Mail & Guardian reporters
The Minister of Minerals and Energy, Penuell Maduna, this week vowed to resign if the Mail & Guardian could provide details of how he came to know about a $10 000 bribe.
Maduna has denied any knowledge of how a leading oil trader gave $10 000 to Liberian Emanuel Shaw II last November after Shaw promised to promote the trader’s interests with the minister. “I will deny and dispute that I ever knew anything about it.”
Maduna is also disputing that Shaw set up the bribe. “I don’t think that Emanuel Shaw would be so foolish.” Shaw, a confidant of former Liberian dictator Samuel Doe, has been given a R3-million advisory contract with the state oil company, the Central Energy Fund.
But the M&G’s primary source on the bribe story has agreed to go on the record about the minister’s knowledge.
Last week top oil trader Fakhry Abdelnour took the unprecedented step in the secretive oil industry of telling the M&G how Shaw set up the bribe. Abdelnour, a prominent Egyptian who heads up a Geneva- based company called African Middle East Petroleum, spoke to the M&G to expose Shaw but asked not to be quoted on Maduna’s knowledge of the transaction. None of the sources have ever suggested Maduna condoned the transaction – they only said he found about it subsequently.
After Maduna challenged the M&G this week – and accused Abdelnour of acting out of bitterness because he was last year cut out of an oil contract with South Africa’s state oil company – Abdelnour was willing to go on the record about the minister’s knowledge of the transaction.
Abdelnour said that a couple of days after the transaction took place he told another businessman, Mr X, with whom he is good friends, how he had given Shaw $10 000. He said that shortly afterwards, Mr X told him that the minister had found out about the transaction and wanted him (Mr X) to repay Abdelnour. Mr X told Abdelnour he would not.
Abdelnour is adamant Mr X told him that Maduna wanted him to reimburse Abdelnour. “He told me that Maduna asked him to refund the money to me.” He recalled: “I told Mr X that Shaw took the money after my lunch with Shaw. Shortly afterwards Mr X told me he saw the minister and the minister knew about it and wanted the money repaid.”
The M&G secured first-hand corroboration of this account last week. Abdelnour was happy to reveal the identity of Mr X this week, but the M&G is protecting his identity because Mr X initially spoke on condition of anonymity. Mr X discussed the matter with Maduna this week.
Shaw has already contradicted himself explaining the transaction. Abdelnour says Shaw contacted him again in Moscow to solicit another $10 000.
Maduna said it was inaccurate to describe Shaw as his adviser. The minister has already admitted to seeking unpaid advice from Shaw. Three other oil industry players have confirmed Shaw was at one stage last year working closely with the minister.
The M&G reported last week how Shaw was charged with discussing an Egyptian oil contract on behalf of the minister. And Maduna has admitted to seeing Shaw outside the office – Shaw, for example, helped him with computer problems in June.
Maduna dismissed suggestions Shaw had advised him to appoint Don Mkhwanazi state oil chief. “I have known Don from 1973 since university. I don’t need a foreigner to tell me to appoint him.”
Maduna said he had relied on Shaw just as his predecessor, Pik Botha, had. Shaw was part of a team which compiled an audit of the state oil company when Botha was minister. In defence of Shaw, Mkhwan- azi has publicly said that Botha picked Shaw for the job and that Shaw’s work was widely acclaimed. Botha has denied this.
The audit, which was recommended by deputy president Thabo Mbeki, was designed to verify South Africa’s stockpile of oil. Shaw had nothing to do with this, but did work on an accompanying management audit and researched the possible restructuring of the company. He did not interview former state oil company chair Roy Pithey during his investigations. The version of his report given to the press was superficial and was not widely reported.