Jacob's son Duduzane Zuma and the Guptas plan to give 70% of their Arcelor riches away.(Sapa)-Businessman and son of President Jacob Zuma, Duduzane, has defended his involvement in black economic empowerment deals and vowed to give away 70% of his stake in ArcelorMittal SA (JSE:ACL) (Amsa) deal.
Now that is generous!!! Still he press have not taken too kindly to this sudden act of kindness. The Independent carried it as a lead story, and followed it up with an amusing description of their interview with Dudz. It's a pity that I can't post the editorial on page 16 (the Independent is not big on posting stories online on the same day), because it spares little punches (the title is "Mouse-bite polishes won't mask BEE stink" if you want to Google it later). Take a look at this paragraph
Unfortunately for Duduzane, the South African public became instantly outraged when he and his business allies, including the Guptas, secured, out of the blue, the R9bn stake, making him an instant mining mogul under controversial circumstances.
It's very obvious that the gesture is a knee-jerk reaction to a stinking deal. But I think that it might be a last ditch attempt at saving the deal. The odds seem to be stacked against the ICT/ArcelorMittal SA deal going ahead (we can thank the United States' Foreign Corrupt Practices Act [FCPA]). One can only wonder whether the BEE deal with the Ayigobi consortium will fly if the ICT deal does sink. To me this is a clear indication that that deal is not a fait accompli.
And now to answer Sipho Ngcobo's question
What does a president's son or daughter have to do for a living?
Simple Sipho, don't do BEE deals or dubious mining transactions. Especially if you have little or no track record in that specific field.
On the latter point, Sandile Zungu when pressed to explain the value that Dudz would bring to the consortium responded with
SANDILE ZUNGU: Well you are too simplistic - if the mining industry were not to accept new entrants, the mining industry will never too full... if the people who earn the right to be participants are only those people with old money, then there is no space for black people in mining sector - that's why you have to continuously make conscientious efforts to introduce new players who aspire to be long term players in the industry. From what I understand, Duduzane wants to be seasoned businessperson and he wants to ply his trade, creating wealth for the country, for himself in the mining sector and beyond. This may well be just the start - lets look at him in 20 years time and lets see whether this transaction called Ayigobi will have been the fillip that catapulted him to better growth trajectory - I would like to hope so.
In other word, he has no experience and we should give him chance at doing this. Since when should such a new entrant be given a multi-million ZAR leg up - that's not how most new entrants enter a business or industry.
This whole thing it rotten to the core and the more the parties try and defend it, the more they expose themselves. Interestingly - to my mind the Guptas are going to come out of this with their reputation in tact.
Comments