How did Guptas become black?
OPINION: SEVERAL PALE MALES RUN FAMILY’S AFFAIRS
If the Guptas are pro-black economic emancipation, they don’t show it in their businesses.
In the propaganda war between President Jacob Zuma and his supporters, the Guptas and Zuma’s critics, the narrative has been that those opposing the “Zuptas” are racist white monopoly capitalists, or their stooges.
But how did the Guptas paint themselves black? They began to establish themselves in SA in 1993. They are Indian, naturalised Indian South Africans in 2015. They have suffered zero of the injustices black South Africans experienced and aren’t historically disadvantaged. This made the intent of the new Mining Charter suspicious when it was revealed the definition of a black person in the charter included: “Black person – a generic term meaning Africans, coloureds and Indians who became citizens of SA (ii) on or after April 27, 1994 and who would have been entitled to acquire citizenship by naturalisation prior to that date.”
We met the Oakbay Investments executive team last year. There were quite a few white Afrikaans males in their businesses’ upper management. A closer look reveals the following:
Holding company: Acting CEO Ronica Ragavan (Indian female), prior to that Nazeem Howa (Indian male).
Oakbay Investments: Oakbay Resources and Energy – the JSE-listed public company:
Board: Terence Rensen (chairperson, white male); Jacques Roux (CEO, white male); Trevor Scott (financial director and CFO, white male); Dudu Nyamane (nonexecutive director, black female); Mark Pamensky (independent nonexecutive director, white male); Nazeem Howa (nonexecutive director, Indian male). Management: Paul Richardson (white male), Leon du Preez (white male), Izak Marais (white male), Joseph Mtshali (black male), Henning Viljoen (white male).
Public relations company Bell Pottinger was hired to manage the Guptas’, Oakbay’s and the ANC’s professional image. The Guptas paid for this. Bell Pottinger: Nick Lambert (white British male), Victoria Geoghegan (white British female), and two more British males.
Professional services:
Gert van der Merwe (white male).
I hosted Varun Gupta, Atul Gupta’s nephew, when he was interviewed at Moneyweb’s offices in 2015 as chief operating officer of Oakbay Resources and Energy and when we toured Shiva uranium and gold mine. Did I see a black person in Varun’s personal security detail, or among the drivers, or in the contingent of hostesses looking after us at the mine? No. All white.
I also once asked Howa if he had any equity in Oakbay businesses. He said the family owns the companies with no staff afforded a stake. So it’s a little hard to see how the Guptas are advancing the interests of black South Africans.
Family lawyer: