If he had the money, he would sue the Sunday Times for the story ”ANC chief in R50m get-rich-quick deal”, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) head of the Presidency Smuts Ngonyama said on Monday.
Speaking on Tim Modise’s show on Cape Talk 567/Radio 702, he said: ”I see they don’t say how many shares were given to me and how many shares were sold … they use my name on top there [referring to the top of the story].”
The Sunday Times story published on Sunday October 8 said Ngonyama had emerged as ”a central figure” in the secret sale of a large chunk of Telkom shares.
It reported — under Simpiwe Piliso’s byline — that the shares were part of a R9-billion stake that the Elephant Consortium bought from a United States-based company last year in one of the country’s biggest empowerment deals.
Asked again by Modise exactly what he would sue the Sunday Times for, Ngonyama said he would sue the newspaper because it was ”the wrong story” — apparently meaning that the Sunday Times had got it wrong. Asked then by Modise what the right story was, Ngonyama replied: ”I have not sold any shares. For now I don’t have shares and I have not sold any shares.”
Ngonyama said it pointed to the manner in which the media dealt with ANC matters and when a deal involved a black person. When the Ruperts from Remgro sold shares it was seen as ”good for the country”, but when a black person sold shares it was suddenly a big problem.
The Sunday Times noted that when the Elephant deal was announced, Elephant’s purchase sparked an outcry and was billed as a get-rich-quick scheme for a select few.
The consortium included Ngonyama, former Department of Communications director general Andile Ngcaba, women’s empowerment group Wihold’s Gloria Serobe and what the Sunday Times called a string of former civil servants and businesspeople.
The Sunday Times also noted that Ngonyama has consistently denied making money, maintaining that he was yet to be rewarded for his role in the deal. — I-Net Bridge