Spies and secrets set Bank up for attack
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s remedial action proposed for the South African Reserve Bank following her probe into the Ciex report is clearly part of a broader political attack on the integrity of the institution.
She released her report shortly after Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane unveiled the third and controversial iteration of the Mining Charter.
In 2016, Zwane provided the first real indication that the Zuma-Gupta contagion had the central bank in its sights. He headed a cabinet task team to look into the closure of the Gupta family’s bank accounts and recommended drastic changes to the Banks Act to allow the finance minister, not the Bank, to control banking licences.
Zwane’s attempts failed after he released a statement prematurely about a cabinet decision calling for a judicial commission into banking — the statement was later disowned by the Cabinet.
The Black First Land First movement, Gupta lackeys, then began piling pressure on the public protector’s office to conclude the Ciex probe. The organisation lodged papers in the high court in an attempt to compel former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and, curiously, FNB to implement the Ciex report.
In his responding affidavit, Gordhan described Ciex as “a boutique intelligence firm. Established in the 1990s by Michael Oatley, a former British spy, Ciex is pronounced CX, which is a code name for secret intelligence reports by MI5 and MI6 to Whitehall.
“Ciex is staffed by former spies who have ‘defected’ to the private sector.”
The radical economic transformation project — Zuma’s one, not what was resolved by the ANC at its last conference — is under way, characterised by recklessness to suit the agenda of elites seeking to capture state and private resources. Key to the project has been the capture of major financial institutions.
A far-reaching purge and restructuring of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) began with an intelligence report on a “rogue unit” peddled by a disgruntled employee. The Hawks investigated the existence of the unit and, except for the “charging” and subsequent withdrawal of charges against Gordhan, it come to naught.
Project Spider Web, a report circulated in government circles that sought to smear former senior Treasury politicians and officials, kicked off the chain of events that included the firing of former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene. It allowed the creation of the Bell Pottinger narrative that enabled state capture while distracting everyone with the falsehood that the Treasury was imposing “economic apartheid” to facilitate the continued domination of white monopoly capital.
Then another “intelligence report” emerged. Operation Checkmate alleged that Gordhan and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, had been plotting to topple Zuma and had used an investment road show to lobby the support of foreign business for their twisted ends. The report surfaced on the day Zuma recalled Gordhan and Jonas from the road show and, four days later, both were removed from their cabinet positions.
Senior Eskom executives including the respected former director-general, Tshediso Matona, were axed after another “intelligence report” emanated from Zuma’s son Duduzane.
SARS and the Treasury had been a thorn in the side of business and political groups seeking to loot the state. SARS had been looking into the tax implications of the Nkandla renovations and the tax affairs of the Gupta family. The Treasury played a key role in blocking dodgy deals at state-owned companies and was a stumbling block to the nuclear deal.
The closure of the Gupta family bank accounts in April 2016 brought the country’s banks into the cross hairs of the capturers. The methods used by the family to siphon money out of the country began to surface. Gordhan said that the Financial Intelligence Centre had identified R6.8bn in “suspicious transactions” from Gupta-linked bank accounts.
The opposition by Gupta-linked organisations to the Financial Intelligence Act, to his credit signed into law and gazetted by Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, was another indication that the banking system was next.
Unfortunately, perceptions created by dodgy intelligence reports and the findings of the public protector cannot easily be undone. Mkhwebane says she wants changes to the Constitution on the mandate of the Bank to include a clause on broader social welfare, clearly indicating that she does not believe they do this already.
The Bank is in a lose-lose situation. Even though it is likely to win its legal challenge against Mkhwebane, she has stoked populist fires that may be difficult to put out.
THE BLACK FIRST LAND FIRST MOVEMENT, GUPTA LACKEYS, THEN BEGAN PILING PRESSURE ON THE PUBLIC PROTECTOR’S OFFICE