to the Clinton Foundation.

His money laundering conviction was later overturned, and it’s left to observers to ponder if tight connections to the Clintons had anything to do with it. Chaghoury’s nephew Michel in Los Angeles served on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign staff and was a bundler for big-money donors. Other Chaghoury relatives donated heavily to Clinton’s multiple federal campaigns.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16425799 (101637ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / “The Slimy Trail of Marc Rich: How One of the Clintons’ Best Friends Gave the Gift That Keeps on Giving” (Parts 1 & 2)

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“The Slimy Trail of Marc Rich: How One of the Clintons’ Best Friends Gave the Gift That Keeps on Giving” – Marc Rich Part 2

https://www.americanlibertyemail.com/articles/the-slimy-trail-of-marc-rich-how-one-of-the-clintons-best-friends-gave-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/

Below are excerpts

Bill Clinton in return has championed Gilbert Chagoury, serving as a keynote speaker when the trader received a “Pride of Heritage” award within the Lebanese community. The Clinton Global Initiative gave Chagoury’s company a sustainable development award in 2009. Chagoury was a guest at Bill Clinton’s 60th birthday party.

Former Rich employee and Russian investor Sergei Kurzin made a fortune in commodities in the former Soviet Union. One of his larger deals was signed off on by Hillary Clinton’s State Department, whereby Russia purchased 20 percent of the United States’ uranium production capacity in 2010. During the time the deal was in negotiation, Bill Clinton was coincidentally given a fee of $500,000 to speak in Moscow by a Russian investment bank promoting the enterprise. At the same time, Kurzin donated $1 million to Bill’s favorite charity, the Clinton Foundation.

Former Rich commodity trading partners Simon and David Reuben made a fortune with their firm, Trans World Metals. Since then, they have been highly enthusiastic supporters of both Clintons, donating tens of thousands to the Clinton Foundation and co-sponsoring a star-studded gala for the charity in London. Other Rich partners and employees such as Clyde Meltzer (who was indicted in 1983 along with Rich) and Gershon Kekst, who handled Rich’s P.R., have been large donors to Hillary’s multiple campaigns. Rich’s former attorneys Jack Quinn, Robert Fink and Peter Kadzik have also donated to Hillary’s various bids for office.

Lastly, there are numerous undisclosed donors to the Clinton Foundation, despite its pledges of transparency in funding, which have links to the commodities and mining industries in Canada and other foreign nations.

In fact, many people suspect the bulk of the funding of the Clinton Foundation, which now boasts an endowment of more than $2 billion, is tied to foreign sources. If the Clinton’s political history was merely in the past, this might not be of such concern. But with Hillary in full-bore 2016 campaign mode and noted donors such as convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, French hedge-fund manager Arpad Busson, Canadian mining billionaire Frank Giustra (who alone has given the Clintons more than $25 million), U.K. retail magnate Richard Caring, financier George Soros, and hedge fund managers S. Donald Sussman and David E. Shaw supporting her efforts, it’s hard to see where the Clintons’ public interests stop and their private interests begin.

During the administrations of husband Bill, the Lincoln bedroom had a notorious revolving door for big donors. Under Hillary, who knows what might be promised to special interests and global third parties. Clearly, Marc Rich’s associates and their ilk have a favorite candidate in mind for 2016.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16425988 (101720ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore is more of a crime syndicate than a business

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“Glencore is more of a crime syndicate than a business”

https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/opinion/glencore-is-more-of-a-crime-syndicate-than-a-business-b05f6386-4c96-418a-94a6-d1d6bfe5762d

May 31, 2022

Glencore, the largest natural resources company in the world, is more of a crime syndicate than a business.

After becoming a fugitive for 18 years and being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, President Bill Clinton pardoned [Marc Rich]

Today, Marc Rich's successor companies, Glencore Xstrata and Trafigura, control the price of just about every commodity.

They also dominate a considerable share of South African and global natural resources, led by South African billionaire Ivan Glasenberg who worked for Rich in the 1980s.

Another one of Rich's students is Alan Duncan, a British minister between 2010 and 2019. During his employment at Rich's company, Duncan violated sanctions in the 1980s by supplying oil to South Africa. He is alleged to have moved oil from Brunei to Durban and earned about £100K a year in the process.

John Deuss is another one of Marc Rich's proteges. Deuss, a Dutchman described as "sleazy", supplied 57% of South Africa's oil imports by 1981, and made $500 million.

Deuss used false flags, forged cargo papers and mid-sea cargo transshipments to move oil for the Apartheid regime.

In 1991, he signed a new contract to supply 45 000 barrels per day, an increase of 15 000 from the previous year.

These examples are to demonstrate the calibre of individuals that led Marc Rich + Co./Glencore.

Fast forward to 2021, former Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg refused to appear before the State Capture Commission after he was implicated as being the "mastermind" behind the "collapse" of Eskom, after allegedly bribing the current president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa with a chairmanship at one of his mining companies in 2012.

Glencore and Ramaphosa first did business together in 2005 when Glasenberg picked Ramaphosa’s company, Shanduka as its BEE partner on a coal export project before joining forces again in 2012 to supply coal via Glencore subsidiary, Optimum.

The allegations against Glencore were as follows: Cyril Ramaphosa was given a 9.64% stake in Glencore and become Chairman after the company had bought Optimum Coal Holdings (Eskom’s coal supplier in 2011).

According to former Eskom GCEO Brian Molefe, Glasenberg and Glencore appointed Ramaphosa to Optimum, to exert "political influence and the extent to which Glencore would be able to exert pressure on Eskom directors and management."

In 2014, Glencore subsidiary Optimum, chaired by Ramaphosa, renegotiated a 40-year coal contract with Eskom, demanding an increase from R150 to R530 a ton and a waiver of the R2 billion penalties accrued from failing to meet the existing supply agreement.

When Eskom tried to enforce the penalties, they were threatened with Ramaphosa's name, according to former Eskom Interim CEO Matshela Koko, while the Glencore subsidiary claimed it only owed R16 million in penalties.

To further show the decades-old culture of skullduggery at Glencore; Clinton Ephron, who was Optimum CEO at the time Ramaphosa was appointed to chair the company's board, went to the State Capture Commission and lied under oath saying Ramaphosa was never the Chairman of Optimum.

In February 2022, Glencore set aside $1.5 billion to be used to pay fines for bribing government officials and market manipulation in Brazil, Britain, the DRC, Nigeria, the US, and Venezuela.

Yet, interestingly, the South African government, under Ramaphosa, has raised no complaints against Glencore.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16426089 (101740ZJUN22) Notable: “Amabhungane details alleged cover-up in Ramaphosa farm theft” – Namibia Connection (video)

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>>>/qresearch/16386828

“Amabhungane details alleged cover-up in Ramaphosa farm theft” – Namibia Connection

https://youtu.be/tKyTS3WykNw

“The criminal complaint against President Cyril Ramaphosa laid by former spy boss Arthur Fraser on Wednesday has exponentially raised the stakes over exactly what transpired during and after a break-in on his farm in February 2020. Information obtained by investigative collective amaBhungane points to a major cover-up of the theft of a reported 4-million dollars in cash from the president's Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo. To share what they have uncovered let's talk to AmaBhungane Co-Managing Partner Sam Sole.”

“Ramaphosa’s stolen millions: the Namibian connection”

https://amabhungane.org/stories/220604-ramaphosas-stolen-millions-the-namibian-connection/

4 June 2022

In 2020 Namibian authorities identified suspects following a break-in at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm, but sources allege SA intelligence back-channels were used to get the Namibians to let the matter go. Now Arthur Fraser’s criminal complaint puts the President on the spot: what did he do, what did he know and why the cover-up?

Information obtained by amaBhungane points to a major cover-up of the 2020 theft of some US$4-million in cash from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo.

Now the criminal complaint against Ramaphosa laid by former spy boss Arthur Fraser on Wednesday has massively raised the stakes over what exactly happened in the days following the break-in on 9 February 2020.

The key questions are: what did Ramaphosa do, what did he know, and why was it hushed up?

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16433197 (120206ZJUN22) Notable: “Amabhungane details alleged cover-up in Ramaphosa farm theft” – Namibia Connection (video)

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South African president dodges questions on theft scandal

Embroiled in controversy, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday refused to answer questions about his alleged cover-up of a theft of large amounts of cash from his farm, saying only that he will appear before his party’s integrity committee over the accusations

By GERALD IMRAY and MOGOMOTSI MAGOME - Associated Press Jun 10, 2022

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Embroiled in controversy, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday refused to answer questions about his alleged cover-up of a theft of large amounts of cash from his farm, saying only that he will appear before his party's integrity committee over the accusations.

Ramaphosa, 69, endured a second day of being shouted down in Parliament by opposition members before being peppered with questions from the press over the growing scandal.

Ramaphosa is facing allegations of money laundering, bribery and breaking South Africa's foreign currency laws over the theft, which reportedly involved $4 million in cash being stolen two years ago from his Phala Phala game farm in the northern Limpopo province.

He has confirmed that the theft took place and has denied any wrongdoing. He has said the money came from the sale of animals from the game farm. But Ramaphosa has dodged all questions seeking specific information about the robbery.

He repeatedly declined to answer questions from reporters including: How much cash was stolen? How did he obtain the foreign currency? Was it legally declared to South African authorities? Did he try to cover up his possession of the cash by bribing the thieves to keep quiet?

The story of the theft came to light earlier this month when the country's former intelligence chief, Arthur Fraser, filed a criminal complaint with police alleging that Ramaphosa had tried to cover up the robbery.

Fraser alleges that Ramaphosa had been keeping the cash hidden in furniture at his ranch when it was stolen. Instead of reporting the theft to police, Ramaphosa tried to cover it up by having members of his presidential protection unit track down the thieves, said Fraser in the affidavit filed with police.

Ramaphosa told reporters at the parliament complex in Cape Town that he wanted a full investigation to take place before answering questions about it.

“Let the due process happen as regards things like was this laundering of money ... the issue of how much money was there," Ramaphosa said. “I’d like to hold onto that. And I do that with respect because ... I’m a process person. The process must unfold.”

Ramaphosa said he has offered to appear before his African National Congress party's integrity committee. A date for that hearing has not yet been set, he said. If Ramaphosa is found to have broken the law or the party's ethics code, the ANC committee could ask him to step aside as the party's leader or suspend him, which could be the first step to Parliament removing him as president.

The scandal surrounding the farm theft is the biggest challenge to Ramaphosa's leadership of Africa's most developed economy and comes six months before a critical party elective conference in December, when Ramaphosa had already been expected to face a tough battle to be re-elected the party's leader.

Earlier, his attempts to speak in Parliament were disrupted for a second straight day as opposition lawmakers confronted him. Lawmakers from the populist Economic Freedom Fighters, the second biggest opposition party in Parliament, scuffled with security guards as they shouted that Ramaphosa should not be allowed to address the house. Eventually they were removed from parliament.

But not before they loudly and repeatedly accused Ramaphosa of laundering money and trying to hide it. The party is also demanding that Ramaphosa step down as president pending the investigations into the theft.

More:

https://gazette.com/ap/international/south-african-president-dodges-questions-on-theft-scandal/article_8b6598d0-eec0-56c1-837b-c1b2961aa98a.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16435203 (121449ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Ivan Glasenberg

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“Ivan Glasenberg, obscure billionaire no more” – Part 1

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-02-06-ivan-glasenberg-obscure-billionaire-no-more/

6 February 2013

In Zambia, unemployment hovers at about 80%, and 60% of the population lives on less than a dollar a day. Seven thousand kilometres north, you’ll find a wealthy Swiss hamlet called Rüschlikon, where a powerful South African-born commodity trader lives, close to the mega-multinational he runs. This is the story of Ivan Glasenberg, whose time of relative obscurity may have just ended. By MANDY DE WAAL.

Glasenberg is reportedly so fanatical about his privacy that, when Glencore listed, a top UK law firm Schillings was retained to try to prevent journalists from digging into the billionaire’s private life. Schillings – famous for its gagging orders – directed letters to media companies in England to warn editors to only focus on the business aspects of the listing.

But the listing changed all that, as did Glasenberg’s next big move – pursuing Xstrata in a $33-billion deal that would see the company run by Mick Davis become a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore. The deal has seen its fair share of action and nasty turns, which is said to have destroyed the friendship that existed between Davis and Glasenberg. Davis was earmarked to run the merged company, while Glasenberg said he’d do what he loved best – vacate the CEO’s seat to get back to trading. But then followed a flip-flop that proposed Davis be ousted and Glasenberg was firmly positioned for the helm.

Although Xstrata’s website talks about the company’s ‘small beginnings a decade ago’, the diversified mining giant was founded as an infrastructure and electrics company called Südelektra in Switzerland in 1926. In 1990 the company’s business changed dramatically when the man who started Glencore – namely Rich – acquired the majority of the company’s shares, focused the business on mining and got rid of non-core interests.

Rich sold his interests in Südelektra soon after his bad zinc deal and the run-in with his Glencore boys, which saw him exit the company. At one stage Xstrata was an obscure investment vehicle, but a series of aggressive acquisitions changed all that. Today Xstrata, listed on the LSE and Swiss Stock Exchange, operates in over 20 countries and employs over 70,000 people.

Glencore currently owns a 33.65% share in Xstrata, which produces copper, zinc, nickel and vanadium. Xstrata today is a major coal producer and the biggest exporter of thermal coal. Interestingly enough, at the same time that Xstrata listed, it acquired all of Glencore’s coal assets in SA and Australia. “A string of deals saw Glencore become the world’s largest shipper of coal used by power stations,” writes Reuters. “A plan to spin off the coal unit was scrapped after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Glencore instead sold the coal assets to Davis at Xstrata, in which Glencore at the time had a stake of about 40%.”

The Glencore listing propelled Glasenberg to the top of an elite rich list, but the Glencore-Xstrata monster merger will make him even richer. However, these events have brought with them the floodlights of a certain kind of fame. Gone are the days when Glasenberg was a trading great who was relatively unknown.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16435207 (121450ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Ivan Glasenberg

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“Ivan Glasenberg, obscure billionaire no more” – Part 2

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-02-06-ivan-glasenberg-obscure-billionaire-no-more/

6 February 2013

To add fuel to this fire, the BBC recently aired a documentary on Glasenberg, Glencore and the tax quandary Rüschlikon is dealing with. The film opens with a black screen on which the question is written: “How much profit is fair?” This is followed with footage of the idyllic village with its pristine streets, houses and waterways.

“Real estate prices are booming, unemployment is virtually non-existent, and social problems are few and rare,” the voice continues. The documentary tells the story of how one of Rüschlikon’s five thousand or so inhabitants gave it a massive tax windfall. “However, Glencore’s copper mines in Zambia don’t generate similar tax windfalls for Zambians,” the makers of the film state. “The country has the third largest copper reserves in the world, but 60% of the population live on less than $1 a day and 80% are unemployed.”

The fact that Glencore taxes have made Rüschlikon so rich becomes darkly ironic when it is learned that the multinational was accused of evading taxes in Zambia. The charities received a leaked report which alleges Glencore increased costs in a mining operation in the copper-rich country between 2006 and 2008, as a means of tax avoidance. Glasenberg’s company denied the charges, but this didn’t stop the European Investment Bank freezing loans to the company because it had “serious concerns” about Glencore’s corporate governance. Back in Zambia, this case, which involved Glencore’s Mopani copper mines in that country, has become a rallying point for activists who believe the billions should be going to Zambian development.

But why should you care about Glencore? Glencore is the company that sources, produces, processes, refines, transports, stores, finances and supplies the stuff that makes all the other stuff that comprises our world. Whether its zinc, copper, lead, nickel iron ore, coal, crude oil, oil products, wheat, corn, sugar, cotton, biofuels, edible oils, or rice Glencore buys, sells, finances, grows, mines, makes or processes it.

The problem for South Africa is to fully understand what this merger could mean to local coal prices. The cost of coal directly affects the electricity rate given how dependent Eskom is on coal. Strangely enough, Eskom had significant concerns about the Glencore/Xstrata merger, citing that a giant merged entity would “influence domestic coal prices and take advantage of the utility’s supply shortfalls,” Mail & Guardian reported at the end of January 2013.

Curiously, Eskom withdrew its objections and the merger went through the competition authorities.

As Glasenberg stepped into Davos end January for the World Economic Forum (WEF), back home in Rüschlikon his postal box was shattered by an explosion that activists later claimed responsibility for. The anti-WEF agitators also claimed responsibility for a minor blast that shattered a window of the Zurich branch of Credit Suisse. The Glencore CEO is hurtling along a trajectory that appears to merge the apex of his success with proper spotlight, and detractors are starting to get angry.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16435212 (121451ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Ivan Glasenberg

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“Gary Nagle to replace Ivan Glasenberg and guide Glencore into its greener future”

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-12-06-gary-nagle-to-replace-ivan-glasenberg-and-guide-glencore-into-its-greener-future/

6 December 2020

The big focus will be on the group’s coal business, which Nagle has been running since 2018.

Ivan Glasenberg will step down next year as CEO of Glencore, which under his direction has grown into one of the world’s largest natural resource companies. He will be replaced by another South African, Gary Nagle, who will oversee the low-carbon transition the world’s top coal exporter has outlined.

Glasenberg, 63, has been at the helm of Glencore since 2002 and oversaw its megamerger with Xstrata, one of the largest such deals in mining history. Nagle, 45, has commerce and accounting degrees from Wits and is currently global head of Glencore’s coal industrial business. He will move from his Australian base to Switzerland early in the new year to work on the transition. South Africa, it seems, still produces top mining executives.

Glencore’s tentacles reach out across the commodity value chain, and its trading divisions set it apart from many of its mining peers – even when prices are depressed, commodities get traded, generating revenue. The company is one of the world’s leading marketers of crude oil. Its production assets include copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, lead and ferroalloys such as chrome ore. It is a major marketer and trader of iron ore. The company also has recycling operations.

Glencore also said it was targeting net-zero emissions by 2050, a goal that has also been announced by BHP and Rio Tinto, while Anglo American is aiming for 2040.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16435509 (121556ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore CEO & List of Directors 2021

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>>120806

Glencore CEO & List of Directors 2021 – Gary Nagle (Glencore Prodeco Operation, Lonmin), Gill Marcus (ANC Member), Cynthia Carroll (previously, Anglo American), David Wormsley (previously, Citigroup)

https://minedocs.com/22/Glencore-AR-2021.pdf

Gary Nagle

Joined Glenore in 2000; Chief Executive Officer since July 2021.

Gary Nagle joined Glencore in 2000 in Switzerland as part of the Coal business development team. He was heavily involved in seeding a portfolio of assets to Xstrata in 2002, in conjunction with its initial listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Mr Nagle worked for five years (2008-2013) in Colombia as CEO of Glencore's Prodeco operation. He then moved to South Africa to be Head of Glencore's Ferroalloys assets (2013-2018). Following that he was the Head of Glencore’s Coal Assets based in Australia. He also served on the Board of Lonmin plc from 2013 - 2015 and has represented Glencore on the Minerals Councils of Australia and Colombia.

Mr Nagle has commerce and accounting degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in South Africa in 1999.

Gill Marcus

Appointed in January 2018

Gill Marcus was Governor of the South African Reserve Bank from 2009–14.

She worked in exile for the African National Congress from 1970 before returning to South Africa in 1990. In 1994 she was elected to the South African Parliament. In 1996 she was appointed as the deputy minister of finance and from 1999 to 2004 was deputy governor of the Reserve Bank.

Ms Marcus was the nonexecutive chair of the Absa Group from 2007–09 and has been a non-executive director of Gold Fields Ltd and Bidvest. She has acted as chair of a number of South African regulatory bodies. From 2018 to 2019, she was appointed to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into allegations of impropriety at the Public Investment Corporation.

Ms Marcus is a graduate of the University of South Africa.

Cynthia Carroll

Appointed in February 2021

Cynthia Carroll has over 30 years’ experience in the resources sector. She began her career as an exploration geologist at Amoco before joining Alcan. She held various executive roles there culminating in being CEO of the Primary Metal Group, Alcan’s core business. From 2007 to 2013 she served as CEO of Anglo American plc.

Ms Carroll is currently a non-executive director of Hitachi, Ltd (TYO: 6501), Baker Hughes Company (NYSE: BKR) and Pembina Pipeline Corporation (TSE: PPL).

She is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Ms Carroll holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from Skidmore College (NY), a Master’s degree in Geology from the University of Kansas and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard University.

David Wormsley

Appointed in October 2021

David Wormsley worked in investment banking for 35 years. His last position at Citigroup was Chairman, UK banking and broking when he retired in March 2021. Mr Wormsley led a wide variety of corporate transactions in the UK and internationally, including IPOs and equity fundraising, both public and private, mergers & acquisitions and debt financing. During his period of management, Citigroup successfully acquired and integrated the majority of ABN Amro’s broking business. Under his leadership, the Citigroup UK M&A franchise was ranked between number 1 and 5 in the market.

Mr Wormsley is currently a non-executive director of Stanhope plc and a Governor of the Museum of London. He holds an economics degree from Downing College, Cambridge.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16435721 (121640ZJUN22) Notable: Chancellor House Bun / Cynthia Carroll (previously, Anglo American) Hitachi, Ltd. and bribes to SA government

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>>120752

>>120813

>>120817

>Strangely enough, Eskom had significant concerns about the Glencore/Xstrata merger, citing that a giant merged entity would “influence domestic coal prices and take advantage of the utility’s supply shortfalls,” Mail & Guardian reported at the end of January 2013.

>Curiously, Eskom withdrew its objections and the merger went through the competition authorities.

>>120819

>Ms Carroll is currently a non-executive director of Hitachi, Ltd (TYO: 6501)

Hitachi, Ltd. - Cynthia Carroll and bribes to SA government

https://wallmine.com/otc/hthiy/officer/2014852/cynthia-carroll

1 May 2022

Cynthia Blum Carroll has been serving as Independent Director in Hitachi, Ltd. since June 2013. She is also a member of Nominating Committee of the Company. She used to work for Alcan Inc. and Anglo American plc.

“Hitachi to pay $19M to settle charges it bribed South African government”, dated September 30, 2015

https://www.advisenltd.com/hitachi-to-pay-19m-to-settle-charges-it-bribed-south-african-government/

Tokyo-based conglomerate Hitachi Ltd. has agreed to pay $19 million to settle charges it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when inaccurately recording improper payments to South Africa’s ruling political party in connection with contracts to build two multi-billion dollar power plants.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Hitachi sold a 25-percent stake in a South African subsidiary to a company serving as a front for the African National Congress, the agency said in a Sept. 28 press release. The arrangement gave the front company and the ANC the ability to share in the profits from any power station contracts that Hitachi secured.

Hitachi was ultimately awarded two contracts to build power stations in South Africa and paid the ANC’s front company approximately $5 million in “dividends” based on profits derived from the contracts, the SEC said. Through a separate, undisclosed arrangement, Hitachi paid the front company an additional $1 million in “success fees” that were inaccurately booked as consulting fees without appropriate documentation.

“Hitachi’s lax internal control environment enabled its subsidiary to pay millions of dollars to a politically-connected front company for the ANC to win contracts with the South African government,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. “Hitachi then unlawfully mischaracterized those payments in its books and records as consulting fees and other legitimate payments.”

According to the SEC’s complaint filed in US District Court for the District of Columbia:

•	Hitachi was aware that Chancellor House Holdings (Pty) Ltd. was a funding vehicle for the ANC during the bidding process.

•	Hitachi nevertheless continued to partner with Chancellor and encourage the company to use its political influence to help obtain government contracts from Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., a public utility owned and operated by the South African government.

•	Hitachi paid “success fees” to Chancellor for its exertion of influence during the Eskom tender process pursuant to a separate, unsigned side-arrangement.

•	Hitachi’s misconduct violated the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the federal securities laws, specifically Sections 13(b)(2)(A) and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, Hitachi agreed to a settlement that would require the company to pay a $19 million penalty, and it would be permanently enjoined from future violations. The settlement is subject to court approval.

“We particularly appreciate the assistance we received from the African Development Bank’s Integrity and Anti-Corruption Department and hope this is the first in a series of collaborations,” said Kara Brockmeyer, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436128 (121827ZJUN22) Notable: Chancellor House Bun / 16436139 “Chancellor House: R266m for nine years of lies by ANC partner” Parts 1 & 2

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“Chancellor House: R266m for nine years of lies by ANC partner” – Part 1

https://mg.co.za/article/2015-09-29-chancellor-house-r266-million-for-9-years-of-lies-by-anc-partner/

29 September 2015

Treasurer Zweli Mkhize said the ANC “categorically states that the organisation was not involved, implicated nor approached to answer on anything relating to the charges brought against Hitachi. The ANC was further not involved in the transactions between Hitachi and Chancellor House, nor do we have any information on any impropriety relating to the award of the Medupi or Kusile [power station] contracts to Hitachi. The ANC therefore cannot comment on matters internal to the two parties.”

Mkhize said the ANC would study the outcome of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) matter and “identify appropriate lessons or actions, if any, to be taken.”

Damning for ANC

The long-running US investigation focused solely on the culpability of Hitachi, a company that falls under US jurisdiction by dint of its operations there. It did not examine the guilt or innocence of Chancellor House (and, by proxy, the ANC), leaving US regulators alleging only that Hitachi did the bribing, but not that the ANC was bribed.

To further complicate matters, the Hitachi settlement leaves the allegations made by the SEC untested in court, at least for the time being; the civil settlement does not preclude later criminal action.

Yet the evidence put forward by SEC investigators in its indictment of Hitachi is damning for the ANC, making it clear that Hitachi, at least, was under the impression that it was buying political influence and took steps to hide that fact.

The SEC, which has powers of subpoena and investigation, cites a 2005 Hitachi document that indicates Chancellor House was “politically preferred” when the foreign company was looking for an empowerment partner – with handwritten notes in the margin from an executive “recommendation by Escom [sic]” as well as “ANC treasury”.

A 2010 email confirmed that Hitachi “took ANC influence into consideration” in 2005, when it sold a 25% stake to Chancellor House at a sweetheart price.

Meanwhile, Hitachi sought to cover up the exact nature of its relationship with Chancellor House and so with the ANC. In 2005, it removed provision for a “success fee” payable to Chancellor House from a shareholder’s agreement – because that agreement would have to be made available during the auditing of empowerment credentials. Instead of allowing a “success fee” to a ruling party-linked entity to be “interpreted in a way which it is not intended”, the parties drafted a side agreement that ultimately netted Chancellor House $1-million.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436151 (121832ZJUN22) Notable: Covid Bun / SA minister Zweli Mkhize put on leave over corruption allegations

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>>120821

>Treasurer Zweli Mkhize said the ANC “categorically states that the organisation was not involved, implicated nor approached to answer on anything relating to the charges brought against Hitachi. The ANC was further not involved in the transactions between Hitachi and Chancellor House, nor do we have any information on any impropriety relating to the award of the Medupi or Kusile [power station] contracts to Hitachi. The ANC therefore cannot comment on matters internal to the two parties.”

>Mkhize said the ANC would study the outcome of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) matter and “identify appropriate lessons or actions, if any, to be taken.”

“SA minister Zweli Mkhize put on leave over corruption allegations”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/8/south-africa-health-minister-put-on-leave-over-corruption-allegations

8 June 2021

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has put his Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on special leave, after allegations his department irregularly awarded COVID-19-related contracts to a communications company controlled by his former associates.

“This period of special leave will enable the Minister to attend to allegations and investigations concerning contracts between the Department of Health and a service provider, Digital Vibes,” Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.

It was the latest in a series of corruption allegations linked to coronavirus-related tenders that have caused public outrage. Ramaphosa has promised that corruption during the COVID-19 pandemic will be dealt with harshly.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mkhize told the press that he had approached the president about taking a special leave pending an investigation into the contracts awarded to communications firm Digital Vibes. He has previously denied any wrongdoing.

South Africa’s Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is probing the case, one of over 4,000 coronavirus-linked contracts suspiciously awarded since the start of the pandemic.

Revelations about alleged mishandling of coronavirus funds surfaced last year and have since led investigators to believe that billions of rands have fallen into the hands of politically connected companies.

The SIU last week said that 63 government officials had so far been handed over for prosecution, while 87 companies will be blacklisted.

Mkhize wrote to the ruling African National Congress party last week to request a meeting of its integrity committee to state his case.

A report on the outcome of the SIU probe, which the minister has vowed to make public, is expected by the end of this month.

Mkhize has been health minister since 2018 and led South Africa’s campaign against COVID-19.

He gained popularity through his handling of the pandemic and has been touted as one of the potential successors to Ramaphosa. But links to the coronavirus corruption scandals could tarnish his reputation.

Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane will serve as health minister in the interim. [Their next best person to handle a pandemic]

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436168 (121838ZJUN22) Notable: Chancellor House Bun / “Yes, we fund the ANC" says Chancellor House after more than a decade of denials of ANC influence on major deals

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>>>/qresearch/16436139

>The ANC at various times said Chancellor House was at arm’s-length from the party, that there was no evidence of corruption or wrongdoing at Chancellor House and that the sale of the Hitachi stake in 2014 had put the entire matter “behind us”.

“'Yes, we fund the ANC' says Chancellor House after more than a decade of denials of ANC influence on major deals”

https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/investigations/yes-we-fund-the-anc-says-chancellor-house-after-more-than-a-decade-of-denials-of-anc-influence-on-major-deals-20210911

11 September 2021

Chancellor House Holdings, the investment arm of the ANC, has admitted that the ruling party is a beneficiary of a trust that owns the company outright - after years controversy over Chancellor’s valuable stakes in government linked deals.

This includes Hitachi Power Africa, now Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Africa, that was awarded a R20 billion deal in 2007 to build all six boilers at Eskom’s Kusile and Medupi power stations.

The projects are years late and billions of rands over budget. Chancellor House had a 25% stake in Hitachi Power Africa which said at the time it had conducted a due diligence on Chancellor House Trust, which owns Chancellor House Holdings, and found the beneficiaries of the trust included “black ‘natural’ persons, classified into groups such as youth, women, rural citizens and the disabled”, Engineering News reported in 2010.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436180 (121840ZJUN22) Notable: Chancellor House Bun / ANC’s Chancellor House made 5000% return on the Hitatchi-Eskom deal

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“ANC’s Chancellor House made 5000% return on the Hitatchi-Eskom deal”

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/ancs-chancellor-house-made-5000-return-on-the-hitatchi-eskom-deal/

6 October 2015

Fin24 reports that he ANC’s front company, Chancellor House, was key in securing contracts worth $5.6 billion for Hitachi to build boilers for Eskom’s far-behind-schedule power plants, but according to a report by the SEC, Hitachi had “inaccurately recorded improper payments” to Chancellor House… a damning accusation that Hitachi had very little to say about.

Now, even though the SEC did not accuse the ANC of any wrongdoing, Chancellor House was mentioned and the deal between essentially the ANC, Eskom and Hitachi left SA with rolling power cuts and led to our economy shrinking by 1.3% in just three months. Oh and did we mention that the stations are four years behind schedule and that the process was started 10 years ago already?

Ok so let’s backtrack a bit and get some scope. Back in 2005 Hitachi Power Europe – they supply boilers and power stations – set up a joint venture with the ANC’s Chancellor House called Hitachi Power Africa as Hitachi had an eye on SA and Chancellor House could ensure that Hitachis African expedition conforms to BEE standards.

So it happened that Chancellor House bought a stake in Hitachi Power Africa and according to the SEC report, “Chancellor House was doing its very best” to get Hitachi the contract. Essentially, the ANC was bidding to get a job with the ANC and the people who had to approve the bid were… wait for it, ANC board members of Eskom. See the problem yet?

In 2007 Eskom awarded the Medupi bid to Hitachi without naming any other bidders and in 2008 they also won Kusile.

The French connection.

Ok so, according to the SEC report, Eskom had initially awarded the Medupi contract to a French multinational, but Hitachi had somehow learned that the deal was under some stress so “directed Chancellor House to help Hitachi win reconsideration of the boiler component of the Medupi power station contract.” To smooth the deal, Hitachi Europe agreed on a success fee that would be paid to Chancellor House, but only if they help them win the bid.Don’t believe it? Here’s an excerpt from an internal Hitachi memo the SEC got hold of: “Balance of political power in board (ANC driven currently in our favour).”

The ruling party’s cut.

Fin24 reports that Chancellor House paid $190 819 for its stake in 2005. By 2008, Hitachi’s African unit started making payments of success fees, which it reported as “consulting fees”, and dividends totalled around $6 million. In February 2012, it also paid Chancellor House $4.5 million to buy its 25% stake, giving the ANC’s Chancellor House a 5 000% return on its investment – even though Medupi isn’t running at half capacity and Kusile isn’t even finished — , the SEC documents read.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436187 (121842ZJUN22) Notable: Chancellor House Bun / DA complains to IEC regarding Chancellor House’s R15 million donation to ANC

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“DA complains to IEC regarding Chancellor House’s R15 million donation to ANC”

https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/da-complains-to-iec-regarding-chancellor-houses-r15-million-donation-to-anc/

19 November 2021

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has complained to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) about the R15 million donation Chancellor House has made to the African National Congress (ANC), saying it defeats the aim of ensuring transparency with regards to who funds political parties.

The ANC reported to the Electoral Commission in terms of the 2nd quarterly disclosures for the year as per the Political Party Funding Act, that the company, its investment vehicle, donated the money on 31 August.

The DA contends that by receiving donations through the trust, the ANC is able to conceal the source of its donations.

The DA wants the IEC to tighten up the Political Party Funding Act to ensure that political parties cannot subvert its objectives.

“If the ANC’s fundraising arm is giving R15 million to the ANC, it is obviously fundraised. Now it is highly unlikely that this was a huge amount of donations under R100 000, it is likely that this was donations over R100 000 where that came from we don’t know. Now, if it can be argued that this is interest from money that was earned I mean that is a significant amount of money,” says DA Federal Finance Chairperson Deon George.

The IEC however says that at this initial stage it is not empowered to probe non-disclosure or force political parties to disclose their donations.

“We have not looked at who the trustees are because we don’t go to that extent; we look at whether it is South African if it is a South African registered trust if it is allowed to donate to who it wants to donate. If there is prima facie evidence that can be brought before the commission then it will be looked at legally who are the trustees, are they allowed to donate or give dividends. As things stand we do not go into the details of investigating if the trustee is linked to the donor,” says IEC Deputy Chief Electoral Officer for Political Party Funding George Mahlangu.

Political analyst Lukhona Mnguni says that a number of loopholes exist in the Political Party Funding Act and can be exploited by mischievous political parties. Mnguni says there are a number of issues to consider in relation to the Chancellor House/ANC donation.

“ The ANC’s misgivings with Chancellor House Trust is that they should be able to gain as much as possible but now with the cap on a single donor per annum. It actually frustrates them because there may be more funds held at Chancellor House that could be of use to the party instead of the concern being Chancellor House concealing certain monies is whether or not in the future there will be transactions from Chancellor House to other entities and then those entities can then donate to the ANC which will mean that in fact, Chancellor House is donating much more as a single donor but through other multiple vehicles.”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436216 (121850ZJUN22) Notable: Cyril Ramaphosa Bun / Here is how much ANC received from Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg Part 1 & 2

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>>120810

>A widely read 1999 article in the foreign-policy journal The National Interest, written by ex-CIA officer and National Security Council staffer Fritz W. Ermarth, noted that, as far back as 1985, the KGB was engaged in the massive transfer of assets abroad via commodities trading through front companies.

>“The program evolved into . . . avenues for squirreling away funds for the safe retirement or political comeback of embattled communist leaders,” Ermarth writes.

>If Rich had anything to do with this, then he would have had a key role in making the world safe for nuclear-armed communist tyrants who were America’s greatest enemies.

“[In shock] | here is how much ANC received form Russian billionaire Viktor” – Part 1

https://za.opera.news/za/en/economy-finance/1c4e031e7912b369d0f31eb6270f096f

Posted 9 months ago

The cash-strapped ANC has received a $5 million donation from a mining company, part owned by the Russian billionaire oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who has ties to the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the first party financing report released by the Independent Electoral Commission on Thursday, manganese mining company United Manganese Kalahari (UMK), the largest producer of quantity ore in the country and has a balance sheet of 2.5 billion rupees, was among the companies donated to the ANC between April and June this year [2021].

In 2000, Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska founded the United Company Rusal, the largest aluminium company in the world. From 2018 to 2016 he was president of EN Group, a Russian energy company, and since 2018 he has been head of the company.

One of the groups of oligarchies, the AAR consortium, which teamed up with BP to form TNK BP, is one of Russia's largest oil companies and has long-standing access to the industry through [Len] Blavatnik, founded in 1986, two years before he became a US citizen, which he now uses for investment.

Blavatnik is part of a group of oligarchs in the consortium AAR that has teamed up with the British oil giant BP to create TNK-BP, one of Russia's largest oil companies. His assets include the Siberian energy company Eurosibenergo (ru), 23% of Russia's largest private energy company.

He also owns 10% of InGosstrakh, one of the country's largest insurance companies, the Gaz Group, a manufacturer of cars, trucks and buses, and he is founder of the agricultural company Kuban Agro-Holdings.

Khodorkovsky hired a Western accounting firm, and Yukos became one of the few Russian companies to recognize its major shareholders.

Hardliners in the government feared that Putin would wake one morning to discover that Russia’s most strategically valuable energy companies had been seized by western corporations. In the end, BP and AAR were bought by a company owned by Russia's state-backed energy company Rosneft.

Deripaska is known for his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian oligarch, who has a fortune of $5.5 billion (2.4 billion euros), is also known for his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is a close ally of the Kremlin.

Ingosstrakh has 83 offices throughout Russia, and the companies "offices are located in 220 Russian cities.

The Russian state audit chamber, the equivalent of the US government accountability office, has a final report expected to be issued by the end of the year, but Russian officials said an interim report on inspections of 140 privatized companies had uncovered 56 violations of government regulations.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436219 (121851ZJUN22) Notable: Cyril Ramaphosa Bun / Here is how much ANC received from Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg Part 1 & 2

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“[In shock] | here is how much ANC received form Russian billionaire Viktor” – Part 2

https://za.opera.news/za/en/economy-finance/1c4e031e7912b369d0f31eb6270f096f

Posted 9 months ago

In an incident broadcast on Russian television, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a disused Deripaska cement factory and berated its management.

He forced Deripaskas to sign a contract in which he promised to pay $1 million in unpaid wages. Igor Shuvalov, one of Putin's economic advisers, warned that Yukos would not be the last company to be attacked.

Motorists no longer need to seek quotes from some well-known insurers. Online offers give policyholders the opportunity to discover several insurance companies and check their prices. It is one thing for foreign companies to be minority investors, but when they buy operational control, their payments can be diverted to oligarchs.

Blavatnik, who is a British and US citizen, has ties to Vladimir Putin in Russia, and the controversy over his business background means that criticism will follow his donations, especially when they relate to institutions named after the buildings in which he resided.

At a time when various Russian oilmen were courted by foreign majors, Western businessmen say, he was the only one who could sit down and negotiate deals. After the fall of communism, access to investment in Russia, especially in energy and aluminum companies, began after the country broke away.

Khodorkovsky's denunciation of the state oil company Rosneft presented Putin with a challenge, and the company was headed by Sergei Bogdanchikov, an associate of Siloviki.

US diplomats claim that one of AAR's masterminds, German Khan, was involved in a state-funded campaign against BP to force the company out of Russia.

The donor is Viktor Vekselburg, who has close ties to the Russian government. He said he had never had an objective reason to fear a prison sentence and resented the sanctions imposed earlier this year on Verkselberg, another billionaire and his former partner.

He has donated to government projects such as the Winter Olympics and the school in Sochi, but never more than a few million dollars, he says. The money that the Russian people gave to the African National Congress was to be paid to people who had not received a salary for three months.

Fridman's dilemma gives an insight into the relationship between business and power in Russia. He is known for being curious, polite and persistent. Linked to BP, he has given up half of his oil assets but says he has saved the other half from government pillaging.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436536 (122005ZJUN22) Notable: From poor orphan to billionaire oligarch: how Abramovich made his money (Part 1 & 2)

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>>120810

>You can read about it in “Godfather of the Kremlin,” an exhaustively researched book about Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky [Boris Abramovich Berezovsky was born in 1946, in Moscow, to Abram Markovich Berezovsky (1911–1979),[24] a Jewish civil engineer in construction works - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Berezovsky_(businessman)], which was published last fall. The author is Paul Klebnikov, an expert on Russia and a Forbes magazine senior editor.

>The book details the myriad ways Berezovsky and his minions stole untold sums from the Russian people through international financial schemes.

>“Marc Rich ended up being a mentor to all these young kids who came out of the Communist Party establishment, and who made billions off these schemes themselves,” Klebnikov charges.

>>>/qresearch/16436343

>Chelsea owner and fellow Russian Roman Abramovich also saw his fortune climb, rising by £1.9 billion to £12.1 billion for the year.

“From poor orphan to billionaire oligarch: how Abramovich made his money” – Part 1

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/21/roman-abramovich-billionaire-oligarch-money-russia-chelsea

21 March 2022

Roman Abramovich’s journey from an impoverished, orphaned childhood to Chelsea-owning billionaire was forged in the chaotic transformation of Russia itself, in the years after the iron curtain fell.

His elevation into an oligarch is unusually well documented, chronicled in painstaking detail in an English high court judgment of Lady Justice Gloster in 2012, when Abramovich succeeded in defending a lawsuit brought by his former mentor, Boris Berezovsky.

In the case, both men described their careers, and routes to becoming billionaires, as “a uniquely Russian story”.

After communism fell, he worked his way up in trading and transportation of oil and other industrial products. The court judgment records that at the time of his first, transformational meeting with Berezovsky, on a Caribbean cruise in December 1994, Abramovich was “a moderately successful businessman”.

Creation of Sibneft

The creation of the vast state oil concern Sibneft, whose formation and sale to Abramovich made his fortune, was an idea he conceived and suggested to Berezovsky, the court judgment noted.

Already rich from his dealings in the automotive sector, and politically connected, Berezovsky was the ideal business partner for Abramovich. Obsessed with opposing any prospect of Russia returning to communism [yeah right!], Berezovsky proposed Abramovich’s idea to the then president, Boris Yeltsin: merging a crude oil producer with a refinery, and handing control of the enlarged business to Abramovich and Berezovsky. In exchange, Berezovsky would use revenues from the new oil company to fund a TV station, ORT, to broadcast pro-Yeltsin propaganda.

Yeltsin created Sibneft by decree in August 1995, when Abramovich was still only 29. Then, the judgment records, the new huge oil concern was sold to Abramovich in a series of auctions whose price in some cases is stated to have been rigged, with other bidders discouraged by various means. Abramovich bought 90% of Sibneft for approximately $240m, using only $18.8m of his own capital, although Gloster said it was “possibly more”.

The judgment states that it was Abramovich’s own case that he had a deal to pay Berezovsky for political influence, that this deal was “corrupt”, and that Berezovsky’s political lobbying activities were “inherently corrupt”.

Abramovich’s barrister, Jonathan Sumption QC, “accepted that Mr Abramovich was privy to that corruption, but submitted that the reality was that that was how business was done in Russia in those times”. [and it still continues...]

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436544 (122006ZJUN22) Notable: From poor orphan to billionaire oligarch: how Abramovich made his money (Part 1 & 2)

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“From poor orphan to billionaire oligarch: how Abramovich made his money” – Part 2

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/21/roman-abramovich-billionaire-oligarch-money-russia-chelsea

21 March 2022

‘Good relations’ with Putin

The court judgment also noted that Abramovich had “good relations” with Vladimir Putin, Yeltsin’s successor, and unlike Berezovsky and other oligarchs who fell out with the new president, Abramovich continued to flourish.

According to the judgment he made another fortune from the acquisition of companies in Russia’s aluminium industry, and in 2003 he sold a 25% stake in the RusAl aluminium company to another oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, for $1.9bn. He sold a further 25% for $540m.

Abramovich emerged from this brutal environment, described in the court case as “the wild east”, to global fame and celebrity when he bought Chelsea in 2003.

He and his management team, some of whom have remained trusted associates throughout, improved Sibneft and modernised its operations. Then in 2005, Gazprom, the huge fuel company majority-owned by the Russian state, bought his then 72% stake, paying £7.4bn.

Evraz

The billions Abramovich made from Russia’s privatisations funded his famously lavish lifestyle: grand houses, private jets, yachts and fast cars, the £1.5bn he pumped into Chelsea, and a portfolio of further investments.

The most public is a 29% stake in Evraz, a London Stock Exchange-listed industrial conglomerate with steel production plants in Russia, the US and Canada, which had revenues of $14bn in 2021. The UK government cited Evraz as a reason for targeting Abramovich with sanctions, along with its assessment that he had “a close relationship for decades” with Putin.

Evraz was accused of providing services or goods to the Russian state, “which includes potentially supplying steel to the Russian military which may have been used in the production of tanks”. The company denied that, saying it “supplies long steel to infrastructure and construction sectors only”.

The value of Evraz – £12bn in 2021 – has plummeted 86%, and trading in its shares was suspended after sanctions were imposed on Abramovich.

The oligarch has previously vehemently disputed reports suggesting his alleged closeness to Putin and Russia, or that he has done anything to merit sanctions being imposed against him.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436718 (122050ZJUN22) Notable: Cyril Ramaphosa Bun / Rosneft deal makes Viktor Vekselberg Russia's richest man

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>>120827

>The cash-strapped ANC has received a $5 million donation from a mining company, part owned by the Russian billionaire oligarch Viktor Vekselberg

“Rosneft deal makes Viktor Vekselberg Russia's richest man”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/oct/23/rosneft-deal-viktor-vekselberg-russia-rich

23 October 2012

He may not be the most famous businessman in Russia, but Viktor Vekselberg is now the richest.

That is the status the natural resources investor has been accorded by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, following AAR's sale of its 50% stake in TNK-BP to Rosneft for $28bn (£17.5bn) on Monday.

Vekselberg is one of five Russian oligarchs who control the AAR consortium – alongside Mikhail Fridman, Leonard Blavatnik, German Khan and Alexey Kuzmichev – and his latest deal means he is now worth $18bn and the 40th richest person in the world. That puts him more than $700m ahead of the metals and technology investor Alisher Usmanov, the Arsenal investor who had previously topped the list.

The deal also added $1.2bn to Fridman's fortune, moving him past the Russian billionaires Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, and the steel and mining billionaire Alexey Mordashov, according to Bloomberg, and making Fridman the country's fifth-richest person.

Vekselberg's rise is fascinating. Born in western Ukraine, he trained as an engineer and went into business in 1990, in the dying months of the Soviet Union. By 1996 he had risen to become chairman of Tyumen Oil (TNK) and negotiated the 50-50 partnership between TNK and BP. He also co-founded his own aluminium group, subsequently part of the giant Rusal, with his business interests now managed by his Renova Group.

During the same meeting the billionaire described himself as "half-American" – his wife, Marina, and their two children, a daughter and a son, are all US citizens. He also pleaded for "open communication" between Russian business and the west; in his role as chair of the international affairs committee of the Union of Russian Industrialists and Entrepreneurs he has dispatched delegations to Washington to meet US officials. His pragmatic attitude towards the US is at odds with the ferocious anti-western rhetoric frequently emanating from the Kremlin.

The revisions to the rich list occurred after the Kremlin-controlled oil group Rosneft said on Monday it would buy the whole of TNK-BP from AAR and BP for $55bn. As AAR sells its 50% TNK-BP holding to Rosneft, simultaneously the British-based oil company is also offloading its 50% stake in the joint venture for cash and shares in Rosneft valued at about $27bn.

The sale of TNK-BP has come after years of disputes between BP and AAR in which the pair have battled each other in the courts, AAR has blocked dividends from the joint venture and the Russian oligarchs have scuppered BP's hopes of an earlier tie-up with Rosneft in the Arctic.

While Vekselberg's fortune is on the rise, his ascent to the summit of his country's rich list was also was aided by woes for Usmanov. His fortune has dropped on the index by more than $1bn in the past week as MegaFon, Russia's second-largest mobile-phone company in which Usmanov is a key shareholder, postponed its London flotation.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436784 (122102ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Rusal, Sual To Create Russian Aluminum Giant – Merge with Glencore

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>>120791

>Glencore holds a 10.5% stake in aluminium and hydropower company En+ that in turns is the majority owner of Russian aluminium producer Rusal (RUAL.MM).

Is it not interesting that “Rusal” are the middle letters of "Je[rusal]em"?

“Rusal, Sual To Create Russian Aluminum Giant” – Merge with Glencore

http://www.worldal.com/news/russia/2006-11-07/126398397312619.shtml

November 7, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) – Russian aluminum producers Rusal Ltd. and Sual Group on Monday announced a three-way merger that would create the world's largest producer of aluminum, continuing a bigger-is-better trend sweeping the metals industry.

Moscow-based Rusal, currently the world's third-largest producer of the light metal, is combining assets with smaller Russian producer Sual and alumina refineries owned by Swiss commodities trader Glencore International in a stock-swap.

"The new joint company will be highly ambitious and today's announcement is a staging post towards our future objectives," said Rusal Chairman Oleg Deripaska in a statement.

Under the terms of Russian deal, Rusal shareholder EN+ the holding company for Rusal and two Russian energy firms will own 66% of the new company. SUAL's shareholders will take 22% and Glencore will own 12%.

The companies expect to complete the deal by April 2007, subject to antitrust approvals, and take the merged company public in London within three years of the closing.

With aluminum smelters and refineries spanning the globe, it will employ 110,000 people in 17 countries.

Alcoa will still outrank its European competitor in alumina. Pittsburg-based Alcoa makes about 15 million metric tons of alumina the white powder that's turned into aluminum to United Company Rusal's 11 million tons.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16436854 (122120ZJUN22) Notable: Cyril Ramaphosa Bun / Viktor Vekselberg founded SUAL

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>>120832

>Russian aluminum producers Rusal Ltd. and Sual Group on Monday announced a three-way merger that would create the world's largest producer of aluminum, continuing a bigger-is-better trend sweeping the metals industry.

>>120827

>>120793

>>120798

>>120800 - Boards Where Ivan Glasenberg Serves - Rusal Plc, since 2007 >>120791

It’s all connected

Viktor Vekselberg founded SUAL

https://www.skoltech.ru/en/team/viktor-vekselberg/

1990, together with his partners, Viktor Vekselberg co-founded Renova Group later became one of the largest diversified investment companies in Russia. Subsequently, Viktor Vekselberg bought out his business partners. In 1996, Renova founded SUAL Holding, and Viktor Vekselberg became its President and later in 2003 its Board Chairman. In 2007, SUAL Holding merged with Russian Aluminium into UC Rusal, and until 2012, Viktor Vekselberg chaired the board of the newly formed company. In 2002 – 2003, he chaired the Board of the Tyumen Oil Company (TNK), and in 2003 – 2013 was a member of the TNK-BP Board of Directors. In 2010, Renova shifted its investment focus onto solar power generation, and in 2013, the Group made an exit from the oil and gas business. [Going green?]

In 2010, Viktor was elected as Head of the Skolkovo Innovation Center project. In 2019 – 2020, he chaired the Skolkovo Board of Directors, and from 2020, he has been a member of the Board. In 2021, appointed as Chairman of the Skoltech Board of Trustees.

Viktor Vekselberg is a member of the Management Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, he chairs its Committee for International Cooperation and is a member of several transnational business councils (Russia-Germany, Russia-Italy, Russia-France, Russia-Switzerland, Russia-China). Viktor Vekselberg is a member of the Donor Group of Avenir Suisse, a think tank based in Switzerland.

Charity

Viktor spends a considerable amount of his time on charity, he supports museums and theaters. In 2004, he founded the Link of Times charity foundation with a mission to repatriate lost artworks. In 2004, Viktor Vekselberg purchased the world’s largest collection of imperial Easter eggs by Carl Fabergé and gave it a home at a museum he founded in St. Petersburg which has now become one of the largest private museums in Russia. He is a trustee of the Tretyakov Gallery and Chairman of Honor of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center and the founder of its Endowment. Also sponsors the annual Moscow Easter Festival, with Maestro Valery Gergiev as its artistic director, and the international music festivals in Verbier and Lucerne (Switzerland). He is a member of the Bureau of the Presidium of the Russian Jewish Congress and is its Counsellor for Countering Antisemitism. Member of the Council of Patrons of the Conference of European Rabbis.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16441395 (132020ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Mick Davis launches $300 million battery metals SPAC

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“Honorary Doctorate Ceremony 2012 - Michael (Mick) Davis” (worked for Eskom, see video) - https://youtu.be/FSq3XbpwaTo

“Mick Davis launches $300 million battery metals SPAC”

https://www.mining.com/mick-davis-launches-300-million-battery-metals-spac/

March 15, 2021

Former Xstrata boss Mick Davis’ newly founded battery metals investment firm Vision Blue Resources (VBR) is stepping up efforts to reach the goal of becoming a battery metals giant by launching a $300 million special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

ESM Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: ESM), co-sponsored by VBR and private equity mining investor The Energy and Minerals Group, floated in the US last week. Its mandate is to hunt for and invest in mining projects focused on producing minerals needed for electric vehicles (EVs) and other green energy technologies.

The plan is to use the Vision Blue business to invest in small mining projects, while ESM will seek bigger investment opportunities.

“ESM’s strategy is to identify and complete an initial business combination with a target that can benefit from its leadership team’s significant experience in the natural resources industry,” VBR said in a media statement. “ESM intends to focus on a target business that is positioned to benefit from the global transition towards a low-carbon economy.”

SPACs are like “blank-check” firms with the purpose to raise money in a listing and use those funds to acquire assets within two years. They have boomed this year, leading to a record first quarter for initial public offerings (IPOs).

More than 600 issuers have raised $162.4 billion so far in 2021, the most ever at this point in the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. SPACs accounted for half those proceeds.

Davis’ company also announced an $11.5 million investment in Ferro-Alloy Resources (LON: FAR), which is developing the Balasausqandiq vanadium project in Kazakhstan.

This is the second company VBR has invested in since its launch last month when it put $29.5 million into Canada’s NextSource Materials (TSX:NEXT), which is building a graphite mine in Madagascar.

Green revolution

Davis is a well-known name in the mining industry as he led Xstrata from a $500 million business in the early part of the last decade to an operation so big that — at one point — it made a takeover offer for Anglo American (LON:AAL).

In 2012, he sold Xstrata to Glencore (LON: GLEN) and ventured into setting up X2 Resources, a mining fund that was unable to score any deals in three years after launch.

Davis did not get discouraged by that failure. In 2019, he co-founded Niron Metals, an investment vehicle involved in bringing Guinea’s Zogota iron ore deposit into production.

The mining veteran now wants to seize the opportunity presented by the increasing need for battery metals, which include a host of materials from vanadium through to lithium, graphite, nickel, and cobalt.

Davis warned last month that the supply of those materials was not keeping pace with demand growth. He said that the need for battery metals would “dwarf anything the mining industry has ever seen before, including the commodity impact of China’s industrialization in the last 20 years.”

“It’s a gold rush on steroids,” Simon Moores, managing director of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, told the Financial Times. “You’ve got the emergence of this green revolution where you have to build infrastructure from scratch. It’s not just China this time, it’s North America at the same time as China, and Europe at the same time as China.”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16441420 (132027ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Former Glencore trader pleads guilty in New York over Nigerian oil bribery scheme

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“Former Glencore trader pleads guilty in New York over Nigerian oil bribery scheme”

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/former-glencore-trader-pleads-guilty-new-york-over-nigerian-oil-bribery-scheme-2021-07-26/

July 26, 2021

NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) - A former U.K.-based trader for Glencore Plc (GLEN.L) pleaded guilty on Monday over what U.S. prosecutors called his role in a scheme to bribe officials in Nigeria in exchange for favorable contracts from that country's state-owned oil company.

Anthony Stimler admitted to conspiring to both violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and commit money laundering at a hearing in Manhattan federal court conducted by video, court records show.

Glencore is an Anglo-Swiss mining company and one of the world's largest commodity traders. It confirmed that Stimler had been an employee, and in a statement said it has cooperated with probes by the U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities.

"The conduct described in the plea is unacceptable and has no place in Glencore," the company said.

Stimler will remain free in the United Kingdom on $500,000 bond. His lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bloomberg News reported the plea earlier on Monday.

Prosecutors said millions of dollars in bribes were paid to officials in Nigeria and elsewhere, in exchange for Nigerian National Petroleum Corp awarding oil contracts and providing "more lucrative grades of oil on more favorable delivery terms."

Court papers refer to seven alleged co-conspirators from several countries in the bribery scheme, which prosecutors said ran from 2007 to 2018. None was charged or identified by name.

Stimler worked on Glencore's West Africa desk from around 2002 to 2009 and again from around 2011 to 2019, court papers show.

The Justice Department has been investigating Glencore's business dealings in Nigeria, Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

U.K. and Swiss authorities have also been examining possible corruption involving Glencore, and various governments have investigated other large oil traders.

In March, former Glencore oil trader Emilio Jose Heredia Collado pleaded guilty in San Francisco to manipulating a key oil price benchmark.

The case is U.S. v. Stimler, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 21-cr-00471.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16441434 (132030ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore Reaches $9.85 Million Zinc Rigging Settlement in New York

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“Glencore Reaches $9.85 Million Zinc Rigging Settlement in New York”

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2021-07-26/glencore-reaches-985-million-zinc-rigging-settlement-in-new-york

July 26, 2021

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Glencore Plc agreed to pay $9.85 million to resolve a private U.S. antitrust lawsuit accusing two units of the Anglo-Swiss mining company of trying to monopolize the market for zinc, driving up its price.

The preliminary settlement disclosed in a Friday night filing with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan would resolve litigation that began in May 2014. It requires approval by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer.

Zinc purchasers accused U.S.-based Glencore Ltd and Pacorini Metals USA Inc of conspiring from September 2010 to February 2016 to ensure long queues for physical zinc, or Special High Grade zinc, at warehouses licensed by the London Metal Exchange.

They said this allowed Glencore to receive higher storage fees and command increased premiums when selling zinc.

Glencore did not immediately respond on Monday to a request for comment. It has denied wrongdoing.

Zinc is used to coat steel to protect against corrosion and is also used in batteries, castings and alloys such as brass.

The U.S. Geological Survey said zinc accounted for 7% of the country's $28.1 billion of metal mine production in 2019, trailing only gold, copper and iron ore.

Another federal judge in 2016 dismissed related claims by the zinc purchasers against Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The case against Glencore was put on hold for more than two years, until the federal appeals court in Manhattan in August 2019 revived similar price-fixing claims by aluminum purchasers against Glencore, Goldman and JPMorgan.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs led by Oklahoma Steel and Wire Co, Iowa Steel and Wire Co, Southwestern Wire Inc and Jasper Materials Inc said the zinc settlement was "substantively fair" and followed more than three months of negotiations.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444132 (141221ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Glencore, Edelweiss offices raided over probe into pulses price fixing”

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>>120808

>Last year the head of its food trading business said the worst drought to hit the US since the 1930s would be "good for Glencore" because it would lead to opportunities to exploit soaring prices.

“Glencore, Edelweiss offices raided over probe into pulses price fixing”

https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/glencore-edelweiss-offices-raided-over-probe-into-pulses-price-fixing/1519251/

March 18, 2019

CCI has been investigating allegations that the companies formed a cartel to discuss the pricing of pulses while importing and selling them in the Indian market at higher prices in 2015 and 2016, when India faced an acute shortage, the sources said.

India’s antitrust watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) raided units of global commodities trader Glencore and two other firms in Mumbai on Saturday in an inquiry into alleged collusion on the price of pulses, four sources with knowledge of the raids told Reuters.

More than 25 antitrust officials carried out the raids at the offices of local units of Glencore and Africa’s Export Trading Group, and India’s Edelweiss group which previously had a commodities business, two government sources told Reuters.

CCI has been investigating allegations that the companies formed a cartel to discuss the pricing of pulses while importing and selling them in the Indian market at higher prices in 2015 and 2016, when India faced an acute shortage, the sources said.

Two years of drought pushed up prices of pulses such as chickpeas and black grams, which are a staple of Indian cuisine, in 2015 and forced New Delhi to offer duty-free imports, encouraging foreign and Indian traders who imported pulses to sell locally.

“The collusion by these companies led to higher prices of pulses,” one of the government sources said, adding that the CCI’s inquiry started three months ago.

The investigation will also assess whether the companies have continued their alleged collusion even after the prices of pulses stabilised in recent years, the source said.

The raids on five company offices in India’s financial capital began on Friday and were concluded on Saturday.

Antitrust officials collected evidence, including documents and e-mails, and questioned company officials during the raids, a second government source said.

The CCI’s raids on commodities traders mark only its fourth such search operation in its near 10-year history.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444450 (141325ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Marc Rich and the Shipping Research Bureau

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The Shipping Research Bureau was set up in close consultation with the London office of the ANC (2 of 4)

http://kora.matrix.msu.edu/files/50/304/32-130-1C09-84-Embargo_Apartheids_Oil_Secrets_Revealed%20opt.pdf

Page 97

The Shipping Research Bureau was set up in close consultation with the London office of the ANC.

When the UN Special Committee against Apartheid and the ANC got into trouble because of the SRB's first main report, it was the reaction of the ANC which carried the most weight with the Dutch researchers.

The SRB was an offshoot of the activist community in the Western world, with its traditional focus on the collaboration of Western companies and governments with the apartheid regime. Now facts were emerging about oil supplies originating in oil-producing countries which were regarded as belonging in the ranks of the ANC's allies and who had shown - as opposed to a number of Western powers - their support for the oil embargo.

Page 99

Cor Groenendijk, chairman of the SRB from its inception to its demise, says that at no stage were there any doubts as to the orientation on the ANC, but he recalls how 'the Bureau had to claim its independence in order to avoid becoming a bureau "of' the ANC, which produced reports "for" the ANC which ran the risk of eventually gathering dust in a drawer if they were not top priority at the time of their completion, thereby being inac cessible to others who might want to do something with their contents.'

Page 100

For a few years the ANC feared a Bureau which could possibly thwart its diplomatic efforts. During this period the SRB informed the ANC of intended steps in a manner which can broadly be described as 'seeking its approval' as opposed to later when it became a matter of keeping the ANC abreast of developments and seeking its esteemed advice. The change had not yet taken place in 1982-83, when an idea emerged which as a matter of standard practice was put before and discussed with the ANC.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444460 (141327ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Marc Rich and the Shipping Research Bureau

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“1964: A pioneering conference” (3 of 4)

http://kora.matrix.msu.edu/files/50/304/32-130-1C09-84-Embargo_Apartheids_Oil_Secrets_Revealed%20opt.pdf

Page 11

In its first report to the General Assembly after its establishment in 1963, the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid recommended a study of the means to ensure an effective embargo on the supply of petroleum to South Africa.' 3 At that time, such a study, though not connected with the UN recommendation, was already being under taken by a group of British 'Young Fabians'.

In March 1960, following the announcement that the ANC was to be banned, the South African journalist Ronald Segal smuggled Oliver Tambo out of the country in his car. Four years later, Segal convened an International Conference on Economic Sanctions against South Africa, which was held in London from 14-17 April 1964 under the patron age of 11 heads of government from Africa and Asia. Proponents of economic sanctions and their opposite numbers had until then been involved in a debate on the issue described by Segal as 'a dialogue of pulpits, with the phrases of revelation'. The aim of the confer ence was 'to root the whole issue in reality'; it was 'essential to discover just how practical a proposition sanctions were if successful agitation for their employment against South Africa was ever to be mounted'.' 4 Segal commissioned a number of experts to cover all the main problems of sanctions in a series of papers. The collected writings, including the conclusions and recommendations, were published under the title Sanctions against South Africa and were a pioneering achievement in the field.

Ronald Segal

https://spartacus-educational.com/HISsegal.htm

Ronald Segal was born into an extremely wealthy Jewish family in South Africa on 14th July 1932.

On his return to South Africa in 1956 Segal launched Africa South. He used the magazine to campaign against the racist policies of the South African government. Over the next few years Segal became a leading figure in the anti-apartheid movement.

Segal went on a speaking tour of the United States where he argued for an economic boycott of South Africa. He also raised funds for the African National Congress and the defence fund of Nelson Mandela and others on trial for treason in Pretoria.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444468 (141328ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Marc Rich and the Shipping Research Bureau

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Marc Rich and De Beers (4 of 4)

http://kora.matrix.msu.edu/files/50/304/32-130-1C09-84-Embargo_Apartheids_Oil_Secrets_Revealed%20opt.pdf

Page 152

Tackling Marc Rich

During the embargo years, Marc Rich's involvement with South Africa was not limited to that of oil supplier. Rich was also mentioned as one of those involved in marketing oil from the South African strategic stockpile to Europe in late 1990;2' he most likely continued to be a channel for sales from the stockpile in subsequent years. 22 When his former employer, Phibro, stopped trading with South Africa in 1985 under pressure from the anti-

Page 154

apartheid movement in the USA, Rich stepped in, replacing Phibro as the exclusive sales agent for a giant South African lead mine.2 " Reports in the South African press in December 1990 had it that Rich was building a stake in De Beers, the diamond company within the Anglo/De Beers group.24 A year later there were reports that Marc Rich was supplying alumina to and 'from time to time' buying aluminium from the South African Alusaf concern. In the late 1980s Rich was also involved in some new developments in the South African mining industry, providing financial support for a ferrochrome smelter and a vanadium pentoxide plant.25

But most significantly, by the end of the 1980s Rich had reputedly become the largest trader in South African coal, selling the commodity to various countries, including Chile, the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Turkey. Rich's coal division also supplied coking coal from Australia and New Zealand to South Africa in 1991. After the lifting of the French and Danish import restrictions in March 1992, Marc Rich was soon contracted to supply South African coal. 26

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444504 (141334ZJUN22) Notable: John Deuss and Transworld Oil (video on last)

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>>120838

> Transworld Oil (TWO), owned by John Deuss

“Deuss: From second-hand car dealer to controversial world figure” – (1 of 2)

http://www.bermudasun.bm/Content/Default/News-Older/Article/Deuss-From-second-hand-car-dealer-to-controversial-world-figure/-3/1294/31102

October 6, 2006

Edited extracts from an article written by David Marchant that appeared in the Bermuda Sun, February 18, 1994.

Bermuda-based oil magnate John Deuss has lived a life that is remarkable even among the rich and famous. Since his first car dealership went bust in the 1960s, he has outwitted the Soviets, broken an oil embargo in South Africa, had his home fire-bombed by anti-apartheid protesters and helped clinch the world's largest oil deal. In the process, this self-made Dutchman has made billions of dollars. Here are a few things you may or may not know about him:

Born Johannes Christiaan Martinus Augustinus Maria Deuss, the son of a garage owner from Nijmegen, Holland

His petro-dollars have bought him a string of homes around the world, Gulfstream jets and a magnificent 180-foot, three-masted schooner called 'Fluertje'.

Started his financial life as a dealer in Citroen cars at the age of 25. His second-hand car dealership in Holland went bust in 1967, owing 5.5 million Guilders.

Mr. Deuss apparently decided to go into the oil business during the 1973 oil crisis, putting together capital of $300,000 and forming Bermuda-based JOC Oil, an acronym for 'John's Own Company'.

In 1975, he formed Transworld Oil and Transworld Energy on the island and later incorporated Hydrocarbon Industries.

In 1976, Mr. Deuss hit the big time when he signed a contract with the Soviet Union's national oil company, Soujuznefteexport (SNE), to buy 3.85 billion tons of oil for re-sale to third parties.

But Mr. Deuss allegedly fell behind with his payments and the Soviets suspended deliveries in June, 1977 after 39 shipments of 1.28 million tons of oil and oil products.

A decade of bitter legal wrangling followed and the case was heard in the Bermuda Supreme Court, the Bermuda Court of Appeal and finally the Privy Council in England. Both sides claimed victory.

The company through which Mr. Deuss allegedly owed the money to the Soviets was Netherlands Antilles-based First Curacao International Bank - the same entity that he used in 1993 to buy a controlling 32 per cent stake in Bermuda Commercial Bank.

"He had this big villa where girls in bikinis were lounging around," said Dutch finance journalist Friso Endt, of NRC Handelsblatt, on meeting Mr. Deuss at the billionaire's Harrington Sound, Smith's Parish home [many years ago]. "A girl would bring him a telex about some deal and he would say 'yes' or 'no' and she would go away to carry out his orders. It was like something out of a Harold Robbins novel."

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444522 (141337ZJUN22) Notable: John Deuss and Transworld Oil (video on last)

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“Deuss: From second-hand car dealer to controversial world figure” – (1 of 2)

http://www.bermudasun.bm/Content/Default/News-Older/Article/Deuss-From-second-hand-car-dealer-to-controversial-world-figure/-3/1294/31102

October 6, 2006

By the mid-1980s, Deuss was fabulously wealthy with an estimated net income of $1 million per week, according to De Telegraaf.

Started the fashion line Alexandra Christie in New York.

In 1984, the Observer newspaper in Britain revealed he had secretly delivered 60 million barrels of oil to South Africa over three years in defiance of an oil boycott against the country because of apartheid.

A week later, a terrorist group calling itself 'Pyromaniacs Against South Africa' firebombed his $6 million castle in Berg en Dal, Holland, causing extensive damage. Deuss was not at home during the attack and no-one was injured. Following the bombing, Mr. Deuss, who was already worried about possible assassination from the Soviet KGB, tightened security at all his homes around the world, including Deep Water, in Harrington Sound.

His South Africa connection - widely condemned around the world - caused barely a stir in Bermuda.

His importance to the South African economy was such that the Shipping Research Bureau, an Amsterdam-based anti-apartheid group, estimated that, in 1980, Mr. Deuss may have supplied as much as 20 per cent of the country's crude oil import requirement.

Journalist Friso Endt said of Mr. Deuss: "He never drinks or smokes, he likes women and he has very little humour. He's a complete workaholic. If the day had 48 hours in it, he would use them."

A particular non-business passion is horses - he owned the horse 'Irish', that won a bronze medal for the U.S. in the individual men's show-jumping event at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Mr. Deuss is known for his acts of kindness to his staff - he once flew all his female workers in Bermuda to New York for the day to celebrate Mother's Day and one year sent 50 pizzas around to Bermuda Commercial Bank so the staff could eat lunch.

His contribution to the Bermuda economy has been huge: not only have his companies provided valuable employment and contribute millions of dollars in foreign currency revenues, but Mr. Deuss is also believed to be a quiet supporter of local charities. It was also widely understood that he contributed funds to the UBP and subsequently to the PLP not long before its first election victory in 1998.

Mr. Deuss also brings immense prestige to the island through the sheer enormity of his business dealings. For example, Mr. Deuss played a pivotal role in clinching the world's largest oil deal - a $230 billion agreement between U.S. giant Chevron and Kazakhstan, elevating his reputation as a brilliant businessman of great influence in the oil world. He participated in the deal as president of Bermuda-based OOC, which represents Oman's international oil interests.

Asked by U.S. magazine Newsweek in 1985 why money was so important to him, Mr. Deuss is reported to have replied: "Don't you understand that it's a question of power and money means power. It's as simple as that."

Additional reporting by Coggie Gibbons. Copyright: Bermuda Sun.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444560 (141343ZJUN22) Notable: John Deuss and Transworld Oil (video on last)

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>>120843

>Mr. Deuss also brings immense prestige to the island through the sheer enormity of his business dealings. For example, Mr. Deuss played a pivotal role in clinching the world's largest oil deal - a $230 billion agreement between U.S. giant Chevron and Kazakhstan, elevating his reputation as a brilliant businessman of great influence in the oil world. He participated in the deal as president of Bermuda-based OOC, which represents Oman's international oil interests.

“Kazakhgate: The Incredible Story of James Giffen” – John Deuss mentioned

https://youtu.be/HpaBewrwOw4

In March 2003, James Giffen is arrested at JFK International Airport for violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In the United States, nobody seems to know the middleman, but he reveals to be the most influential foreigner in Kazakhstan. This is the story of how James Henry Giffen came to be the right arm of the former authoritarian president Nursultan Nazarbayev and how its work fell at the center of an international corruption scandal known as Kazakhgate.

Timestamps

00:00 The arrest of James Giffen

01:55 From middleman to Nazarbayev’s pupil

02:16 Who is James Giffen

03:35 When Chevron obtained the rights on the Tengiz oilfield

04:13 The rival: John Deuss

04:31 Investing in Kazakhstan means oil

05:22 A luxurious life

08:03 The investigation

08:46 Hidden bribes

10:05 Trial to a CIA agent?

11:02 The sentence

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444741 (141440ZJUN22) Notable: The wild history of the commodities boys

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“Breakingviews - Review: The wild history of the commodities boys” (1 of 2)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-commodities-breakingviews-idUSKBN2AQ1YL

February 26, 2021

LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Javier Blas and Jack Farchy should be awaiting the call from Hollywood. “The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources” contains at least half a dozen narrative threads that would form the basis of a good thriller. But the authors’ main achievement is to subject the biggest commodity players, and their impact on the real world, to proper critical scrutiny.

It has become a cliché to describe Glencore, Vitol, Cargill and the handful of other major companies that trade oil, metals and food as shadowy, secretive and deceptively powerful. Even so, it’s not always apparent just how large they are. The five largest oil traders handle a quarter of the world’s daily demand for petroleum while the seven top agricultural traders process nearly half of the world’s grains and oilseeds. In 2019 the five largest trading companies had a combined turnover of $865 billion.

This kind of financial heft has made them political players of serious consequence. When Jamaica ran out of cash to pay for its 300,000 barrels a month of oil in the early 1980s, Energy Minister Hugh Hart’s only option to avoid riots on the streets was to call Marc Rich. The founder of the eponymous trading firm that eventually became Glencore delivered the oil within 24 hours. When rebels in Libya ran out of fuel in 2011, and when Cuba needed oil in the early 1990s, long-term Vitol boss Ian Taylor personally negotiated a fresh supply.

The striking aspect of these stories is how much risk the traders were taking. The Libyan rebels had no money, so had to pay for refined oil with their own crude, which dried up when government forces blew up a pipeline. When Cuba struggled to make payments to Vitol in the form of sugar, the country invited the trader to help develop domestic hotels. Such bets were ultimately shrewd: delivering for desperate clients meant charging fat fees and commanding their long-term gratitude. But the deals could also have threatened Vitol’s survival.

All of which engenders some respect for trader chutzpah. There’s also an enticing, spy novel feel to some of the goings-on, amplified by the occasional need to speak about countries subject to sanctions in code. Crude Number Three, for example, referred to illicit Iranian oil. Rich handled this via a bogus middleman from Burundi called Monsieur Ndolo, who was actually one of his own traders.

Still, the beneficiaries of the go-anywhere, do-anything mentality were not just plucky rebels. In a telling comment before he died in 2013, Rich professed his dislike of South Africa’s Apartheid policy, but he supplied the racist pariah state regardless. Glencore sold oil it had mixed with cheaper variants to Romania. In 2006, Trafigura paid an inadequate middleman to dispose of toxic waste on an open pit in Ivory Coast, causing a local health emergency.

Alongside their moral shortcomings, the traders also suffered from hubris. Rich, feeling U.S. outrage over his Iran oil trades, lost $172 million betting on zinc. Bermuda-based oil trader John Deuss lost $600 million in a failed attempt to corner the North Sea market. According to Blas and Farchy’s sources, even relatively restrained American agri-trader Cargill riskily shorted oil in 2008 and 2009, making a $1 billion profit.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444758 (141445ZJUN22) Notable: The wild history of the commodities boys

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>>120816

>Glasenberg is reportedly so fanatical about his privacy that, when Glencore listed, a top UK law firm Schillings was retained to try to prevent journalists from digging into the billionaire’s private life. Schillings – famous for its gagging orders – directed letters to media companies in England to warn editors to only focus on the business aspects of the listing.

“Breakingviews - Review: The wild history of the commodities boys” (2 of 2)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-commodities-breakingviews-idUSKBN2AQ1YL

February 26, 2021

The depth of the reporting by the Bloomberg journalists, who previously worked for the Financial Times, is impressive. Details of Monsieur Ndolo’s cameo come from the man himself. The authors also conducted a five-hour “combative” interview with pugnacious Glencore boss Ivan Glasenberg. And they join the dots. One fascinating passage charts Glencore’s role in pushing for an export ban on Russian grain, how its surreptitious long position benefited from the subsequent jump in prices, and how those dislocations ultimately fed through to the popular risings of the 2011 Arab Spring.

The heyday of Rich and his cohorts looks to be long gone. Even if modern traders remain unconstrained by ethical considerations, practical ones loom. The banks on which they depend for credit lines are now wary of U.S. sanctions or being labelled pariahs by environmentally and socially conscious investors. The practice of paying bribes to officials and fixers in tricky jurisdictions, which in Switzerland were hilariously treated as tax-deductible expenses, is more likely to be punished. It’s also harder to carve out an information advantage when everyone is online and satellites can track oil tankers. Glasenberg long ago realised he needed to be a miner as well as a trader and snapped up cheap mines, a strategy that paid off spectacularly when China’s breakneck growth sent commodity prices soaring.

Traders remain major players in commodity markets. When U.S. oil prices briefly turned negative last April, Glencore snapped up the dirt-cheap crude, stored it in a massive tanker in the Strait of Malacca and wound up making $1.3 billion in the first half of the year. New tariffs and other trade barriers could also open up fresh opportunities. But if it becomes harder for this group of swashbucklers to nonchalantly change the course of world history, that would be no bad thing.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444848 (141504ZJUN22) Notable: How Commodity Traders Came To Run The World (parts 1-3)

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“How Commodity Traders Came To Run The World” (1 of 3)

https://slman.com/life/how-commodity-traders-came-run-world

06-04-2021

Together with his colleague Javier Blas, Bloomberg News journalist Jack Farchy has dug deeper into the closed world of commodity trading than anyone has gone before. Speaking to people who tend to remain tight lipped, they have uncovered a high-risk, high-reward business that explains how the global economy really works. Jack told Tobias Gourlay what they’ve found so far…

What inspired you to jump into the murky waters of commodities trading, Jack?

Javier and I were both journalists covering natural resources for the Financial Times, and we kept finding ourselves gobsmacked by the importance of a very small group of commodity trading companies, and equally surprised by how little anyone seemed to know about them. We wanted to learn more, but realised that almost no books had been written about them. That’s when we realised we’d have to go out there and get the story ourselves.

Tell us more about the importance of those companies…

Within those companies, there are a few individuals who have played a huge role in shaping our modern world. The story we discovered was one of how money and power interact in ways that most people don’t understand. Commodity traders have been growing in importance from the end of the Second World War through to the present day. They have shaped history along the way, playing a role in everything from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the rise of China.

How much of this was uncharted territory?

So much of the world of commodity traders is secretive, so a lot of what we found hasn’t been reported before. We spoke to more than 100 traders, many of whom have rarely if ever spoken in public before. Among other things, we discovered how American teachers’ pension savings went to fund an oil war in Iraq, with a little help from the world’s largest commodity trader; and we also found that the three largest commodity traders (which, because they are private companies, don’t have to publish accounts) made more money in the first decade of the 2000s than either Apple or Coca-Cola.

What was the discovery that surprised you the most?

It was a surprise to hear people talking quite openly about bribery as if it was just another business expense. This is not just something that happened many years ago – the world’s largest oil trading company, Vitol, admitted to paying bribes in Latin America as recently as July 2020. And we were genuinely shocked to discover that in Switzerland, paying bribes to foreign companies was not only legal but also tax deductible until as recently as 2016.

What gives commodity traders their influence?

Commodities mean money, and money means power – it’s as simple as that. As the companies who can turn commodities into cash for resource-rich governments or individuals, the traders get very close to power. And sometimes they influence it. Take the example of Vitol in the Libyan civil war of 2011. The Arab Spring was sweeping through the Middle East, and in Libya there was an uprising against the dictatorship of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. But the rebels had a problem – they didn’t have enough fuel. Gaddafi controlled all the refineries. Then Ian Taylor, the boss of Vitol, flew in to Benghazi and agreed to supply the rebels with $1bn of fuel – and it wouldn’t need to be paid for until after the war had been won. There’s little doubt that Vitol’s intervention altered the course of the conflict.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444857 (141505ZJUN22) Notable: How Commodity Traders Came To Run The World (parts 1-3)

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“How Commodity Traders Came To Run The World” (2 of 3)

https://slman.com/life/how-commodity-traders-came-run-world

06-04-2021

How did the traders become so influential?

A couple of big trends have benefited them massively over the past three-quarters of a century. One is the freeing up of global markets: the oil market, for example, used to be tightly controlled by the big oil companies known as the ‘Seven Sisters’. Then as governments in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America seized control of their resources, they needed someone to help them sell them – to turn them into cash – and the commodity traders stepped in.

The other big trend that worked in their favour was globalisation and the growth of global trade. More trade means more commodities that need to be traded, and so more money to be made for the traders. The most important development here was the growth of China, which triggered an enormous commodities boom in the 2000s.

Why do you think these once secretive people were happy to talk to you?

Javier and I have been covering the commodity sector for a long time, so a big part of it was the network of contacts we’ve built up over that time. People in the commodity trading industry know us; they know we’re serious and diligent journalists – even if they might not always like what we write. And then we really squeezed our network – asking and begging contacts for introductions to the key people we wanted to speak to.

Why are there so few commodities traders?

There are actually a lot of commodity traders, but there are only a few really big commodity traders: five trading houses handle a quarter of the global oil market; seven control half of the world’s food commodities; and the metals markets are dominated by just two companies. Why? It is an industry where size matters. And there is very little regulation.

Are all commodities traders dodgy to some extent? Or does the sector have some upstanding players?

My day job still involves writing about commodity trading companies, so I probably shouldn’t answer that question…!

Does commodities trading have to be as furtive as it is?

Not entirely. We’ve seen in the past few years that a number of the traders have become a lot more transparent – most notably Glencore, which since 2011 is a publicly listed company and so publishes lots of information about itself. But because information is the traders’ edge, they’ll always be cautious about revealing too much information about their trades.

Should it be better regulated?

Without doubt, regulators ought to have a much better understanding of what the commodity traders are doing and how they operate. We’ve been shocked in the past to receive calls from some governments and regulators to ask us basic questions about the industry and the markets. And there needs to be better coordination: commodity trading is a truly global business, so one country alone can only do so much.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16444876 (141508ZJUN22) Notable: How Commodity Traders Came To Run The World (parts 1-3)

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“How Commodity Traders Came To Run The World” (3 of 3)

https://slman.com/life/how-commodity-traders-came-run-world

06-04-2021

Why has it been so hard to regulate to this point?

Few regulators focus on the actual physical commodities – like barrels of oil or bushels of wheat – instead, they spend their time looking at derivatives like futures and options. One reason is that the physical markets are hard to regulate: the trade in commodities often takes place on the high seas, beyond the reach of any one nation’s laws. And commodity traders themselves can move relatively easily, so they tend to be found in the places with the most lax regulatory regimes. [We are ruled by pirates]

Is there any prospect of change on the horizon?

The US appears to be scrutinizing the sector very carefully, particularly when it comes to corruption. That’s already changing some behavior. But there’s little movement towards a globally coordinated system of regulation for commodity traders.

Finally, Jack, some pretty remarkable characters pop in and out of the book. Tell us about your favourite…

John Deuss was the epitome of the freewheeling trader, and one of the dominant figures in the oil market of the 1970s and 1980s. With his mop of sandy-coloured hair, carefully parted on the side, and pinstriped suits with oversized lapels, Deuss looked like a character straight out of the film Wall Street. But his lifestyle was more like that of a Bond villain. From his base in Bermuda, he entertained business contacts and friends on his 187ft-long, three-mast yacht. His typical entourage included two English sheepdogs, and a troupe of bodyguards and striking female assistants. He crisscrossed the globe on one of his two Gulfstream private jets. He was unafraid to play politics, even becoming an adviser to the Sultan of Oman, and he gambled on the price of oil with abandon, making and losing hundreds of millions of dollars at a time.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16452297 (152049ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal (Parts 1-7)

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“Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal” – Part 1

https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/paradise-papers-glencore-hid-link-to-ghost-shipping-fleet-during-iran-scandal-20171105-gzf0sz

November 6, 2017

Swiss commodities trader Glencore was struggling to contain a looming sanctions busting scandal when it secured Australian government approval to take over mining giant Xstrata in 2013.

The $US90 billion merger with Xstrata in May 2013 transformed Glencore into the third largest mining company in Australia and one of the largest coal producers in the world.

But behind the scenes Glencore was fighting allegations that linked one of its partners to secret deals with Iran, money laundering and bank fraud – claims which if unchecked could have had impacts on the newly merged group.

This centred on a major shipping company, SwissMarine Corporation, in which Glencore secretly was the major shareholder, according to leaked documents from the Paradise Papers.

The Australian Financial Review has identified material mis-statements and omissions in bank applications and financial agreements prepared by SwissMarine in 2013 which may skirt international anti-money laundering laws.

At the time, Greek shipowner Victor Restis, SwissMarine's second largest shareholder, was in jail awaiting trial for fraud, money laundering and embezzlement. But he remained a SwissMarine director.

SwissMarine's board approved bank account forms and an application to join NASDAQ OMX Commodities Clearing House in Stockholm which deleted Mr Restis from both the list of directors, and from the list of major shareholders, while explicitly denying that any director was under investigation for fraud or money laundering.

In a statement to the Financial Review on Saturday, SwissMarine said this was the result of an "inadvertent error", and that the company kept banks and counter parties fully informed "as required or as applicable".

Copies of the bank applications are contained in the files of Bermuda-based law firm Appleby, obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The documents reveal Glencore's hidden links to the sanctions scandal, which unfolded as Western intelligence agencies worked in 2012 and 2013 to identify companies trading with Iran.

The documents show that Glencore secretly funds and helps operate a "ghost fleet" of 167 bulk cargo ships through SwissMarine Corporation.

Glencore owns 47.1 per cent of SwissMarine's voting stock but says that its three directors do not control the company, because Mr Restis, who has sold down to 23 per cent, also appoints three of SwissMarine's nine directors.

None of this would surface in 2012 when Glencore and Xstrata announced merger plans.

Australian government approval was a shoo-in, with the government desperate to keep miners onside while it introduced the Mining Tax.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16452311 (152050ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal (Parts 1-7)

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“Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal” – Part 2

https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/paradise-papers-glencore-hid-link-to-ghost-shipping-fleet-during-iran-scandal-20171105-gzf0sz

November 6, 2017

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey taunted the government, repeatedly citing Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg's comparison of Australia to the Congo: "At least in the Congo they need you. They want you there. And if they start changing the rules on you, you may not continue investing."

Today SwissMarine owns 11 Capesize vessels – the huge ships that carry coal and iron ore – and charters another 156 ships.

SwissMarine ships are regular visitors to Australian ports, carrying coal, iron ore and grain for BHP, Rio Tinto and Glencore

Glencore has its own subsidiary, ST Shipping, that operates ships under a tax-free deal with Singapore. So why would a commodities trader need or want a secret holding in another shipping fleet?

In its early days Glencore, then known as Marc Rich & Co AG, had a colourful reputation, notably for buying oil from Iran during the 1979 Teheran hostage crisis.

"Marc Rich knew how to deliver," Rich biographer Craig Copetas told German broadcaster WDR. "He knew how to do that on time and in massive amounts. You want oil in South Africa during an oil embargo – you call Marc Rich. He gets it there.

"You know how hard it is to get tankers of oil in and out of a sanctioned country? Marc Rich knew how to do it. It is all in the traffic."

By traffic, Copetas means shipping.

In February 2001, Glencore had just begun paying kickbacks to the Iraqi government for oil shipments in a breach of the UN's Oil For Food program, the 2005 Volcker report concluded (Glencore denied any knowledge that its agents paid up to $US25 million in kickbacks).

In February 2001, Glencore had just begun paying kickbacks to the Iraqi government for oil shipments in a breach of the UN's Oil For Food program, the 2005 Volcker report concluded (Glencore denied any knowledge that its agents paid up to $US25 million in kickbacks).

It was also that month, on February 2 and February 28 in 2001, that two Iraqi oil shipments bound for the US were diverted to Singapore and Croatia, where Glencore stood to make up to $7 million in extra profit (Glencore denied any intention to breach UN Oil For Food rules).

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16452318 (152052ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal (Parts 1-7)

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“Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal” – Part 3

https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/paradise-papers-glencore-hid-link-to-ghost-shipping-fleet-during-iran-scandal-20171105-gzf0sz

November 6, 2017

Between these two diverted shipments, on February 20 2001, Bermuda law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman lodged an application to register SwissMarine. Glencore declined to say why it decided to launch a shipping venture at that time.

Glencore and Restis Group, one of the 10 biggest ship-owning businesses in Greece, teamed with four former Cargill commodities traders in the new company.

Glencore and Restis each had 43 per cent of the voting A stock. Employees received B and C shares which were cash settled. This was not permanent equity – when employees resigned, their shares were paid out in cash.

By 2004 SwissMarine was grossing $US1 billion a year in freight revenue.

The Volcker report detailed the strict instructions Glencore gave to its bankers never to divulge its connection with Iraq oil sales. Glencore imposed similar levels of secrecy on its new shipping company.

Glencore held its stake in SwissMarine through a Swiss company, Sidhalu SA. Appleby Bermuda provided three SwissMarine directors to represent Sidhalu.

"We are providing these directors at the request of Glencore International AG but this is very confidential information," Appleby's April 2003 file note said. "Accordingly, do NOT associate Glencore with SwissMarine under any circumstances."

Glencore told the Financial Review, "For commercial reasons, Glencore's investment in SwissMarine Corporation Ltd ('SMC') was not widely disclosed. Where required, Glencore has disclosed its beneficial ownership in SMC, such as to banks or tax authorities."

In November 2012, the shipping market buzzed with gossip that Dimitris Cambis, a Greek professor with no previous shipping experience, had just bought eight ageing supertankers through a web of front companies for $US204 million.

On February 27 2013 Reuters journalist Jonathan Saul reported in London that "officials involved with sanctions" had shown him shipping documents which showed that Cambis' tankers were being used to ship Iranian oil to China to beat US sanctions.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16452371 (152101ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal (Parts 1-7)

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“Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal” – Part 4

https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/paradise-papers-glencore-hid-link-to-ghost-shipping-fleet-during-iran-scandal-20171105-gzf0sz

November 6, 2017

Western intelligence

Cambis denied any involvement with Iran.

Two days later in New York another Reuters reporter, Louis Charbonneau, broke another story: "Glencore bartered with firm linked to Iran nuclear program."

He said he had been shown a report by a Western intelligence agency which revealed that since 2011 Glencore had a barter deal with Iran Aluminium Company (Iralco) to exchange thousands of tonnes of alumina in exchange for processed aluminium.

The report said that from mid-2012 Iralco had been supplying aluminium to Iran Centrifuge Technology Co (TESA), which was on the UN sanctions list and had been making uranium enrichment gas centrifuges for the nuclear program.

Glencore told Charbonneau the trade was legal and it had no knowledge of the link to Iralco until the EU banned alumina sales in December 2012, when it "ceased transactions".

On March 13 2013 the US Treasury blacklisted Cambris, 14 of his companies and his eight tankers, for helping Iran avoid oil sanctions.

At this point the Iran sanctions story had two unrelated arms: the aluminum deals by Glencore; and Cambris and his tankers. In both cases the information appeared to be based on Western intelligence sources.

Then on May 13 the stakes increased again. A US lobby group, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), claimed it had been given documents that showed that Victor Restis, his shipping firm EST, and the failing Greek bank he controlled, FB Bank, had been part of the Iranian tanker scheme—which Restis vehemently denied.

Later in court UANI would be more specific, claiming that "by at least mid-2010, Restis was conspiring with Cambris to devise a web of business entities and relationships to buy crude oil from Iran and sell it to Chinese buyers".

The UANI court documents gave a detailed account of Restis' involvement in the scheme and claimed that "Restis viewed himself as the strategic partner in the business plans because he had the knowledge and resources to provide and manage a fleet of tankers".

Glencore was in a difficult position. The merger with Xstrata had gone through on May 2 and the new group needed some good press.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16452388 (152102ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal (Parts 1-7)

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“Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal” – Part 5

https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/paradise-papers-glencore-hid-link-to-ghost-shipping-fleet-during-iran-scandal-20171105-gzf0sz

November 6, 2017

On May 23 Charbonneau had another exclusive, reporting that a confidential UN Panel of Experts report had concluded the aluminum swap deals by Glencore and Trafigura could have been a way to get around international sanctions against Teheran over its nuclear program.

Glencore denies any wrongdoing and points to a UN Security Council statement in June 2104 13 months later, that "there are no sanctions that prohibit barter or swaps in aluminium or other materials".

But that was 13 months later. In mid-2013 Glencore was under pressure.

On July 19 2013 Restis sued UANI for $2 billion in defamation damages, claiming its documents were forgeries. Four days later Restis himself was arrested by Greek police and charged with bank fraud, embezzlement and money laundering.

The charges related €15 million in loans Restis had from FB Bank, part of €500 million in suspect loans to major shareholders of the bank, which previously Restis controlled.

Restis was released but when he returned to court on July 26 the magistrate remanded him in custody to face the charges.

Restis' lawyers said the Iran sanctions claims had been devastating to Restis' business, leading to the cancellation of a billion-dollar IPO on Nasdaq, while Restis' shipping company, Enterprises Shipping and Trading SA, had been put on a blacklist of companies said to trade with Iran – triggering difficulties with banks refusing to process its funds.

This was the prospect that Glencore faced: the two sides of the Iran sanctions story, the aluminum trading and the allegations about Restis and the oil tankers, had an obvious overlap – SwissMarine.

The secrecy that Glencore had attached to its shareholding, if it was revealed now in the context of the two Iran controversies, would look doubly bad for the newly formed Glencore Xstrata.

SwissMarine had just contracted to spend €300 million on six new ships, half of which was to be funded by Glencore. And now their partner was in prison, facing trial on fraud and money laundering charges.

At the minimum, the risk was that SwissMarine could be blacklisted, just as EST had been.

But this was only if the secret of the shareholdings became public knowledge.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16452393 (152103ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal (Parts 1-7)

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“Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal” – Part 6

https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/paradise-papers-glencore-hid-link-to-ghost-shipping-fleet-during-iran-scandal-20171105-gzf0sz

November 6, 2017

In June 2013, before Restis' arrest, SwissMarine had filed a Know Your Customer form with Standard Chartered Bank which listed Restis owning 24.1 per cent of the company.

In October 2013 SwissMarine had to apply to join the Nasdaq OMX Commodities Clearing House in Stockholm, which was critical to the bunkerage and forward freight agreement contacts that SwissMarine used. It also had to set up a bank account.

Copies of SwissMarine's application to DNB Bank ASA Caymans branch and to Nasdaq were sent to Glencore's Appleby nominees on the SwissMarine board.

In the DNB form, Restis' name had been cut from the list of directors. SwissMarine listed Sidhalu SA as the only shareholder with more than 20 per cent and made no reference to Glencore or to Restis' holding.

SwissMarine's Nasdaq application included Restis in the list of directors but listed only Glencore as the ultimate beneficial owner of more than 30 per cent, despite Restis' contractual right to three of the nine board seats.

As part of the entry SwissMarine gave details of "Relevant Persons", which meant "the Company, its board directors, senior management and anyone controlling 30 per cent or more of the shares or voting rights".

The form asked: "Has any Relevant Person ever been convicted in a court of law of any theft, embezzlement, fraud, misfeasance, malpractice or other similar misconduct, or any other serious criminal offence? Has any Relevant Person been the subject of any such proceedings or been investigated for the same?"

Victor Restis, still a SwissMarine director, was in prison in Greece at the time.

SwissMarine ticked the box "No".

SwissMarine executive Peter Weernink told the Financial Review that it was not necessary for SwissMarine to answer this question, and ticking the No box was an inadvertent error.

He said in July 2013 SwissMarine had discussed Mr Restis' arrest with the Oslo compliance team of Nasdaq NOS, before it was merged into Nasdaq OMX in Stockholm.

With the DNB form SwissMarine had changed the way it calculated share capital for Standard Chartered Bank four months before. It now included the cash-settled employee shares, which reduced Restis' stake to 18.15%, which meant it did not have to be declared..

Mr Weernink said the form was submitted to DNB in February 2014 and did list Restis as a director.

However the copy of the form obtained by the Financial Review, which a senior Glencore executive sent to Appleby with instructions for directors to approve it, lists only five directors, and does not include Restis.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16452396 (152104ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal (Parts 1-7)

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“Paradise Papers: Glencore hid link to ghost shipping fleet during Iran scandal” – Part 7

https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/paradise-papers-glencore-hid-link-to-ghost-shipping-fleet-during-iran-scandal-20171105-gzf0sz

November 6, 2017

The link between Glencore and Restis was never made public.

The Appleby directors did not appear to be aware that Mr Restis was in prison.

In the same period one Appleby director asked Glencore if they could be given more information when they approved decisions. Glencore refused and said that it would prefer if they acted as they always had.

Restis was released on bail on December 3 2013. He repaid the €15.8 million loans and three years later the charges against Restis, his mother Bella and 15 others were all dismissed by the Greek Supreme Court.

The UANI defamation case was dismissed in March 2015 after the US Department of Justice intervened to claim that for UANI to disclose its sources and other details that Restis' lawyers were demanding would threaten US national interests. It fuelled the belief that the information on Restis' alleged email accounts had come from US intelligence or the Mossad.

"As to Mr Restis," Glencore told the Financial Review, "Mr Restis is one of a number of other shareholders in SwissMarine which is a non- controlled investment of Glencore. Glencore has no other commercial relationship with Mr Restis."

This isn't quite accurate. While Restis remains on the SwissMarine board, the Appleby documents show he is also chairman of SwissMarine Services SA, an independent company where Glencore is the largest shareholder, which has a commissionaire agreement with the shipping group.

When asked if Glencore directors were aware of any sanctions breaches by SwissMarine vessels trading with Iran, Glencore responded: "Glencore is unable to comment on this question without more detail or access to the underlying documents being reviewed by the ICIJ that form the basis of this question."

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16452412 (152106ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Lawsuit Against Anti-Iran Group Dismis7ed Over US State Secrets

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>>120856

>The UANI defamation case was dismissed in March 2015 after the US Department of Justice intervened to claim that for UANI to disclose its sources and other details that Restis' lawyers were demanding would threaten US national interests. It fuelled the belief that the information on Restis' alleged email accounts had come from US intelligence or the Mossad.

“Lawsuit Against Anti-Iran Group Dismissed Over US State Secrets”

https://www.newsmax.com/US/state-secrets-lawsuit-anti-iran-dismissed/2015/03/23/id/632017/

23 March 2015

The U.S. government on Monday won the dismissal of a private defamation lawsuit against an influential anti-Iran advocacy group, after claiming that the case could jeopardize U.S. national security by revealing state secrets.

U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan agreed with the Department of Justice that letting Greek shipping magnate Victor Restis pursue his case against United Against Nuclear Iran posed what the judge called an "unjustifiable" risk of damaging disclosures.

"The court recognizes that dismissal is a harsh sanction," Ramos wrote. "It is particularly so in this case because plaintiffs not only do not get their day in court, but cannot be told why."

But Ramos said dismissal was "appropriate," given that there was "a reasonable danger that disclosure of the facts underlying the government's assertion would in fact jeopardize national security," even if a trial were held out of public view.

The government has often successfully used the state secrets privilege to defeat court challenges to federal activity, such as the National Security Agency's covert wiretapping and the Central Intelligence Agency's treatment of terrorism suspects.

But its use in the Restis case marked a rare expansion by Attorney General Eric Holder into private civil litigation in which the government was not a party. [Or was it?]

The government did not publicly say why or on whose behalf it invoked the privilege, which empowers it to shield more information than necessary to protect law enforcement generally.

"We are mystified that the U.S. government has such a stake in this case that it would take such extraordinary steps to prevent full disclosure of the secret interest it has with UANI or others," Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for Restis, said in a statement, using the abbreviation for United Against Nuclear Iran. He said Restis has not decided his next legal step.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16455295 (161130ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Eric Holder’s Connection to Marc Rich (Parts 1 & 2)

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>>120857

>But its use in the Restis case marked a rare expansion by Attorney General Eric Holder into private civil litigation in which the government was not a party.

Eric Holder’s Connection to Marc Rich – Part 1

https://www.blackagendareport.com/content/freedom-rider-eric-holder-and-marc-rich?page=2

Eric Holder is Barack Obama's choice to serve as Attorney General in the new administration. Holder was an adviser in the Obama campaign who oversaw the vetting process for potential running mates. He has a long history of government service, first as a Ronald Reagan appointed federal judge, and then as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia in Bill Clinton's administration. Clinton later appointed Holder to the office of Deputy Attorney General.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2013/07/eric_holder_and_the_fugitives_marc_rich_and_edward_snowden.html

July 2, 2013

After becoming a fugitive, Rich continued globe-trotting, while still avoiding setting foot in the U.S. Over the years, his arrest became a personal obsession for a number of government agents. Ken Hill, a U.S. Marshall who had chased Rich for over a decade, told Reuters that "the smoking gun is greed," and that was what Marc Rich had thrived on. Rich had narrowly avoided capture in Finland, Germany, Britain and Jamaica. Besides Iran, he had also openly traded with other rogue regimes while under American sanction, including North Korea, Gaddafi's Libya, apartheid South Africa, Castro's Cuba, Pinochet's Chile and Milosevic's Yugoslavia.

At the same time, Rich became obsessed with obtaining a pardon so he could return to his adopted New York City. Over the years, he went through a number of high-priced lawyers, only to have his plans rejected by a series of U.S. Attorneys. In 1999, Rich hired the ultimate insider: Jack Quinn. He had been Vice President Al Gore's Chief of Staff and then had served as Bill Clinton's legal counsel before going into private practice.

By the time Quinn approached his friend Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder on behalf of his client in October of 1999, Rich was listed on the Interagency International Fugitive List as WANTED by the U.S. Marshal Service, the U.S. Customs Service and the FBI.

Rich was also listed on the Justice Department's website as an international fugitive. The posting further noted that the U.S. "will pay a reward for information that leads to the arrest of Marc David Rich," and even the IRS had offered a half-million dollar reward for his capture. Interpol had also posted Rich on its "Red Alert" list.

Holder was more than eager to help Rich's cause, and was later forced to admit that he and Quinn had discussed Holder becoming Attorney General in a potential Gore administration. Holder acted as a go-between for Quinn and then U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, but she flatly rejected the idea in February of 2000.

Quinn and the rest of Rich's legal team changed strategy, and moved towards getting Rich a pardon from President Clinton, and Eric Holder would eventually be called on again. Meanwhile, Rich's ex-wife Denise, who had received a generous divorce settlement from her former husband (and had also happened to be close to the Clintons and had contributed to Hillary's New York Senate campaign) had dramatically stepped up her campaign contributions to the Democratic Party and added another large donation to the Clinton Presidential Library (which would bring the final total to $450,000).

According to reports in the Israeli press, Rich himself funneled $120,000 to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's reelection campaign (and Rich would eventually press Barak for his assistance) and had also donated 200 million dollars to Jewish and Israeli foundations over the coming months.

In November, as Clinton's presidency was winding down, Quinn approached Holder again. The plan they came up with was to go around the normal procedure and avoid contacting the U.S. Pardon Attorney (Roger Adams) until the last minute. Adams would have to do a background check on Rich and Pincus Green (whom Quinn was also now representing) and then contact government attorneys and prosecutors involved with their criminal case.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16455319 (161139ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / Eric Holder’s Connection to Marc Rich (Parts 1 & 2)

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>>120858

“Obama forgot that Eric Holder dropped Stevens case” – Gifts from an oil company executive

https://mustreadalaska.com/obama-forgot-that-eric-holder-dropped-stevens-case/

May 11, 2020

President Obama this week lambasted the Justice Department’s abandonment of criminal charges against Michael Flynn as unprecedented, but his Justice Department did the same thing in another highly politicized criminal case.

In April 2009, then-Attorney General Eric Holder pulled the plug on the prosecution of Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, a liberal Republican who sided with Democrats on key issues including climate change and abortion.

The comparisons between Stevens and Flynn are striking. Both men faced the same criminal charges of making false statements, the same judge, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, handled both cases, and each had their criminal prosecution undone by a handwritten note that was buried by federal prosecutors.

Still, in a call Friday with thousands of supporters listening, Obama railed that Attorney General William Barr undermined the “rule of law” by dropping the charges against Flynn, who previously served as Trump’s national security advisor.

Although the Stevens prosecution began under President George W. Bush, conservatives at the time grumbled the case may have been initiated by left-leaning prosecutors looking to flip his Senate seat.

Holder dropped the criminal charges against Stevens nearly seven months after he was convicted by a federal jury. He cited allegations that prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence.

Federal prosecutors accused Stevens of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts from an oil company executive, including home repairs and a deal in which Stevens swapped a 1964 Ford Mustang for a new 1999 Land Rover Discovery.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16455355 (161149ZJUN22) Notable: Marikana massacre: Judgment reserved in civil case (video)

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>>120743

“Marikana massacre | Judgment reserved in civil case”

https://youtu.be/e4Xr6MfW4v0

Posted June 14, 2022

“Judgment has been reserved in the case against President Cyril Ramaphosa, Sibanye-Stillwater, and the government. 329 miners are blaming them for actively inciting violence and exerting pressure which led to the Marikana massacre in August 2012. They are demanding compensation of R1-billion. eNCA senior journalist Aviwe Mtila has the story.”

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16462506 (171711ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / The ANC’s Oilgate” – Glencore, Iraq ties (Parts 1-4)

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“The ANC’s Oilgate” – Glencore, Iraq ties (Part 1)

https://mg.co.za/article/2005-05-03-the-ancs-oilgate/

3 May 2005

In what may be the biggest political funding scandal since 1994, the M&G has established that South Africa's state oil company, PetroSA, irregularly paid R15-million to Imvume Management — a company closely tied to the ANC — at a time when the party was desperate for funds to fight elections.

The M&G possesses bank statements and has seen other forensic evidence proving that Imvume transferred the lion's share of this to the ANC within days. PetroSA this week said it was unaware of this. The ANC denied impropriety and said it was not obliged to discuss its funders.

The scheme unfolded in two stages. First, PetroSA management bent over backwards to pay Imvume the money as an advance for the procurement of oil condensate. Then, when Imvume diverted the funds to the ANC instead of paying its own foreign suppliers, PetroSA had to cover the shortfall by paying the same amount again.

A multimillion-rand hole remains in the parastatalis books. PetroSA has gone through the motions to recover the debt by suing Imvume — but most of it remains outstanding.

The effect of the entire transaction was that PetroSA, and ultimately the taxpayer, subsidised the ruling party's election campaign: a blatant abuse of public resources.

Imvume's role as an ANC "front company" first emerged in February last year when the M&G exposed its oil dealings with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Imvume principal Sandi Majali obtained lucrative crude oil allocations from that regime when he travelled to Iraq with top ANC officials between 2000 and 2002. More recently, Imvume described its boss as ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe's "economic adviser".

But it was the diversion of the Petro-SA money four months ahead of the 2004 elections that is now lifting the lid on the funding scandal.

The deal puts the spotlight on PetroSA's management, which approved the payment; Imvume boss Majali, who asked for the advance and then issued the cheques to the ANC; and Motlanthe, who was Majali's ANC patron.

Imvume, now unable to pay its debts, was once the empowerment pin-up of the oil industry.

The contract that caused all the trouble was awarded by PetroSA to Imvume on October 15 2002 — the day President Thabo Mbeki publicly launched PetroSA as the national oil company.

Under the contract, Imvume — with the backing of Swiss-based resource trader Glencore International — was to supply PetroSA with regular cargoes of condensate, a feedstock for PetroSA's Mossel Bay gas-to-liquid fuels plant.

A number of condensate cargoes were delivered to Mossel Bay during 2003. The standard contractual procedure was for PetroSA to pay Imvume the full cargo price no later than 30 days after the bill of lading date (the date the cargo was loaded for shipment to Mossel Bay).

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16462522 (171716ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / The ANC’s Oilgate” – Glencore, Iraq ties (Parts 1-4)

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“The ANC’s Oilgate” – Glencore, Iraq ties (Part 2)

https://mg.co.za/article/2005-05-03-the-ancs-oilgate/

3 May 2005

Once it received payment from PetroSA, Imvume would immediately pay it on to Glencore, which sourced the cargo on international markets. Glencore paid Imvume a commission.

But in December 2003 the pattern was broken, and PetroSA has confirmed that standard procedure was departed from. The bill of lading date for that cargo was December 6 2003, meaning PetroSA's payment for the cargo — worth $10-million (about R65-million) — was due on January 5 2004. But Imvume's Majali asked PetroSA for an advance of R15-million (just more than $2-million of the $10-million) which was paid even before the cargo was discharged on December 22. PetroSA paid the advance into a different account to that usually used by Imvume for the contract.

Evidence in the M&G's possession confirms that Imvume Management's corporate account was credited with R15-million a day later, on December 19. And the M&G has seen forensic proof that within the next four days, Imvume's Majali issued a series of four cheques to the ANC — for R4-million, R3-million and R2-million (twice). These cheques, totalling R11-million, were all transacted on December 23.

This week Majali and Imvume did not dispute that the money was paid to the ANC, but claimed their support for the party was a "private affair".

The transfers to the ANC came four months before the elections, held on April 14 2004. A number of sources have described the party's financial straits around that time, claiming it had a bank overdraft typically running at more than R100-million.

When payment for the cargo became due to Glencore on January 5, Imvume failed to pay the company the R15-million advance — and, effectively, also withheld another R3-million from the balance owed.

Glencore turned to PetroSA for what it was owed, eventually threatening in February not to offload the next cargo. PetroSA agreed to cover the shortfall of R18-million, for fear that the Mossel Bay plant would run out of feedstock, leading to greater losses. Effectively, PetroSA paid R18-million twice — once to Imvume, and once to Imvume's supplier.

PetroSA maintains that the special circumstances of the empowerment environment largely excuse the actions of its management. It also denies that there was pressure from either the Minerals and Energy Ministry or the ANC to approve the advance to Imvume.

Circumstances, however, suggest that empowerment is not a sufficient explanation and that Imvume's ANC links played a role. These links were no secret in oil trading circles. A businessman active in the sector told the M&G last year: "It was talked about when they got tenders … that it was an ANC company … I certainly understand that ANC fundraising has a keen interest."

The advance payment to Imvume was irregular in that it was a departure from standard procedures. PetroSA maintains procurement policy allows for advance payments, but admits it "should have checked" whether the money was going into the usual account.

When the transaction with Imvume blew up in its face, PetroSA continued treating the company with kid gloves.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16462529 (171716ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / The ANC’s Oilgate” – Glencore, Iraq ties (Parts 1-4)

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“The ANC’s Oilgate” – Glencore, Iraq ties (Part 3)

https://mg.co.za/article/2005-05-03-the-ancs-oilgate/

3 May 2005

On February 23 last year, four days after PetroSA had been forced to settle Imvume's debt with Glencore, Majali signed an acknowledgement of debt to PetroSA, agreeing to repay the R18-million plus interest within 90 days. He also ceded his company's revenue stream as security. But Imvume paid nothing in terms of that agreement.

Court records show more than a month passed after the expiry of the 90-day term before PetroSA issued a letter of demand. (See "PetroSA vs Imvume Management" download box on top right of this article for full documents).

PetroSA's choice of lawyer employed to pursue the demand raises further questions about PetroSA's seriousness of purpose.

The lawyer, Leslie Mkhabela, was previously Imvume's own attorney and still has a business relationship with Majali via their common interest in Forever Resorts Aventura, the privatised state leisure company. This raises conflict-of-interest questions.

Mkhabela maintained this week that this was not a problem as he had disclosed his business relationship with Majali to PetroSA.

The agreement signed between Mkhize and Majali was still not enforced. Instead new terms, much more favourable to Imvume, were agreed between PetroSA chief executive Sipho Mkhize and Majali in September last year.

Now PetroSA waived any claim to interest and agreed that Imvume could repay the capital amount in monthly instalments over four and a half years.

But again, in February this year and after paying only R1,33-million, Imvume defaulted, court papers show.

PetroSA took off the kid gloves for a little while, filing an application for summary judgement in the Johannesburg High Court. But the matter was postponed twice, and on a third court date — May 3 this year — PetroSA removed the matter from the roll. PetroSA this week claimed that this was to allow Imvume to remain operational, which would give PetroSA a better chance eventually to recoup the debt.

The ANC this week threatened legal action against the M&G without confirming or denying the flow of money to it.

Circumstantial evidence strongly suggests the ANC knew exactly where the funding was coming from. Between 2000 and 2002, when Majali was trading in oil allocations from Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the ANC's Motlanthe repeatedly accompanied him to that country.

ANC treasurer general Mendi Msimang also went along on at least one occasion.

It is rumoured that the relationship between Majali and Motlanthe has cooled recently, but an Imvume brochure last year still described Majali as "economic adviser to the secretary general of the ANC". Describing the company's "winning formula", the brochure said Imvume had "access and influence on economic policy".

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16462534 (171717ZJUN22) Notable: Glencore & Xstrata Bun Part One / The ANC’s Oilgate” – Glencore, Iraq ties (Parts 1-4)

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“The ANC’s Oilgate” – Glencore, Iraq ties (Part 4)

https://mg.co.za/article/2005-05-03-the-ancs-oilgate/

3 May 2005

How they responded …

PETROSA

The cornerstone of this deal is the policy adopted by PetroSA, which is a national initiative, black economic empowerment (BEE). PetroSA has a mandate to introduce hitherto disadvantaged South Africans into the oil and gas industry. PetroSA had a choice: to continue business as usual and exclude historically disadvantaged South Africans from the mainstream economy and prolong, if not propagate, the two-economies concept, or use our procurement muscle to bring fundamental change to the industry.

To procure a raw material referred to as condensate, the requirement was that the preferred supplier must have a South African partner who qualifies as a BEE candidate. This in effect introduced a major shift in the industry. We deliberately signed deals with the historically disadvantaged party to ensure that they were not "brought along" to the deal, but in fact they were the "principal partner" in the deal.

On the [High Court] case PetroSA brought against Imvume PetroSA suspended the case due to the fact that if Imvume were liquidated, there would be very little proceeds flowing into PetroSA from that exercise. Imvume is much better off remaining operational for PetroSA to be able to recoup the total sum owed to PetroSA as well as interest and the legal costs.

On Leslie Mkhabela [PetroSA's choice of lawyer to sue Imvume]

Mkhabela assured PetroSA of the following: he acted on behalf of Imvume during 2002/03. He later decided to resign from their business. While he acted for Imvume, he was invited into a consortium that submitted a bid for the Aventura Resort in exchange for his services. He retains no personal friendship with Imvume.

On PetroSA's actions and internal inquiry

At the request of Imvume, PetroSA effected a pre-payment into an account different from the normal account. We changed the account without considering that there may be negative ramifications. PetroSA has since tightened the controls around channels of communication and instruction from vendors on payments. PetroSA in its enquiry has not found any wrongdoing by any individual or individuals within PetroSA or external to PetroSA with line of sight to PetroSA. All the procedures and processes were followed. PetroSA honoured the letter of the contract. At times we assist suppliers to better deliver to PetroSA where possible. The procurement policy at PetroSA allows for payments of this nature.

On the double payment

Glencore held the product. Even though PetroSA did not have a contract with them, they had a ship in the harbour with our product. As we had already paid, PetroSA had to make a decision; to either pay them and deal with Imvume later — this would cost us $2,8-million — or refuse to pay and have our refinery cease operating for a minimum of 40 days, at the cost of $1-million daily. The PetroSA board ratified the decision.

Conclusion

It is the intention of PetroSA to recoup all the funds involved in this dispute. A liquidated Imvume would not generate the required proceeds for PetroSA. This would lead to an outright loss. PetroSA needs Imvume to pay back the money owed to PetroSA.

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/16472313 (191532ZJUN22) Notable: Farm Murders on the increase again

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