Presidency, and RMB face scrutiny for elite unit deployment

KZN mining giant wants to come clean

- LOYISO SIDIMBA

MINING company Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) has undertaken to come clean before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and answer allegations that it pressured President Cyril Ramaphosa's office to deploy elite police units for its sole benefit.

KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on Friday told the judicial commission of inquiry into criminality, political interference, and corruption in the criminal justice system, that RBM pressured National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola.

RMB, which is based in the north of KZN, had told Masemola to deploy the specialised task force and national intervention unit (NIU).

The commission is chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.

In response to questions on its role in the police deployment, a RBM company spokesperson said: "RBM is committed to full transparency and will cooperate with the commission."

The police deployment followed Mkhwanazi's intervention after a series of murders of RBM executives, which remained unsolved.

Police dispatched a task team to the Richards Bay area to prevent, combat, and investigate criminality linked to the theft of minerals and murders of executives and businessmen at RBM, which describes itself as a world leader in heavy mineral sands extraction and refining, as well as South Africa's largest mineral sands producer.

Among the murder victims is RBM human resources general manager Ronny Nzimande, who was shot and killed in September 2016, in the driveway of his home in Meerensee, Richards Bay.