ANC cuts back door deal with the Oppenheimers

The Oppenheimers held secret talks with ANC headquarters over an application to the national government by one of the family's businesses to be allowed to operate its own private international terminal at OR Tambo International Airport.

The Sunday Times can reveal the ANC wrote to Nicky Oppenheimer to inform him his company Fireblade Aviation had "met the necessary requirements" and would be granted permission for the terminal. Two months later, the project was given the green light by the Department of Home Affairs.

The luxury terminal, which offers customs and immigration services to passengers travelling on private jets, has been mired in controversy and has seen Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba take a legal pounding after he approved the project and then backtracked. It has also reportedly become the subject of a tussle between two of South Africa's most powerful families, the Oppenheimers and the Guptas. In court, Nicky Oppenheimer accused the Guptas of using their Denel connections to hijack the deal so they could take it over. The Guptas denied this.

'HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL'

Now new information obtained by the Sunday Times this week shows that the approval for the Oppenheimers to run their own VVIP terminal came from the ANC before the government gave the go-ahead. This has raised alarm about the ANC interfering in how government decisions are taken. Governance experts said it raised concerns over a possible corruption of power.

A 2015 letter by then ANC general manager Ignatius Jacobs, marked "strictly private" and "highly confidential" and written on an ANC letterhead, said: "After due consideration we can proudly state that Fireblade Aviation's submission for a fixed base operator (FBO) certificate has met all the necessary requirements." The letter, in which Jacobs refers to previous correspondence and discussion exchanged between the two on the matter, did not say what the requirements were.

Fireblade took Gigaba to court in 2016 after he approved - and then rejected - its application to operate the terminal. It claimed the reversal was due to pressure from the Gupta family, exerted through the former chairman of Denel, Daniel Mantsha. Fireblade leases the terminal land from Denel.

In December the High Court in Pretoria ruled in favour of Fireblade after describing Gigaba's arguments as "disingenuous, spurious and fundamentally flawed, laboured and meritless, bad in law, astonishing, palpably untrue, untenable and not sustained by objective evidence, uncreditworthy and nonsensical". On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed Gigaba's application for leave to appeal the judgment.

In the letter to Fireblade, Jacobs wrote: "Fireblade has been able to comply with all the statutory requirements and we can confirm that approval process has been validated by the relevant authorities. Furthermore we can confirm the approval and relevant certificate will be issued by the regulatory authority directly to Fireblade Aviation facility."

Jacobs left his ANC job in 2017 under a cloud after it emerged that he was the centre of the creation of a R50-million war room that targeted opposition political parties. The scandal, in which Jacobs was hauled before a disciplinary hearing, broke after a public relations practitioner took the ANC to court claiming she was owed R2.2-million for work done for the war room.

It was not clear why the ANC would take an interest in Fireblade's certification, but speculation within Luthuli House is that at the time the party had sought funding from the wealthy family. However, this could not be substantiated, as ANC spokesman Pule Mabe had not responded to questions by yesterday.

ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said she was unaware of any donations or discussions with the Oppenheimers.

"The ANC does not have the power to grant permission for individuals to open airports. It is the responsibility of the government. There was no discussion with the ANC on the modalities or specifications required," said Duarte.

"I am unaware of the ANC requesting or receiving donations from the Oppenheimers. Please refer that matter to Zweli Mkhize."

Jacobs confirmed the November 2015 letter, but said he had merely been confirming that the company had followed the correct procedure.

"[There was] no influence over home affairs or any other government department, a big no, will not accept any gift from anyone. In all my years in government and the ANC I was guided by the values of good governance and ethical behaviour," Jacobs said.

Gigaba's spokesman, Mayihlome Tshwete, on Thursday would neither comment on the letter nor respond to queries as to whether Gigaba had discussed the matter with his principals at Luthuli House.

"For the record, Minister Gigaba enjoys a cordial relationship with Nicky Oppenheimer and still believes an amicable solution can be sought, one that addresses the concerns of government and the benefit of the broader public

"All of the engagements Minister Gigaba has had on this matter have ended in him strongly advising all stakeholders to 1) follow due process, 2) address the concerns of constitutionality, legality and security, 3) subject themselves to a competitive and transparent bid."

He said the merits of the department's concerns - about private citizens operating a port of entry - had been replaced by a "Gupta gevaar [danger]" storyline with "zero factual basis".

Those who started this narrative "did this knowing that this publicly detested name would shift us to state capture instead of the merits and concerns raised by the department and the minister", he said.

Professor Susan Booysen of the Wits School of Governance said the letter called into question whose mandate the government was following.

"It raises questions as to whether policy decisions are influenced beyond the domain of democratic accountability, and that is a corruption of power."

Booysen said that in her experience, such "symbiotic" relationships were not new. Many times over the years "senior people in the ANC, in anonymous interviews, have told me that this is routine", she said.

"Very often this is in the context of BEE deals, but it's also there in other contexts as well."

Read Fireblade's full comments here

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect the addition of Fireblade's comments.