Mining magnate Brett Kebble was assassinated, one of his business partners said on Wednesday.
Andile Nkuhlu, who is also a member of the African National Congress Youth League, was one of a group of people expecting Kebble for dinner on Tuesday night. Kebble was shot dead on his way there at about 9pm.
Nkuhlu said Kebble was the victim of a callous, premeditated crime.
“This was pure assassination. There is no doubt about it,” Nkuhlu said. “I was at the scene. There was no attempt at a robbery. I saw it with my own eyes. The truth will come out about what happened to the life of this great South African.”
Nkuhlu said Kebble, who was a member of the ANC, was a pioneer, passionate and committed to transformation.
“I knew him very well. He was a genuine friend. He broke much ground as a white South African. He was a patriot who embraced the new era. He believed in the unique values of our South African nation and he had passion for that.”
Nkuhlu said Kebble was regarded as controversial because anyone who made progress in life would be controversial.
“He was controversial for being true to the values of transformation,” Nkuhlu said.
“He is not controversial because he did anything untoward. He made progress. He embraced new partners and said, ‘I will work with people who have been denied access to economy.’ He was a true compatriot.”
Nkuhlu said Kebble was a “noticeable fellow” who was very humorous. He said Kebble loved the art world and he loved nature. He was peaceful in many ways.
Nkuhlu was one of a group of people waiting for Kebble when he was contacted by members of the media.
“They asked us if we were aware that Mr Kebble had died. We said, ‘No, we are not aware,'” he said. “This is a sad loss. Everyone is trying to recover and make sense of what has happened.”
‘Malicious attempt’
Meanwhile, Kebble’s advocate Willem Heath also said the mining magnate appeared to have been deliberately murdered.
“It appears that it was probably a malicious attempt to kill him and he was in fact killed,” Heath told the SAFM radio station on Wednesday morning.
Heath said indications are that the first shot aimed at Kebble came from behind and that there had been no attempt to get his vehicle.
Kebble’s body was found slumped in the driver’s seat of his luxury Mercedes-Benz saloon where it had come to a halt, crunching a headlight into the bridge railing on Melrose Street over the main Johannesburg-Pretoria highway.
“We don’t know if he was led into an ambush or if he was followed,” said police spokesperson Superintendent Chris Wilken.
Heath said Kebble’s father, Roger, had been informed of his son’s death at about 10pm on Tuesday and was “extremely shocked”.
“He was all alone in Paris and I am sure he had a very difficult night last night,” Heath said.
Wilken told the Mail & Guardian Online that a 9mm pistol had been used to kill Kebble.
“A number of shots were fired at the car and a number of shots hit him. He died at the scene,” said Wilken said.
‘Everyone is in absolute shock’
The Kebble family are waiting for the outcome of an inquest before commenting further, a family spokesperson said.
“Everyone is in absolute shock,” Gail Strauss said. “Not much is known. Brett was driving alone. It is too soon to comment. We are waiting for the outcome of a police inquest.”
“Roger is on his way back from France. Until we know what is going on there is not much we can say,” Strauss said.
The police said on Wednesday that they are looking at the possibility that Kebble was assassinated.
Wilken said he could not give any further details.
“We are looking at the possibility of this being an assassination, but there is no evidence to suggest this so far,” he said. “Further than that, I can not say anything else.”
‘Gung-ho, devil-may-care attitude
Kebble (41) was recently forced to resign from the boards of JCI, Western Areas and Randgold and Exploration amid mounting controversy, pressure and alleged financial irregularities.
It was the second time Kebble had been forced to step down from the position of chief executive in the past five years.
He had resigned in 2000 shortly after revelations that he may have manipulated shares in order to repel the hostile takeover of Randfontein Estates Mining Company by Harmony Gold.
Kebble joined his mining-engineer father in the mining industry after a career in law in Cape Town.
He teamed up with his father in 1991 to purchase a controlling stake in Rand Leases Gold Mining. From this base, he helped engineer the successful takeover of Randgold and Exploration Company Limited in 1994.
As an executive director of Randgold, he oversaw the reorganisation of the group, including several mergers and acquisitions and the listing of Randgold Resources on the London Stock Exchange.
In 1996, he injected his family’s 33% stake in Randgold into Consolidated Mining Corporation, thereby creating a base to help fund the purchase of a controlling stake in JCI in November 1996.
During 1998, he accomplished the largest investment made at the time into South Africa by selling half the mine, South Deep — Western Areas’ major asset — to a Canadian mining company, Placer Dome.
In 2002, Kebble announced the merger of JCI with Consolidated African Mines. The merged entity was listed on the JSE as JCI in July of that year.
“In terms of their contribution to the South African mining industry, the Kebbles were the first to release mines from burdensome management contracts, initiating a period of profound transformation in the South African gold-mining industry,” reads his personal website.
In his personal capacity, he was the sponsor of South Africa’s most generous art awards, the Brett Kebble Art Awards.
Kebble had been described in a recent article as a polished persona with a “gung-ho, devil-may-care attitude that made the local mining world as exciting as during the heady days of Barney Barnato”.
He was passionate about transforming the mining industry, a promoter of black economic empowerment and committed to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).
Tributes
The National Union of Mineworkers on Wednesday sent condolences to the family of Kebble, said secretary general Gwede Mantashe.
“It is sad that a young man of 41, who was keen to make a contribution, died.”
The people of Stilfontein are mourning his death, the trade union Solidarity said on Wednesday morning.
“Mr Kebble’s father, Roger Kebble, is a hero in Stilfontein, so the whole town is mourning with him,” said union spokesperson Reint Dykema.
“Mr Kebble has given the people of Stilfontein hope. When the mines start operating again, 3 800 people will have work,” said Dykema.
Roger had donated R50 000 to a scheme being run by Solidarity to feed the unemployed mineworkers and their families.
“Solidarity and the people of Stilfontein are shocked and send their condolences to the Kebble family,” Dykema said.