Confluence and all,
Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, the commodities editor of Barrons, appeared on CNBC this morning. She confirmed what I had speculated, that DeBeers had been withholding supplies to support diamond prices. Then she said that DeBeers had signed a deal with Russia that might signal a change in that policy. I have not been able to track down what she was referring to. Diamonds were not mentioned in her most recent column, so I am assuming that this is a new development.
Here is another article of interest:
Making a killing in the business world
July 31, 1998
by Ferial Haffajee and Stuart Hess
Johannesburg - You can teach an old dog new tricks, as a legion of former
apartheid spies, torturers and key dirty-tricks operatives are showing.
Many are the frontmen of business's push into Africa and are leaders in the
private security industry, which is worth billions of rands. A former general, for
example, heads a vehicle tracking company while another makes millions by
planning security for blue chip companies.
"We specialise in dealing in unstable situations," says former spy mastermind
Craig Williamson. With a new suave image complete with pinstripes and a cell
phone, he is at the cutting edge of exports to Angola.
He started off shipping potatoes, other fresh produce and beer to the Southern
African state, believing it was a place where South African business could grow.
His business has been so lucrative, he has now moved up a rung to arrange
financing. In the new field he can also use old expertise, tapping old networks to
secure funding for companies which want to get into the export business.
"I tell people that I can organise things. The banks won't touch Angola," he says,
adding prospects of an outbreak of war in that country doesn't faze him because
it's where he operates best.
Executive Outcomes, the mercenary outfit which made a packet as hired guns in
Angola and Sierra Leone, has reportedly diversified. It has started subsidiary
companies which have moved from guarding mines to active mining. They are
employed at dollar hourly rates as consultants for governments and companies
which want to trade in Africa. They advise, introduce and facilitate.
"If companies want to invest in Africa, we advise them and introduce them to
people. Africa's my market," says Lafras Luitingh, a co-founder of Executive
Outcomes and former Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB) operative.
Police jobs in outfits like the CCB, the security branch and the vice squad were
saved in the past for the best officers and were coveted because they presented
opportunities to make a quick buck on the side. These came from backhanders,
pay-offs, diamond or drug deals, car theft and sometimes ivory smuggling.
The spoils of office and lavish golden handshakes have been used by many to
start legitimate businesses. Many former front companies continue to operate
under different names.
That's not how former detective Koos van Rooyen started his Durban- based
company, Wolf Security. "I took home just over a thousand a month in the force,"
says the security honcho who counts blue chip companies like Toyota, South
African Breweries and Nedcor among his clients.
Van Rooyen was the officer who bagged Robert McBride in a manhunt in the
Eighties. The wounded McBride had escaped from police cells and ran into the
bushes. Van Rooyen was sent in to flush out McBride because he knew the young
guerrilla from Wentworth while he served there as police station commander.
Many ex-policemen have privatised their experience. A study of leading security
companies shows they are staffed and owned in the main by former policemen.
Charlie Landman, the notorious former head of the Brixton murder and robbery
unit, is the head of investigations at one of the largest security companies, Khulani
Springbok Patrols. Roy Allen, a former leading light in the Directorate of Covert
Collection, is responsible for guarding Johannesburg International airport for
Fidelity Guards.
The cheekiest company must be that of former CCB operative Abraham "Slang"
van Zyl. He is managing director of Tactical Risk Control - also known as TRC - a
security company based in Gauteng. The company was first named Incom
Investigations.
With a staff of 230, Van Zyl provides sercurity at high-risk industrial sites and
delivery vehicles. He has carried out investigations in London and Greece as well.
"We are very well respected for the quality of our work," said Van Zyl, who also
provides protection to South African VIPs.
In the Eighties, a number of seedy Hillbrow hotels were known front operations
for the likes of Van Zyl and fellow CCB operative Ferdi Barnard. Today others -
like former military general and wunderkind Chris Thirion - run restaurants.
Die Werf in Pretoria has been featured in many magazines because it apparently
serves a fine bredie, while a consortium of former dirty- tricks operatives are said
to own an oddly named Yeoville watering hole
called The Englishman.
Quay 4 is one of the best-known eating establishments at the Victoria and Alfred
Waterfront in Cape Town. Popular among locals and tourists, it offers both an .
la carte restaurant and a tavern for those with lower budgets.
The bar is owned by former security policeman Louis van Niekerk, who also has a
stake in other taverns like the popular Cantina Tequila franchises at the
Woodbridge Restaurant in Milnerton.
Additional reporting by Alet van Rensburg
PHIL
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