Bring it on.
That is the message from billionaire businessman Johann Rupert following allegations that either him or his family were involved in the deal to bail out the now defunct Bankorp.
"I would welcome a full and transparent investigation into the whole thing so we can finally put to rest all the stories and lies swirling around. I would also welcome it so that certain people and groups can apologise for making unsubstantiated accusations," he said from Geneva in Switzerland.
I would welcome a full and transparent investigation into the whole thing so we can finally put to rest all the stories and lies swirling around.Johann Rupert
Rupert is chair of the Swiss luxury goods company Richemont and the local diversified investment firm Remgro, formerly Rembrandt. It was established by his father, Anton, in the 1940's as a cigarette manufacturer. He is one of the richest businesspeople in the country.
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has found in a preliminary report that Absa and its shareholders benefited from a so-called lifeboat extended to Bankorp by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) between 1985 and 1991. Absa bought Bankorp in 1992 and inherited the financial aid package. The report provisionally states that Absa owes the fiscus R2,250-billion and that the SARB and Treasury should recoup the money owed.
The public protector has provisionally found that Absa owes the fiscus R2,250-billion and that the SARB and Treasury should recoup the money owed.
According to the Ciex Report, prepared in 1999 by a British recovery firm run by former intelligence operatives and which forms the basis of the report, Rupert and his father helped to organise the lifeboat for Bankorp.
It further states that Ciex would be able to recover between R3-billion and R6-billion from Sanlam (the majority stakeholder in Bankorp) and Rembrandt. There is no detail on what basis Ciex argued government could claim restitution from Rembrandt.
Rupert said the Ciex Report "is a work of fiction".
"How and why would government be able to recover money from us? It is also totally untrue that I or my father would have helped facilitate the lifeboat. I was chairman of the board of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) at the time and Bankorp was the opposition.
"I was in fact livid when the possibility of a lifeboat to Bankorp became known and wrote to the SARB objecting. I agreed that financial assistance would be necessary if there was systemic threat to the banking system or to the economy, but argued that deposit holders, and not equity partners, should be protected. Just like the recent bailout of African Bank was managed."
I was in fact livid when the possibility of a lifeboat to Bankorp became known and wrote to the SARB objecting.Rupert
The Ciex report says the total support SARB gave Bankorp/Absa amounted to R3,2 billion and was an "illegal gift" rather than a lifeboat. It was facilitated by Marinus Daling, then Sanlam's chief executive, Danie Cronjé, Absa's chief executive, and the Ruperts.
Rupert said he was opposed to Absa buying Bankorp and objected to Absa's Piet Badenhorst when the bank decided to acquire the failing entity. "We had a 10% share in Volkskas Bank, which was part of Absa, and registered our objection on that basis. We [the Rupert family or associated companies] were not invested in Sanlam, Bankorp or any other company that allegedly benefited from the lifeboat."
He has been vilified as the embodiment of white monopoly capital and has been attacked by various political formations, including the African National Congress' youth and women's leagues, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and associates of the Gupta family. He last year called on President Jacob Zuma to resign.
Rupert has been vilified as the embodiment of white monopoly capital and has been attacked by various political formations.
The Ciex report states that government should pursue the irregularities with the Bankorp/Absa deal because it would give it leverage over the "corrupt" financial and banking sector which, in 1999, was still "under Broederbond control" and serving the interests of the "old regime".
It would also enable government to gain control over the SARB and facilitate a process to get rid of the then-governor, Chris Stals, Ciex said.
Government terminated its relationship with Ciex in 1998.
** This story has been edited. Rupert objected to Absa's Piet Badenhorst, not Danie Cronjé, when Absa bought Bankorp. In the interview with HuffPost SA he added the Bankorp bailout should have followed the same protocol and procedure as the recent bailout of African Bank.