The controversial sales and marketing contract between SSI and the Pooling and Sharing Joint Venture (PSJV) formed by Alexkor SOC and the Richtersveld Mining Company was awarded in 2014. 

The motivation for the contract was for this Gupta-Linked company to do diamond trading on behalf of the mining company since it did not have a trading licence. It, however, turned out the appointed company also did not have a trading licence.

Alexkor and the Department of Public Enterprises are mum on the aforementioned developments.

The OFM News team in possession of a letter from Hector North Inc Attorneys, on behalf of Scarlet Sky Investments (SSI), which confirms word on the ground that the relationship between the respective parties has soured. In it the law firm says “the agreement entered into by and between you and our client on 6 October 2016 remains of full force and effect and our client requires compliance with the terms of the agreement”. Hector North Inc further chastises Alexkor for informing subcontractors of the termination, “we understand that you have advised the land, beach, shallow and marine mining contractors that you have terminated the agreement with our client. Your conduct is unlawful and the agreement has not been lawfully terminated and remains binding”. Hector North Inc Attorneys has declined to comment on the matter to OFM News, stating in an email responding to questions, that they “are not authorised to comment on the contents of the email under reply”.

Two years after the company’s irregular appointment, its contract got renewed in 2016 for another five years stretching it to 2021. In 2017, a year after the renewal, the contract came under scrutiny in the #GuptaLeaks series by the Mail and Guardian’s AmaBhungane and the Daily Maverick’s Scorpio teams. They linked SSI to the Gupta family as a part of their series into state capture. But only about three years later did the mining company decide to terminate the controversial contract. In May 2020, a former administrator at Alexkor, Lloyd McPatie, briefed the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises virtually that auditing firm, Gobodo Forensic and Investigative Accounting, had conducted an investigation into allegations of corruption and mismanagement at the mine. The Gobodo report that followed then found that the contract and its renewal was irregular. 

OFM News