South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources, defending itself in court after awarding prospecting rights to a company linked to President Jacob Zuma's son, will seek criminal charges against the plaintiff Sishen, part of Kumba Iron Ore, a company controlled by Anglo American.
Kumba and Indian iron ore giant ArcelorMittal are asking the High Court to overturn the award of prospecting rights for the Sishen mine to Imperial Crown Trading 289, whose owners include Jagdish Parekh, a business partner of Duduzane Zuma. Kumba says it's the only party eligible for the rights to the nation's largest iron ore mine.
Bloomberg reports the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation raided the mineral department's offices in June as part of a probe into the dispute over Sishen, the department said at the time.
Business Day reports the share price of Sishen's holding company, Kumba Iron Ore, fell as much as 4,3% on Thursday, after the allegations were published in the press. Sishen's counsel, Chris Loxton SC, said the government's submissions had done "untold harm".
IOL reports Sishen claims the case was not moot as alleged, but struck at the very core of the potential abuse by the state of its power. Controversially, Arcelor is at the same time also attempting to take over Imperial Crown Trading 289 via an empowerment deal worth R8 billion ($1.1 billion), but Loxton raised doubt about whether this deal would ever benefit the community, with the company not even employing anyone.
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Moneyweb reports up until now no one has been able to answer how much Jagdish Parekh paid for his 50% stake in Imperial Crown Trading 289, but through documents in their possession, which include the company's shareholder agreement, Moneyweb can reveal that Parekh paid a mere R120 ($16).
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