”Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi [Let the women’s name be praised]” — the rallying cry of the African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) first adopted at the party’s national conference in 1957 — is today the name of a trust that appears, through its proximity to the ruling party’s women’s wing, to have landed a string of lucrative empowerment deals.
The Malibongwe Women’s Development Organisation, chaired by Nonkumbi Bertha Gxowa, ANCWL treasurer, has in the past two years acquired shares in excess of R235-million in various black economic empowerment (BEE) ventures.
It is unclear whether these are held on behalf of the ANCWL. The trust deed that governs Malibongwe is vague about the beneficiaries. Malibongwe officials said this week it had never advanced donations to the league.
But the fact that Gxowa is an ANCWL office-bearer, that other trustees are senior ANC members, and that it has achieved major corporate success in a short period, raises questions about whether Malibongwe trades on its political connections.
Four out of five of the women’s league’s office-bearers are actively pursuing business interests — in some cases the companies in which they have interests appear to have benefited directly from state contracts (see sidebar).
This comes as a high-level ANC task team, comprising Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel, ANC deputy secretary general Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele, Director General in the Presidency Frank Chikane and business tycoon Saki Macozoma, are developing a code of conduct to regulate the relationship between ANC officials and business.
The task team is also formulating regulations for private party funding. The Malibongwe Women’s Development Organisation’s business interests are held through the Malibongwe Women’s Development Trust, which was registered with the master of the high court in October last year — around the time of the R16-billion Kumba BEE deal, the biggest empowerment deal to date, in which Malibongwe holds a R193-million stake.
According to the trust deed, the trust’s sole purpose is ”to carry out such public benefit activities as may be determined by the trustees from time to time”.
The trustees are Gxowa, South Africa’s ambassador to The Netherlands Hlengiwe Mkhize, and Medi Mokuena, MD of Mokuena Attorneys, a member of the Competition Tribunal and committee member of the North West government’s audit committee.
The trust deed is vague on beneficiaries, stating that ”collectively” they are ”Malibongwe and any public benefit organisation … in terms of Section 30 of the Income Tax Act and appointed by the trustees as a beneficiary of the trust.”
Section 30 of the Income Tax Act defines a public benefit organisation as one in which ”the sole subject is carrying on one or more public benefit activities … [which] are carried on in a non-profit manner with an altruistic or philanthropic intent … at least 85% of such activities are carried out for the benefit of persons in the Republic”.
While the Malibongwe trust was registered less than a year ago, the Malibongwe Women’s Development Organisation was formed in 1992 by Gxowa and Lorna Motsoahae, a senior women’s league member.
Replying to questions, Malibongwe Women’s Development Trust officials said the trust’s main objective ”was to engage in projects of socio-economic empowerment of women, especially those in rural areas and very poor, irrespective of their political, ethnic, race and/or religious background.”
”Over the years it has tirelessly worked hard in assisting women’s organisations,” they said.
Asked to list the organisations it had benefited, the officials said: ”When funds finally come in, the main beneficiaries of its funding will indeed be those organisations that are based and operate in rural areas and/or poverty-stricken communities.”
In 2004 Gxowa, also an MP, was fined R1 000 for failing to declare her directorship of a company, Chirmat, which has exclusive rights to distribute Orlamat Drops, an immune booster imported from Australia.
Gxowa did not answer questions because of ill health. But Malibongwe officials said ”the question of potential conflict of interest does not feature, as all measures have been taken to fund only those organisations whose objectives are to socio-economically empower women in South Africa”.
While the financial relationship between Malibongwe and the ANCWL remains unclear, Malibongwe’s structure and its business success mirrors that of the ANC Youth League’s fundraising company — Lembede Investment Holdings. In 2004 the M&G revealed that Lembede is majority-owned by a charitable trust, the South African Youth Development Trust, which has youth league president Fikile Mbalula as a trustee and which, in turn, funds the ANCYL.
A signal conflict
Two senior office-bearers in the ANC Women’s League are directors of a company called Thari Ya Basadi, which last year landed in hot water after it emerged that it was part of a consortium that had applied for a radio licence in Limpopo adjudicated by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).
Women’s League deputy president Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini and general secretary Bathabile Dlamini are directors of the company, together with Icasa councillor Mamodupi Mohlala.
The company also has close links with the late Brett Kebble and his associate Sello Rasethaba.
This week Dlamini, while reluctant to confirm her directorship, told the Mail & Guardian that, ”Thari Ya Basadi is a 100% women’s league company”. When asked to clarify she said she was overseas and did not want to incur unnecessary telephonic costs. The consortium that applied for the ”under-serviced area licence” (Usal) Limpopo licence was headed by Rasethaba. Mohlala chairs Icasa’s Usal committee, which, at the time, raised questions of conflict of interest.
Thari Ya Basadi lists among its directors Consolidated Mining Management Services, a vehicle used by Kebble to channel funding from the mining house JCI to various empowerment ventures, with minimal transparency.
Kebble’s use of black economic empowerment to fund ruling party factions, in exchange for political protection, is well documented. The ANC Youth League, through it’s funding arm, Lembede Investment Holdings, benefited handsomely from Kebble’s wealth.
Forensic investigators tasked with unravelling Kebble’s estate have uncovered records of well over R25-million paid to the ANC and its structures.
Myakayaka-Manzini would not confirm her directorship this week, saying only that ”the deeds office information was enough”.