The race-obsessed South African businessman/politician, Jimmy Manyi, slides into the arms of a crime family.
Jimmy Manyi with Jacob Zuma. Image source
The first part of this article: Jimmy Manyi: A Primer
Jimmy's race
Jimmy Manyi has not had a particularly stellar career—if you can call it a career, more like a jumble of jobs marked by a single thread: his obsession with race “equity”. His idea is that jobs should be “allocated” purely on the basis of race in accordance with the racial demographics of South Africa.
He first rose to prominence when he formed the Black Business Forum, an organisation with the aim to push for racial “equity” in South African businesses.
After some time working as a corporate executive in the private sector, he was appointed as the Director General of the Department of Labour—the ideal position to push for his ideas to be implemented. He came up with amendments to the Employment Equity Act (EEA) that would have made the Apartheid planners green with envy. Every conceivable job category had racial quotas. These quotas were based on the entire South African racial breakdowns, not regionally where people actually worked.
Identifiably absurd
This absurdity of this extreme bit of social engineering was clear in this remarkable statement he made in an interview:
He was saying that there was an over-concentration of coloureds in the Western Cape, and they should spread themselves more evenly—in the name of equity.
“Coloured” is a South African term for brown people, mainly mixed-race and people of Malay extraction. The term is a relic of Apartheid but is still embraced the government. Historically, the so-called Coloureds were concentrated in the southwestern part of the country where very few Black people lived.
This drew a quick and livid response from the country's previous finance minister, Trevor Manuel. Here is an extract:
I want to put it to you that these statements would make you a racist in the mould of HF Verwoerd. I want to put it to you that you have the same mind that operated under apartheid, never merely satisfied with inflicting the hurt of forced removals and the group areas act, would encamp language groups so that horrible aberrations, such as Soshanguve, were created to accommodate “non-Tswanas” in their own little encampments in greater Mabopane.
Mr Manyi, you may be black, or perhaps you aren’t, because you do not accept that label and would prefer to be “only a Xhosa”. Whatever the label you choose, I want to put it to you that your behaviour is of the worst-order racist.
His arrogance as a true-believer of Hitlerian social engineering led him to have a meeting, as Labour DG, with the Norwegian ambassador, Tor Christian-Hilden in which he proposed a deal in which the BMF would “assist” the Norwegians to understand all the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) requirements in return for introductions to suitable business people—obviously, Jimmy's friends.
Christian-Hilden complained to the South African government and the Public Protector (an ombudsman with legal authority) found him guilty of a conflict of interest. His blustered his way forward, rubbishing the report.
This and his racism eventually led to his removal from the race-based organisation he was involved in, and eventually from his various government jobs.
The Gupta brothers. Image source
The Guptas
At some point, he fell under the control of an Indian crime family, the Gupta brothers. They had successfully corrupted the country's president and many of his cabinet ministers in order to infiltrate and control most of the so-called State-Owned Enterprises and syphoned off billions from them. They even managed to put their stooges in the cabinet in charge of key portfolios such as Finance and Mining.
This is known as “State Capture”.
The Guptas set up a media group. At first, they set up a newspaper, The New Age (TNA). It was a pathetic rag, hugely favourable to the governing party, carrying virtually no advertising. So how was it funded? The answer was that all government departments and SOE's were compelled to purchase enormous numbers of this newspaper and to place official notices in it. They also held breakfasts, sponsored handsomely by these entities, and broadcast by the state broadcaster.
This is where Jimmy Manyi comes in. One of his government jobs was head Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), and it was him who made sure all this corruption occurred.
The Guptas expanded their media group to include a TV station—obviously under very dubious circumstances—called ANN7. It was supposed to be a 24-hour news channel but it was a 24-hour amateurish joke. It was operated by people brought in from India, virtually indentured labourers. Its main material was to laud Jacob Zuma, the president they had captured, and to demonise all those who opposed him.
Manyi was brought in to spearhead that effort. He worked very hard at it, spreading disinformation, lies and hate.
But time ran out for the Guptas when the president was deposed as party president in December 2017, and then replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa as president. Law enforcement was shaken out of its long, nothing-going-on-here slumber and started cracking down on the Guptas—who fled the country—and started investigating State Capture.
But the Guptas had seen the writing on the wall before this all happened. They furiously moved their billions to Dubai, where they had long since bought fabulous mansions. That was no easy task since the South African banks had stopped offering them banking facilities. That means there had to be a great deal of money laundering.
Jimmy Manyi in his media empire. Image source
Jimmy, media mogul
What to do about their media company which they guessed could soon be losing its government largesse? Well, our Jimmy to the rescue once again.
They sold the company to Manyi for a paltry R150 million (about $11 million). But Jimmy obviously didn't have the money to buy it. No problem. They would lend Jimmy the money, and of course, he would pay back the loan with considerable interest—an obvious money laundering operation.
But Jimmy's dreams of becoming a media mogul soon disappeared when it appeared that no one was going to buy his newspapers or watch his television channel. Within months both folded.
What now Jimmy? His political mentor, Jacob Zuma, was no longer in power and the new president seemed intent on seeing him behind bars. And, of course, the Guptas still needed their money laundered out of South Africa.
Drawing from the ATM
So Jimmy spent some time in December with the Guptas in their Dubai lair and came up with a plan for him: create a new political party—one that could attract huge funding (from you know who).
Dutifully, Jimmy did just that. It's called the All African Decolonisation Congress (AADC). It appears funds started flowing immediately.
Then, mysteriously, Jimmy joined another new party called the African Transformation Movement, or fittingly, ATM. It is largely made up of disgruntled Zuma supporters. It was launched on 9 January 2019 to great (ahem, not so great) fanfare.
This odd turn of events was explained a day later when the AADC dismissed its founder, little Jimmy. Clearly not happy with him joining the ATM, they accused him of—surprise, surprise—money laundering.
The AADC's Edward Mokomele said that Manyi insisted that the newly established AADC join hands with ATM.
It was then brought to our attention that Manyi and ATM leadership are laundering money through the party and as a movement intending to bring change in SA, we have distanced ourself from Manyi and all his fraudulent activities.
Can Slippery Jim get away with it again? Jacob Zuma is an agent of the Guptas and he drew wild applause at this weekends ANC conference. Perhaps Jimmy is in safe hands.
The first part of this article: Jimmy Manyi: A Primer
References:
Mail & Guardian: Manyi: 'Over-supply' of coloureds in Western Cape
new24: Jimmy Manyi a racist - Trevor Manuel
Eyewitness News: All African Decolonisation Congress Dismisses Founder Mzwanele Manyi
