Roger Kebble, father of slain mining magnate Brett Kebble, is not planning to step into his son’s shoes.
Speaking at a press briefing at his son’s home in Inanda, Johannesburg, on Thursday, he said he did not think he was the right person to pick up his son’s cudgels.
”I’m just a fairly simple miner. I will stick to my knitting. I don’t think I’m going to step into those shoes,” Kebble said.
He did not say who would take over his son’s many business interests, but he did hint that it was likely to be his empowerment partners.
Family spokesperson David Barritt said Brett Kebble’s personal finances would be wound up by his widow.
Kebble said the Brett Kebble Art Awards as well as a project to feed street children in Cape Town would continue for the time being, subject to the family making a decision on the future of both.
The feeding project was a ”fairly expensive programme” but dear to Brett’s heart, as were the art awards which had allowed many underprivileged artists to blossom.
Wearing a blue shirt open at the neck, Kebble said he was in a car in Paris, France, on his way back to his hotel when he received a call from a business associate saying there were rumours that Brett had been in an accident and that was not known whether he was alive or dead.
Kebble than phoned Barritt, who could throw no further light on the matter.
Asking journalists to forgive him, should emotion choke him up, Kebble said what followed were a ”terrible couple of hours”.
His son’s death was only confirmed at 2am.
”It was a huge shock. It’s left a huge hole in our lives. For us it is very sad, not just as a family, but also for South Africa.
Kebble was assisted by Brett’s brother Guy, a former rugby player.
Although Guy, wearing a red T-shirt and black leather jacket, did not speak, Kebble said his son was a source of much comfort to him at this time.
In one of a number of jokes with reporters, Kebble said Guy would ”bop” [hit] anyone who said anything unkind to him.
Referring to the murder, Kebble said: ”These things never happen at an opportune time”.
He added that no father should have to bury a son.
”A father should not outlive his kids,” he said.
Kebble refused to answer any questions related to the motive for his son’s murder or the ongoing police investigation.
He said he would comment in full when the investigation was concluded.
Asked whether he had visited the crime scene, he said he had earlier in the morning.
”I don’t know anything about crime scenes, so I can’t comment. Emotionally, it was not so good.”
Asked what type of message the killing sent into the wider world, Kebble said ”a negative one”.
Turning to the funeral arrangements, he said Brett’s family was keen to have him interred as quickly as possible.
He will likely be buried on Tuesday after a service scheduled to take place from 2pm at Cape Town’s St George’s cathedral.
The body would be taken to the Cape over the weekend. A memorial service, also in Cape Town, could be held within the next ten days.
The family asked that donations be made to the Burns Victims’ Unit of the Red Cross Children’s hospital in Cape Town in lieu of flowers.
Eulogising his son, Kebble said ”Brett had the intellect of a giant and the courage of a warrior. He was an exceptional young man in that he made a great contribution to this country and was committed to the principles of broad-based empowerment. This he applied to everything he did, from mining to his support for the arts.
”From the very outset, his vision was clear: to create a pact with labour, state and capital and to create alternative capital basis,” Kebble said.
As a visionary, he was 20 years ahead of the man in the street.
”His untimely death is a personal tragedy for us as a family but I would also like to think that he will be missed in South Africa as a whole.”
The police were loath on Thursday to give information about its investigation into the killing of Kebble as speculation around the murder mounted.
It was reported in The Star newspaper that Kebble bled to death less than five minutes after being pumped full of bullets at around 9pm on Tuesday.
Kebble, known as the ”new Barney Barnato” for the excitement he had injected into Johannesburg’s mining industry, was on his way to the house of his partner, Sello Rasethaba, when he was shot.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Chris Wilken refused to confirm the reports but earlier he gave more details on why the police thought Kebble was killed in a botched hijacking — not an assassination.
”The vehicle was stationary [while] he talked to his assailants. It’s very clear to us. And then from there, he was shot and he drove further,” Wilken said.
”So that’s why we are actually piecing our facts on the fact that it might have been a hijacking that went wrong.”
Wilken said police reconstructed the circumstances of the killing on Wednesday, and found cartridges.
Late in the day, Wilken announced that Director Charles Johnson of the Johannesburg detective service had been appointed to oversee a team of experienced detectives who would conduct the investigation.
Anyone with information related to the murder was urged to call Johnson at 011-497-7261 or 082-853-0394.
Speculation over Kebble’s murder mounted on Thursday with suggestions that his death could be related to a multimillion-rand share scam, his political links or his new interest in the diamond business.
”At this stage it will not be in the interest of the investigation to give a blow-by-blow account of related developments as this will fuel irresponsible speculation and likely to prejudice police investigations,” Wilken said. – Sapa