Paul Kirk
A controversial companythathas a major stake in the R60-billion arms deal has reneged on an agreement to donate money to a Durban charity set up toeducate the poor.
More than two years after promising to fork out about R1-million to kick-start the Archbishop Denis Hurley Educational Fund, Nkobi Holdings, which is headed by Schabir Shaik, the brother of defence procurement chief Chippy Shaik, has paid not a cent.
The fund was launched at the University of Natal in August 1999 and is named after one of the icons of the struggle against apartheid. Hurley is Roman Catholic Bishop Emeritus of Durban and was chancellor of the university between 1993 and 1998.
The fund aims to provide tertiary education for those unable to afford it and who have not been able to secure bursaries from other sources.
Nkobi’s offices were recently raided by the Scorpions looking for evidence relating to corruption in South Africa’s R60-billion arms acquisition deal. The company and its affiliates are involved in numerous partnerships that hold contracts worth billions. Some of the more lucrative contracts the firm is involved with are:
The contract to supply the new driver’s licence for the entire country.
Upgrading the N3 toll road between Durban and Gauteng.
Supplying logistics support for helicopters purchased as part of the arms deal.
The extremely controversial contract to supply combat suites for the newly purchased naval corvettes.
By way of contrast the Denis Hurley Educational Fund hasonly been able to raise little more than R400 000 since its inception almost two years ago.
Rudi Kimmie of the Natal University Development Fund, which administers the charity, told the Mail & Guardian that to date no money has been released by Nkobi Holdings despite its agreement to do so.
Said Kimmie: “It was before my time here, but to date no money has been handed over. There was an agreement for the money to be handed over, and we have had a meeting with Nkobi Holdings in this regard, but nothing came of it.”
The M&G phoned and faxed Shaik’s office. Among other things Shaik was asked whether his donation to the fund was ever reflected in a tax return as a charitable donation. No reply was forthcoming.
At the launch of the Hurley fund it was reported that the managing director of Nkobi, Phambali Gama, gave a speech saying it was time the business community became involved in education and development.
It is not the first time Nkobi Holdings and Shaik have been caught up in a tangle with charities. When the M&G first interviewed Shaik he handed over a list of Nkobi shareholders that included the Nkobi Family Trust and the Workers College, an adult education institution.
The Nkobi Family Trust was set up to see to the needs of the widow and family of the late Thomas Nkobi, the first treasurer general of the African National Congress. Shaik named his company after Nkobi he describes him as his mentor.
Both organisations say they have not consented to beingshareholders in Nkobi Holdings, and have received neither dividends nor communications relating to share prices or shareholders meetings.
When the Hurley fund was launched the world-renowned cleric flew out to Durban for the opening and, in a speech that was widely reported, said he saw a link between the creation of the fund and the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He thought the university might be able to make a contribution to reconciliation by providing education to those who had previously not been able to attend university.
At the time no doubt heartened by Nkobi Holdings’s generosity Professor John Volmink, the executive director of the Natal University Development Fund, said the intention was to raise R20-million over three years.