Trevor Manuel says ‘white monopoly capital’ is nonsense

City Press reported on Sunday on a talk given by former finance minister Trevor Manuel at the Nelson Mandela Foundation this week that the idea of “white monopoly capital” (WMC) is misguided.

Manuel reportedly said that the alternative for those who were fighting WMC was “Indian monopoly capital out of Saxonwold”.

He was quoted as saying that the best alternative was “how we build an inclusive economy”.

“White monopoly capital doesn’t exist – other than what has been generated by [British PR agency] Bell Pottinger,” he said.

The longest-serving finance minister in South Africa’s history also gave insight into how the relationship with ratings agencies had been maintained during the Mandela era. He said agencies needed to feel a sense of trust in leaders and “policy must be predictable, and I think that is a discontinuity we have at the moment”.

During Manuel’s tenure as finance minister (1996 to 2009), two ratings agencies moved South Africa into investment grade status, while Moody’s had conferred the stamp of approval on the country as early as 1995.

Extraordinary emails released last Sunday by both the Sunday Times and City Press once again cast a light on the role played by Bell Pottinger.

The firm dropped the Gupta family as clients in April in the wake of protests against their company for allegedly driving the attempt to repair the Gupta family’s image in South Africa.

The campaign against the firm accused it of intentionally sowing the seeds of racial division in order to distract from allegations of state capture by the Gupta family and President Jacob Zuma.

Oakbay, the holding company of the Guptas’ mining and media interests, agreed to the termination of the contract, though Bell Pottinger protested the allegations against it had been a smear campaign and were baseless.

However, the allegedly leaked emails reveal that President Zuma’s son Duduzane, a close Gupta associate, appeared to have been the lead man, with Bell Pottinger, in the fightback strategy for the embattled family.

The emails suggest that there was a plot hatched to have Hamza Farooqui, the managing director for WorldSpace South Africa and a partner to a Gupta associate, Salim Essa, accuse the then deputy finance minister, Mcebisi Jonas, of corruption.

The statement against Jonas was allegedly drafted by a Bell Pottinger staff member, Nick Lambert, shortly after Jonas revealed that he had been offered an alleged gigantic bribe by the Guptas to betray the then finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, a bribe he claimed to have declined.

The statement would have alleged that an “inducement fee” and other perks were paid to Jonas, with Farooqui even going as far as to say he would have been prepared to make this statement under oath to “shed light on corruption within the finance ministry”.

However, the statement was never released due to concerns by senior Bell Pottinger executive Victoria Geoghegan, about legal issues pertaining to it.

Times Media reports that it attempted to get comment from Farooqui on the statement, but neither he, the Gupta family spokesperson nor Duduzane Zuma responded.

The Gupta also oversaw other projects, including doing press statement for the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association and coaching and giving notes to ANC Youth League president Collen Maine. Times Media, the group primarily responsible for the publication of the email correspondends reports that they could not obtain comment from these affected parties either.

Bell Pottinger was allegedly being paid a retainer of 100 000 British pounds a month for its services.

According to an investigation by the Sunday Times earlier this year, Bell Pottinger took on the Gupta family as clients in 2016 to try to improve their image, and the chosen strategy was to target white business leaders as a distraction from serious allegations of state capture. The emails reveal, however, that they also inserted themselves into various other political debates, including drafting statements on how to respond to the Economic Freedom Fighters.

One of the strategies was apparently to drive a predominantly social media narrative that “white monopoly capital”, the SA Communist Party and National Treasury had been standing in the way of transforming the South African economy.

The phrase “white monopoly capital” has become a major feature of mainstream political discourse this year, with even President Zuma using it.

Founding member of Bell Pottinger Tim Bell reportedly left his own firm with key staff members, in apparent disgust over the plan.

He alleged that arms deal facilitator Fana Hlongwane and President Zuma’s Gupta-associate son Duduzane paid the firm 100 000 British pounds to start working and several meetings were allegedly attended by both men.

The PR plan allegedly also involved Andile Mngxitama and his Black First Land First Organisation, Mzwanele Manyi and his Decolonisation Foundation, and others.

It reportedly also involved using, among other things, Twitter bots involved in a fake news campaign to support messages critical of white monopoly capital and be defensive of the Guptas.

Last year, South African billionaire businessman Rupert claimed Bell Pottinger was behind an ongoing attempt to link him to “state capture” activities.