[Debate] (Fwd) Reuel Khoza in the spotlight

[Patrick Bond]

(A very strange breed, indeed. Khoza is one of the trashiest Crony 
Capitalist leaders in SA, chairing a greenwashing coal-financing bank 
after huckstering pebble bed nukes notwithstanding his blatant conflict 
of interest, and chopping the supply of ever more expensive retail 
electricity to poor people. Can we take this seriously? At 3:05pm on 
Etv, I'll be saying 'no!', malgovernance takes two to dance, the state 
/and /unpatriotic finance capital linked to SA's MEC.)


  SA's 'strange breed' of leaders a threat to democracy

The chairman of Nedbank, Reuel Khoza, says South Africa is fast losing 
the checks and balances provided by the constitution
SURE KAMHUNGA
Published: 2012/04/02 06:57:26 AM

Business Day

THE chairman of Nedbank , SA's fourth-largest listed banking group, 
Reuel Khoza, has warned SA's democracy is under threat from a "strange 
breed" of political leaders who appear to be incapable of dealing with 
the demands of modern-day governance and leadership.

He said SA was fast losing the checks and balances provided by the 
constitution, and called on South Africans to hold to account "putative 
leaders who, due to sheer incapacity to deal with the complexity of 21st 
century governance and leadership", could not lead.

"We have a duty to insist on strict adherence to the institutional forms 
that underpin our young democracy," Dr Khoza wrote in Nedbank's latest 
annual report, which was released on Friday.

His comments are the first so far by the chairman of a JSE-listed 
banking group since the government announced plans to review the 
judiciary, and some leaders in the African National Congress (ANC) 
called for the constitution to be reviewed as it hindered social and 
economic transformation.

On the same day, the embattled president of the ANC Youth League, Julius 
Malema, derided President Jacob Zuma 's leadership, describing it as a " 
dictatorship" at a public lecture at Wits University.

The fact that the chairman of one of SA's largest companies has publicly 
rebuked the political leadership could be seen as an indication of the 
depth of disquiet in the private sector about the political direction of 
the ANC ahead of its elective conference in December.

"Our political leadership's moral quotient is degenerating and we are 
fast losing the checks and balances that are necessary to prevent a 
recurrence of the past," Dr Khoza said. "SA is widely recognised for its 
liberal and enlightened constitution, yet we observe the emergence of a 
strange breed of leaders who are determined to undermine the rule of law 
and override the constitution ."

Dr Khoza said this was not the accountable democracy for which 
generations had suffered. "The integrity, health, socioeconomic 
soundness and prosperity of SA is the collective responsibility of all 
citizens, corporate or individual," he said.

He also called for a partnership between the government and the private 
sector to solve SA's worsening unemployment crisis. This could be 
achieved by dismantling barriers to entrepreneurship and seconding 
graduates to local authorities to gain the experience needed in the 
private sector.

SA has more than 800000 unemployed graduates, most of whom studied 
humanities and arts, which the private sector does not need, says 
research company Adcorp Analytics.

Dr Khoza said: "One of the major socioeconomic and political challenges 
facing our country is addressing unemployment and creating jobs. While 
these issues are priorities on the national agenda, it should be 
acknowledged that there are few cases in the world where government and 
big business have been able to create jobs on a large scale.

"Job creation is also stifled if our economy is not expanding. The issue 
needs to be addressed by focusing on entrepreneurship. Government should 
create an enabling environment with minimal regulation to enable 
entrepreneurs to flourish," he said.

Dr Khoza said the education system was producing thousands of graduates 
each year, yet the lack of skills and experience made it difficult to 
accommodate them in the formal economy.

"At the same time local governments ... are in dire need of efficient 
administration and management. We believe government and the private 
sector should collaborate to create a programme to deploy these 
unemployed graduates and recently qualified people to local authorities 
for a few years," said Dr Khoza. " Corporate SA can play a key role in 
sponsoring these graduates ."

There was also a need to use retired executives to mentor young graduates.

kamhungas at bdfm.co.za


***

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/mikebaillie/2012/01/26/did-you-buy-into-nedbanks-greenwash/


  Did you buy into Nedbank's greenwash?
  <http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/mikebaillie/2012/01/26/did-you-buy-into-nedbanks-greenwash/>

As the bank with "green answers" -- according to their marketing 
campaign -- I have a few questions for Nedbank.

Nedbank has put a lot of effort into creating the impression of being a 
'green' bank. They have an entire website 
<http://www.nedbankgreen.co.za/> devoted to the environment, and a range 
of account options with a green 'flavour'. In their current ad campaign, 
Nedbank is eager to point out its carbon neutrality and they top it off 
with the line "a greener future needs a greener bank with green answers".

However, despite the bank's attempts at greenwashing their image, a 
recent report 
<http://www.banktrack.org/download/bankrolling_climate_change/climatekillerbanks_final_0.pdf> 
has named Nedbank among the highest funders of coal-fired power plants 
/in the world/.

The report examined the portfolios of 93 banks globally since 2005, 
looking at how they've financed and invested in coal power, a prime 
source of CO_2 emissions. Two South African banks were named in the 
report: Standard Bank and Nedbank, both for financing Eskom's portfolio 
of coal-fired power plants. Standard Bank has reportedly contributed 99 
million euros since 2005, while Nedbank coughed up 85 million euros over 
the same period.

The simple truth is that burning coal is one of the dirtiest ways to 
generate electricity 
<http://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/News/news/The-True-Cost-of-Coal/>, 
not to mention the climate-changing effects of coal power. Yet here we 
find Nedbank providing finance to a corporation who is building -- right 
now -- two of the world's largest coal-fired power plants in the world. 
Kusile 
<http://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/News/Blog/kusile-power-plant-the-waking-giant/blog/37451/>, 
the second of these mega-coal plants, will single-handedly increase 
South Africa's carbon emissions by 10%.

While I find it shameful that any bank would continue to provide funds 
for such carbon-intensive developments, Nedbank's case is as sinister as 
it is insulting -- especially in light of a PDF file I found online 
<http://www.nedbank.co.za/website/uploads/files/NedbankCapitalCarbonBrochure.pdf>. 
In 'Carbon finance and the future', Nedbank outlines why carbon 
emissions are such an issue, and why corporations and companies should 
take them seriously:

    Through adverse public opinion, firms not acting in the best
    interests of consumers, or that fail to ensure their organisational
    impact on the environment is minimised, could face severe
    reputational and adaptation risks. Such risks will damage brand
    value and may lead to loss of customers, market share, and could
    give rise to litigation.

In other words, Nedbank knows that being environmentally aware is good 
for business, and it advises other corps about the dangers of not 
minimising their impact on the environment. It gives specific advice 
about doing business in the context of climate change -- and how public 
opinion is key.

But rather than taking climate change seriously (as it urges others to 
do), Nedbank flouts its own advice and chooses to focus on the public 
opinion aspect, trying to dupe customers by applying a lavish coat of 
greenwash. Faking it brand-wise, Nedbank then goes on to finance 
possibly the most carbon intensive project in the country.

You can't have it both ways. Either you profit from financing dirty 
coal, or you position yourself as 'green' and profit from that 
competitive edge. But you can't have both: it's dishonest, and insulting 
to the customers you do attract with your phony green sheen.

So Nedbank, as the bank with 'green answers', I'd like to know how you 
marry the two: branding yourself as a green bank whilst investing so 
lavishly in coal power, and driving climate change in South Africa. 
Judging from the report, your identity is a sham, a conscious effort to 
deceive customers into thinking you are something you are not -- a 
deception you profit from while bankrolling climate change.

***

Query Over Khoza's Nuke Stakes

The Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg S. Africa) November 5, 1999 By Mungo 
Soggot
http://www.africanews.org/south/southafrica/stories/19991105_feat21.html

Johannesburg - Two ministers are investigating the conflict of interest 
arising from the chair of Eskom's material stake in a company contracted 
to South Africa's nuclear programme.

The Mail & Guardian reported last week that Eskom's chair, Reuel Khoza, 
is also the founding chair of an investment holding company that has a 
29% stake in a group Eskom is paying to develop a nuclear power project. 
Khoza sits on Eskom's nuclear oversight committee. He has been non- 
executive chair of Eskom since 1997, and spends most of his time running 
Co- ordinated Network Investments (CNI). The research company in which 
CNI has a 29% stake is called Integrated Systems Technology (IST).

This week, Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe and the Minister 
of Minerals and Energy Phumzile Mlambo- Ngcuka asked Khoza to brief them 
on his interest in IST. Mlambo-Ngcuka said Khoza had written to her this 
week explaining the situation, and that she would now consult with 
Radebe on what action to take. Radebe's office said it had also sought 
from Khoza a further briefing on the nuclear project - a "pebble-bed 
reactor".

The project attracted controversy even before it emerged that Khoza had 
an interest in IST, one of the main beneficiaries of the R90-million 
Eskom has spent researching and developing the reactor. Critics of the 
project complained that the expenditure of so much money before Eskom 
secures the government's approval for the new plant is likely to allow 
Eskom to steamroller the government into authorising the venture.

Khoza denied last week he was involved in a conflict of interest, saying 
he had no control of the day-to-day running of Eskom. He said he felt he 
could make impartial decisions while sitting on the nuclear oversight 
committee.

Khoza added that he had disclosed all his outside interests to Eskom and 
the government, and that it was up to them to decide whether he should 
recuse himself from anything to do with Eskom's nuclear programme or 
step down.

Professor Mark Ward at the Wits Business School said the onus was on 
Khosa to know when to recuse himself from decisions or step down. "But 
the government also has the responsibility to take more decisive action 
when disclosures are insufficient."

Distributed via Africa News Online (www.africanews.org).
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.fahamu.org/pipermail/debate-list/attachments/20120402/d9746cda/attachment.htm