How private funding shapes media, court cases, politics

ECONOMIST Dr Séan Mfundza Muller has issued a stark warning about the growing power of South Africa's ultra-wealthy, spotlighting Michiel le Roux, co-founder of Capitec Bank, and his alleged behind-the-scenes influence on media, politics, and civil society through strategic funding, raising questions about accountability, transparency, and the integrity of democratic institutions.

- SIZWE DLAMINI

Speaking on Ntsiki Mazwai’s Moya podcast, Muller said: “Another South African billionaire, who I think is very interesting, is Michiel le Roux, who is one of the people behind Capitec. Now, as far as I know — and I heard this both from a private source and then I also came across a public source of this information — Le Roux is behind a trust called the Millennium Trust.”

Muller explained that, according to his research and private discussions, the Millennium Trust, which was founded around 2010, supports a “constellation of powerful voices in civil society”, noting: “The Millennium Trust funds the Daily Maverick, amaBungane, the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), Freedom Under Law, as far as I know ... and I’m going from memory here.” He further said that the trust operated with a certain degree of opacity: “You've got all these civil society organisations, all these media outlets being funded by this ... trust. I mean, I’ve gone to look at the directors. You would never guess from the directors of this trust. You would not be able to find out who's behind it.”

Muller described how he discovered the connection: “I only found out because I stumbled across something online and because somebody who had direct knowledge ... told me privately that Le Roux is behind this.”

When contacted for comment, the Millennium Trust said they would get the appropriate person to respond to questions, but did not respond further by deadline. Attempts to get comments from Le Roux were unsuccessful.