This is a truly amazing story – involving billions of dollars.
It leaves one asking, why on earth the present South African government is so determined to protect apartheid era sanctions-busters?
The story goes something like this. During the apartheid years, several South African and foreign banks were involved in busting sanctions imposed by the international community.
Some – including the bank that is now called Absa – got into difficulties, and were bailed out by the Reserve Bank. So far so good.
In 1994 the ANC comes to power under Nelson Mandela and starts looking at the books, only to discover that this money is still outstanding.
It asks a British investigative firm to look into the matter. The firm – Ciex – discovers that squillions are still owed to the South African government.
In fact, according to the Cape Town based investigative magazine, Noseweek, these are the sums owed to the Reserve Bank:
- R3.2bn from Absa
- R3bn to R6bn from Sanlam and Rembrandt
- Up to R5.5bn from Aerospatiale/Daimler-Chrysler
Yet – amazingly – rather than pursue the money, the investigation was shelved, even though Ciex offered to pursue the matter for just a percentage of the funds recovered.
In September 2010 Noseweek ran the story with this opening paragraph:
“The ANC government was told in a secret report how apartheid-era government operatives stole hundreds of billions from the State – and how vast sums could be recovered from those responsible and the European bankers who helped them hide the loot. But mysteriously, the Mbeki cabinet and the Reserve Bank decided to do nothing about it. Why?”
Fast forward to the present.
One of South Africa’s outstanding investigative journalists, Sylvia Vollenhoven, was commissioned by the state owned broadcaster, the SABC, to make a film about this strange story.
This was completed, the film shown to the SABC and a date for transmission was set.
Her film, entitled “Project Spear” was to have been the launch programme, scheduled for 23 September 2012 at 9pm, of an SABC2 series of six documentaries, ironically titled “Truth be Told”.
Then, at the last minute, the film was pulled. An SABC editorial compliance officer explained that the film constituted “unfair trial by the media.”
Vollenhoven says that in September 2012 she received an email from the SABC. “We got an email from Thando Shozi, acting head of ‘factual’ commissioning, who said she had a few problems. One of the quotes from her email was that ‘The government is not going to take kindly to being asked, why are we walking away from recovering so much money?’”
When Sylvia Vollenhoven and Noseweek attempted to show the film at the Franschoek festival near Cape Town in May, the SABC had a judge on standby and a lawyer at the planned screening to prevent the showing going ahead.
Now, the SABC has gone further. It is taking Vollenhoven to court demanding that she hands over all of the raw footage, annotated scripts, and research material related to the film, as well as the master recordings.
Vollenhoven, initially thrown by these developments, is fighting back.
She is determined to re-make the film, with new footage.
And she has launched her own challenge in the courts. She has the support of the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Freedom of Expression institute (FXI). And the Legal Resources Centre is fighting her case.
Sheniece Linderboom, the head of the FXI’s law clinic, said: “We definitely will be showing our support in any way we can. It’s an issue of freedom of expression.
“We are particularly concerned about the fact that Vollenhoven is not allowed to make an adaptation of the documentary. That is too extreme.
“The Copyright Act gives exemption when it comes to reporting on current events. That’s where public interest comes in.”
Meanwhile, the sums involved are now astronomical. It is estimated that R60 billion ($6 billion) is the current value of the funds siphoned off by the apartheid state.
Further coverage on this story from the Huffington post.
Martin Plaut 
Reblogged this on Kairos Southern Africa.
surely they can ‘leak’ these films to the online space? let it go viral. Television is no longer the defacto media of the day.
This does not surprise me…just another sad and disappointing fact of the ANC Government that so many people believed in? Just wondering what happened to all the millions (billions) that was ”donated” when the ANC came into power!!!
Hello Martin. This is scandalous. Is there any indication whether current officials have benefited personally from the cover-up?
I think – and it is only a presumption – that when they received the report from the Private Investigators they discovered that the same people implicated in the apartheid scandal had been helping them with the Arms Deal. I think the same people threatened to reveal abuses with the Arms Deal (that is still weighing down Zuma) if they were exposed.
Hm… The Arms Deal is the dark Cthulu of the nation, with so many tentacles leading who-knows-where…
Not sure if they did, but if these billions are ever paid back to the state, I bet you a good percentage of it will find its way to a few connected pockets…
No Project Spear listed at Piratebay.se, Why not?
Yes. come-on. If Edward Snowden can risk his life doing what he has done, sure someone involved can leak this film??
I would like to hear how government gets away with this one
Absa was founded in 1991 through the merger of various financial service providers such as the United, Allied, the Volkskas Groups as well as the Sage Group. The following year, Absa acquired the entire shareholding of the Bankorp Group which included Trustbank, Senbank and Bankfin, thereby extending its asset base further. In the early years of this union, each bank operated under its own name. It wasn’t until 1998 that they all fused into one single brand. A year later, Absa adopted a new corporate identity and the name was changed into Absa Group Limited – See more on their Wikipedia Page.
Not sure how “ABSA” could have taken so much in just 3 years unless the documentary implies one of the previous companies which was incorporated into ABSA after 1998?
As I understand it, the main perpetrator was Volkskas which, as you say, merged to form Absa.
What if by some chance “someone” “broke into Sylvia’s office”, “stole” the material and put it up on You Tube? Hmmmm….
Well, clearly the powers that be have a lot to benefit from hiding the truth.
It seems like some of the ANC elites have totally sold their souls to the devil (the former apartheid regime and it’s allies in transnational business and the financial industry). The research that was done by the Sylvia Vollenhoven is of public interest, so no SABC or any other government related institution has the right to withhold the material from the South African citizens. Otherwise they prove that they serve another agenda.
LEAK IT
South Africans have a right to know just how much they were sold out for when deal were made. I totally support this film and against any corrupt government for standing in the way of “We The People”
Imagine what we can do with R60 billion for the country since th population of SA is plus/minus 60 million ppl.we can buil a half million house for every one build huge water reserves,roads without E-tols.we can have enough money to get enough infrastructures to run mines nd other strategic bussinesses.
The
Let’s leak this film I say…
why is this not leaked? If this is a true story then the public deserves to know.
Much of the information has been published by the investigative magazine “Noseweek”.
To each his own painful memories.
Instead of national suicide, amnesia was agreed –
which cynics insist is one and the same
and differ only about whom to blame.
For an undisclosed amount, though believed to be
a rather generous fixing fee
the decks were simply rearranged
though some might call it genuine change.
From: ‘Honourable Members’ (2009)
Reblogged this on The African Hippy and commented:
Censorship anyone?
Reblogged this on The South African Poet¤Die Suid-Afrikaanse Digter aka SalamanDer.
Leak the story online…. Period.
Let it GO not Pocemon But VIRAL … Share it!!!
It makes me want to puke. Such treachery.
these are the sums owed to the Reserve Bank:
etc
I am not so sure of this one. Most likely nothing is owed to the Reserve Bank. Central Banks bail out large financial organisations all the time. That does not result in a “debt” due to the RB. (recall in 2008/9 the US Federal Reserve did a sweat-heart deal with the large American motor manufacturers. The fact that their CEO’s arrived in Washington with a begging bowl carried there by private jet was a bit galling mind you)
As for Apartheid money laundering – it was done with the consent of the State. It is not clear how that can result in a debt either. After all, the entire Apartheid project was an insane waste of money but it is hard to claim it back from the current state or companies who banked the project way back then.
As for dodgy deals subsequently, who exactly has broken what law in which respects by doing what? This is not clear either. The charge sheet looks a bit opaque to me.
As for the right of journalists to run with this story – it should be protected as if our lives depend on it – because they do.