Randgold: Brett Kebble found murdered at 41
Brett Kebble, who created both Randgold Resources and Randgold & Exploration, was just murdered. Two stories follow below.
Some of the wiseguys who posted comments on Mineweb urging Kebble's death might get some official visits...
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From Mining Weekly Online - 28 September 2005:
News Today
Brett Kebble found murdered in Jo'burg
NEWS
Mining entrepreneur Brett Kebble was found dead in the upmarket suburb of Melrose on Tuesday evening after shots were fired at his car.
The South African Police Service has confirmed that it has opened a murder investigation and has not ruled out the possibility of an assassination.
Roger Kebble, Brett's father, who was in France on business when the incident occurred, asked that his family's privacy be respected at this time.
Colleague and friend John Stratton said that Brett's friends and family were devastated.
“We are all in deep shock. Brett was one of my closest friends and I have the greatest respect for him as a visionary whose contribution to black empowerment in South Africa is enormous,” Stratton said in a statement.
Brett, whose full name is Roger Brett Kebble, was born on February 19, 1964, in the mining town of Springs, on the East Rand.
He matriculated from St Andrews, Bloemfontein, in 1981, and then went on to read for a BA LLB at the University of Cape Town, from where he graduated in1986.
His first job was as an articled clerk for Mellincks Cape Town, in the late 1980s, from where he took home a pay packet of R200 a month.
His father, Roger, was also his business partner and mentor and Brett had an entrepreneurial philosophy of life, arguing, “What you put in, you should get back tenfold”.
However, he was also controversial and the more orthodox business set was suspicious of his high-profile deal making.
He came to prominence through his involvement in the reshaping of Rand Leases in the early 1990s and was intricately, but initially opaquely, involved in the high-profile sale by Anglo American of its JCI gold assets to Mzi Khumalo in 1995. However, the two diverged strategically and the relationship ended unhappily a few years later.
Last month, he was also deposed from the companies he ran, Western Areas, JCI and Randgold & Exploration, following moves by concerned investors and stakeholders, Investec and Allan Gray.
Peter Gray, a former head of Société Générale SA and Tlotlisa Securities, has replaced Kebble as CEO of JCI and R&E, while a new CEO and chairperson are still being sought for Western Areas.
The announcements were accompanied by details of a proposed R639-million rights issue by Western Areas, to be underwritten to the extent of R250-million by a newly-formed JCI special-purpose vehicle. This vehicle is to be supported by a R460-million Investec loan facility and a commitment from Allan Gray (on behalf of its clients) to follow its rights. The transaction, should it proceed, would also trigger an offer to Western Areas minorities, but JCI said that it will request a special dispensation from the Securities Regulation Panel for a waiver of this requirement. JCI said the R460-million loan facility would enable it to follow its rights at Western Areas as well as allow it to take up other shares, up to a R250-million threshold, in the case where other shareholders decide not to follow their rights. The company said it would also allow the settlement of legal obligations of up to R75-million awarded to Peter Skeat's Benoryn Investments.
There is also an audit trail under way to determine the whereabouts of some R2-billion-worth of Randgold Resources shares, which R&E could not easily account for and which had either been loaned out or sold.
In public and private, Brett lived a flamboyant and sometimes tragic life. He had strong business and political connections and emerged as a key supporter of ousted Deputy President Jacob Zuma. He had strong business ties to the ANC Youth League.
He was reportedly a talented classical pianist and loved reading autobiographical and biographical work on historical figures, social and business leaders and sports personalities.
He came from a strong rugby family, with his brother, Guy, representing South Africa, but he also enjoyed tennis.
He was known for his love of good food and reportedly favoured Italian food and French wine.
He was viewed by some as a black-economic empowerment visionary, and was on record as saying that he detested people who had lost touch with other people and their everyday problems.
He married Ingrid in December 1990 and they had four children.
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from Bloomberg:
Gold baron's mystery shooting
Correspondents in Johannesburg
September 29, 2005
SOUTH African millionaire Brett Kebble, who helped create some of the country's largest gold companies but ran into financial and legal scandal, was shot dead yesterday near his home in Johannesburg.
Kebble, 41, was murdered while driving on Johannesburg's Atholl-Oaklands road.
"He was shot between 9pm (5am AEST) and 9.15pm," Chris Wilken, a spokesman for the South African police, said.
"He may have been followed. He was shot while he was driving. More than one shot was fired."
Nothing was taken from the car.
Kebble quit on August 30 as head of Western Areas Ltd, joint owner of a $US24 billion ($31.6billion) gold deposit near Johannesburg, and two other gold-investment companies.
His departure came after Western Areas ran out of money and he faced questions from investors in Randgold & Exploration Ltd over the whereabouts of shares worth $US268million.
Wilken said the police were unaware of the motive for the shooting.
As of 1am local time his body was still in his silver S-Class Mercedes car, parked on Atholl-Oaklands on a bridge above Johannesburg's M1 highway. He lived in the nearby Inanda suburb.
Kebble's 11-year career in South Africa's $5.5 billion-a-year gold industry spawned Harmony Gold Mining Co, South Africa's No3 goldminer, DRDGold Ltd, the fourth-largest, and the development of South Deep, the world's largest gold deposit, with Canadian partner Placer Dome Inc.
Keeble's financial problems were compounded by his bet in June 2002, through futures contracts, that the gold price would fall.
The price of bullion has since surged 40 per cent.
Kebble was born in the goldmining town of Springs, east of Johannesburg, and schooled in the Free State province before graduating in law from the University of Cape Town in 1988.
Teaming up with Adam Fleming, a relative of the James Bond spy-novel author Ian Fleming, Kebble joined Randgold, working initially under executive chairman Peter Flack. After accumulating a majority stake in the company, he fired Flack and installed himself as chief executive. He was 32 at the time.
"He was one of the brightest corporate financiers I ever met, and I've met some clever ones in my time," Flack said in an August 17 interview from Johannesburg.
Harmony, DRDGold and Randgold Resources Ltd, all of which were spun out of Randgold during Kebble's period as a director, have a combined market value of 34 billion rand.
Kebble's plan to weld together seven companies in which his family held stakes and trade the company's shares in Toronto was scuppered five years ago by Harmony's chief executive Bernard Swanepoel, a former mine manager under Kebble who started and won a hostile takeover for the biggest of the companies, Randfontein Estates Ltd.
The legacy of that contest is that Kebble faced charges of fraud, conspiracy and contravention of South Africa's Companies Act.
On November 3, 2003, Kebble said he would contest charges announced by Johannesburg High Court judge Joop Labuschagne.
Kebble is survived by his wife and four children.
Bloomberg
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