Mogomotsi Mogodiri
Pretoria - Glencore has a lot to explain if the reports coming out of the US are anything to go by.
The US Department of Justice made a dramatic announcement last month that Glencore pleaded guilty to and entered into a plea bargain to pay fines of more than $1.1 billion (R17bn) for bribery and market manipulation in several countries including the US itself, Brazil and seven African countries.
South Africa was not mentioned as one of those countries, but there is a catch. The US Justice Department indicated that “fines from other jurisdictions are in the pipeline and Glencore has agreed to co-operate in continuing investigations”.
Do we need to read anything else from the US statement, or must South Africans be content that the international criminal syndicate, Glencore, had its Damascus Moment by conducting “clean business” in our country?
That is exactly what Glencore and its enablers want South Africans to believe and accept as fact if its media statement issued in the aftermath of the explosive criminal exposé is anything to go by.
They go further and not only clumsily attempt to hide behind erstwhile public protector Thuli Madonsela’s and the Zondo Commission reports, but took a cue from Chief Justice Raymond Zondo by, unprovoked, “praising and clearing” President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Should we also read anything into this strange pattern, or is it simply a coincidence? I will leave the reader to connect the dots.
Glencore is a global commodities trader that has a preponderance to conduct its business across the world in a Mafia-style fashion.
Whether it be in the Americas, Africa or elsewhere across the globe, Glencore’s profits have been accumulated on the back of black blood and sweat. Greed and corruption run in its DNA.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, a country well endowed with mineral resources, is one of the poorest countries and most corrupt in the world, with Glencore being the common denominator.
On the home front, Glencore has a long but chequered history with our country, including being cosy with the apartheid regime. This is the company that was involved in the arms and oil deals during apartheid in violation of the sanctions imposed against apartheid South Africa.
Having perfected the art of ingratiating itself with and bribing politicians, Glencore, like other multinational companies, got off scot-free without paying reparations for apartheid colonial crimes.
Fortunately, the US reports have publicly confirmed what has been talked about in hushed tones: that Glencore’s modus operandi is about bribing politicians, judges and whomever is of influence in their aggressive pursuit of excessive profits.
Enter Eskom.
It is common cause that Glencore has been supplying Eskom with coal for donkeys years in what has come to be known as evergreen contracts.
Apparently, it entered into a Coal Supply Agreement (CSA) that regulates the amount of coal and its quality, among others, with our power utility.
Crucially, the CSA provides for penalties in the event of non-compliance, defaults and other misdemeanours.
The acquisition of Optimum Coal Mine by Glencore is a matter of public record that has been canvassed extensively.
Through testimonies presented at the Zondo Commission and the fact that Glencore is headquartered in the tax haven of Switzerland, it makes sense to conclude that what it is saying is misaligned to the “Glencore culture” and therefore not credible.
What we heard during the Zondo Commission hearings on Eskom is that Glencore defaulted by, among others, supplying substandard coal to the utility.
Eskom demanded about R2 billion in penalties. As if that was not bad enough, Glencore went on to attempt to strong-arm Eskom executives to raise the price at which it supplied coal from R150 to an amount of between R570 and close to R1 000 per ton.
In its efforts to bolster its perceived muscle and bring to bear its political influence, it allegedly offered shares to Ramaphosa, the deputy president of the ANC at the time.
There were denials and counter-accusations, and the rest is history, including the troubling fact that the chairperson of the commission showered praise on one of the Eskom protagonists instead of making a reasonable finding of whatever nature.
The Glencore case in the US has serious implications for those who were, or are, associated with its South African operations, including Ramaphosa and the Zondo Commission.
Informed by the startling and damning revelations, one can safely infer that what the Glencore CEO and other witnesses said about what transpired at Eskom is incongruent with what the company is notorious for.
They misled the Zondo Commission and the South African public.
The case for a thorough investigation by experienced and competent investigators assisted by dedicated prosecutors is bolstered by the sad reality that the damning allegations by former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe were not given serious attention by Chief Justice Zondo.
South Africans should also be concerned and unsettled by the serious indictment of the US justice system – a practice by Glencore of buying judges to make cases disappear.
Hence, our country can ill afford to dismiss the allegations out of hand, irrespective of how we feel about those making them. On the other hand, it would be remiss to turn a blind eye to what seems to be a brazen cover-up of Glencore’s alleged criminal activities at Eskom.
Or is it a sycophantic ingratiating attempt or a quid pro quo? Again, it is up to the reader to connect the dots.
I believe that no South African, including members and leaders of the ANC, should be declared untouchable pertaining to being investigated on allegations of corruption or any other criminality.
If there is a whiff even from anywhere across the world that raises suspicions of impropriety against any South African, those must be thoroughly probed and not swept under the carpet for any reason.
Closely tied to the above is the worrying factor of the cost to South Africans of Glencore’s Eskom operations. The cost of producing electricity has gone astronomically high. Where does Eskom get the money to pay Glencore and its fellow travellers like Seriti Resources these obscene amounts?
Compared to what the South African consumer was paying before Glencore was paid an exorbitant amount per ton of coal, we are being milked dry for electricity, and this has a ripple effect on other essentials. In short, we are paying for the misdemeanours of the unscrupulous and corrupt.
All these go to prove that Glencore cannot be a corrupt company all over the world and turn into a proverbial saint in South Africa. It is Glencore’s culture, and anyone who expects South Africans to believe the gobbledygook that the company “behaves” in our country takes us for imbeciles.
It is also insulting that Glencore tells us that “the corrupt have left the organisation” and they have turned a new page.
It is unfathomable that the criminal Glencore bribed everyone else around the world but did not do so in our country. The truism “a leopard doesn’t change its spots” is applicable in Glencore’s case.
The ANC needs men and women of integrity and valour to confront the corrupt and self-serving, from the branches to the national executive committee (NEC).
In this regard, we should not allow factional inclinations to stand in the way of getting to the bottom of the Glencore shenanigans at Eskom, or any other misdemeanour eating away our moral fabric and destroying our country.
We need to draw lessons from America. They did not announce the establishment of a commission. Instead, they told the world that investigations are ongoing to determine the actual extent of the Glencore criminal enterprise’s reach.
Meanwhile, they have uncovered bribery and extortion cases of politicians, government officials and judges.
Our country will need a special tribunal to review the relevant Eskom submissions at the Zondo Commission and reinterview witnesses, if need be, with a view to prosecuting anyone fingered in any form of criminality, and the evidence emanating from the US will come in handy.
Mogodiri is an ANC member and a media specialist
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