The messages, seen by amaBhungane, show that the deputy president of the EFF twice asked Mulaudzi for an \u201cintervention\u201d\u2014 clearly code for cash \u2014 including one to be paid into the account number of Grand Azania, a company controlled by his brother Brian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The messages suggest that in exchange Shivambu used his position as the EFF\u2019s second-in-command to secure meetings and potential business deals for Mulaudzi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They support evidence previously reported by amaBhungane<\/a> and others<\/a> that powerful EFF figures use their political clout for financial benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mulaudzi has been in the spotlight at the Mpati Commission, which is tasked with investigating allegations of wrongdoing at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). His companies received loans of R3.6-billion from the PIC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One well-placed source has suggested that the \u201cinterventions\u201d to Shivambu were part of a pattern of Mulaudzi providing favours to decision-makers and influencers to keep that funding pipeline flowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In another example Mulaudzi\u2019s business partner, Kinesh Pather, was looking for help to quell community protests at a chrome mine in Limpopo and told Mulaudzi that they needed the \u201cRed boys\u201d to \u201creign in\u201d (sic) one of the community leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shivambu and the EFF ignored requests for comment that amaBhungane sent over the past three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mulaudzi responded to our initial questions and said: \u201cI have a relationship with Mr Floyd Shivhambu which dates back to our ANC Youth League days. There has never been anything untoward about this relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mulaudzi also implied that the messages were part of a \u201cfake dossier\u201d which he claimed had been \u201cmanufactured\u201d and \u201cdistributed\u201d by a person trying to destroy his businesses and reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After we sent detailed questions to Mulaudzi about the urgent \u201cinterventions\u201d into Grand Azania\u2019s bank account, he stopped responding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was 9.28am on 27 March 2017, and according to the WhatsApp sent to Mulaudzi\u2019s phone, a contact saved as \u201cDP FS\u201d was in \u201cgreat need\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHeita\u2026 Please don’t forget to activate that intervention. Am in great need,\u201d the message read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although we cannot directly see the identity of \u201cDP FS\u201d, other messages sent by the same person leave no doubt the acronym refers to \u201cDeputy President Floyd Shivambu\u201d. This includes messages containing Shivambu\u2019s email address, his cellphone number, his home address in Bryanston, a wedding invitation for Shivambu\u2019s wedding, and photographs of the bride and groom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in case there was any doubt that \u201cintervention\u201d meant money, DP FS followed up with a message giving the FNB account details for Grand Azania, a small wine bar and distribution company ostensibly controlled by Shivambu\u2019s younger brother Brian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is one of two instances we are aware of where Shivambu asked Mulaudzi for money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two months later, on 15 May 2017, Shivambu sent a similar message: \u201cHeita\u2026 Are you winning? There is a great need for urgent intervention\u201d, and again three days later: \u201cHeita\u2026 Are you winning on that intervention?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But from the messages it appears that Mulaudzi was having cashflow issues: \u201cI’m still struggling with my private bank. It’s sitting in 32day index,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfazed, Shivambu responded: \u201cOkay cool. So it will only clear in 32 days?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Businessman Lawrence Mulaudzi in the spotlight at the Mpati Commission, which is tasked with investigating allegations of wrongdoing at the PIC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though Mulaudzi refused to discuss the \u201cinterventions\u201d with us, he told the Mail & Guardian<\/em><\/a> last year when it published a message containing the Grand Azania bank details: \u201cI have a contractual obligation with number of companies including Grand Azania, which I pay from time to time for consulting and advisory services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n (The messages seen by amaBhungane show that Shivambu sent two messages with the Grand Azania bank details, the first over WhatsApp and the second, two minutes later, over SMS. The message published by the M&G<\/em> was the latter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n That a more complete set of the messages now shows that Floyd Shivambu, and not his brother Brian, stood to benefit from these payments is significant. This is not only because Shivambu failed to disclose any consulting fees to Parliament, but also because it adds to the growing body of evidence that Grand Azania is a proxy for the EFF\u2019s second-in-command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grand Azania is one of the companies linked to the looting of VBS Mutual Bank, which placed in liquidation last year. Although not mentioned by name in advocate Terry Motau\u2019s Great Bank Heist<\/em> report, Grand Azania allegedly received R6.2-million from loans VBS made to Brian Shivambu and his businesses. (Read Daily Maverick\u2019s<\/em> investigations here<\/a> and here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The question is, what did Mulaudzi expect in return?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answering that question is not easy; in part because the messages we have are incomplete and in part because even over encrypted messaging apps, Mulaudzi and Shivambu were careful about what they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead when they wanted to talk, they would meet. Between December 2016 and May 2017, we can see several meeting spots being discussed: the Royal Gardens resort near Shivambu\u2019s home town of Malamulele, Busy Corner Imbizo Shisanyama in Midrand, the Sandton Sun hotel, and Shivambu\u2019s rented house in Bryanston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the clues that the messages provide suggest that Shivambu used his position in the EFF to open doors for Mulaudzi to deals that one or both would benefit from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, we can see that he was happy to make phonecalls and attend meetings on Mulaudzi\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was able to talk to [name withheld] and he’s committed to talk when he returns from Davos\u2026\u201d Shivambu said, confirming that he had arranged to meet the chairman of two JSE-listed companies. \u201cYou must remind me of what we had to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can also see that Shivambu brought potential deals to his benefactor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you know [name withheld],\u201d Shivambu asked Mulaudzi in May 2017, including the website address of a boutique asset management firm in Johannesburg. \u201cOne of the founders and director has asked for a meeting. It looks like their asset management division manages more than R20 billion\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet’s meet them urgently,\u201d Mulaudzi agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But was Shivambu willing to wield not just his political influence, but his party\u2019s influence too? Mulaudzi\u2019s business partner, Kinesh Pather, seemed to think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In early 2017, Marula platinum mine in Limpopo was being crippled by community protests, sparked by dissatisfaction with how the profits from the community\u2019s stake in a related chrome mine were being distributed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pather is both an advisor to and shareholder in the community\u2019s chrome mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On 21 February 2017, he sent Mulaudzi a photograph of EFF leader Julius Malema posing at a gala dinner with two men, followed by a message: \u201cBru this guy on left Edward Phasha we need Red boys to help reign in on chrome at Marula.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phasha \u2013 the man Pather wanted to get the \u201cRed boys\u201d to \u201creign in\u201d (sic) \u2013 was one of the community activists involved in the protests at Marula. Phasha is also a member of the EFF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The EFF has been outspoken about the rights of these communities that live on the doorstep of one of the richest platinum belts in the world. In 2015, Malema led a march to the front gates of Modikwa platinum mine, 20km south of Marula, to demand that 50% of the mine be given to neighbouring communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe masses are losing their patience. They are saying enough is enough; they want to benefit from the mine. This is just a warning shot,\u201d he told thousands of red-clad community members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet the message suggests that Pather now wanted \u201cRed boys\u201d to help quell protests in these same disaffected communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have no way of knowing whether Shivambu agreed to intervene, or whether Mulaudzi even mentioned the request to him. Shivambu, Mulaudzi and Pather ignored our questions but Phasha agreed to meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He initially sent us the address for Pather\u2019s office in Bryanston but then changed the meeting location to a Shell garage near a highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Standing in the parking lot, he told us that neither the EFF nor Pather asked him to scale back the protests against Marula. Instead he said that the protests died down after the department of mineral resources intervened, but that he and others remained unhappy with how the profits of the mining venture are being shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked, he confirmed that he was on his way to meet Pather, but claimed the meeting was to discuss his concerns about how the profit of the mine were being shared with the community. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The messages amaBhungane has seen suggest that Shivambu received covert payments from Mulaudzi and failed to declare these to Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIntervention for Floyd<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"http:\/\/amabhungane.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Lawrence-Mulaudzi-testifies-at-PIC-inquiry2.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCoded deals<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Enter the Red Boys<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Why it matters<\/h5>\n\n\n\n