Johannesburg - The founder of Tariomix Diamond and Gold Company, Louis Liebenberg, has denied being a racist Afrikaner who is illegally running a Ponzi diamond scheme.
The 58-year-old businessman, who is reported to have gifted former president Jacob Zuma with two Nguni bulls and more than R2.5 million in legal fees for Zuma’s recent private prosecution of state advocate Billy Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan, told The Star that he wants to defend himself against media reports that he was running a Ponzi scheme, adding that his Namaqualand mine is a legitimate business that gives willing investors value for money.
“How can we run a Ponzi scheme when we have the mine and the certificates to run the mine and sell the diamonds we extract from the mine? We employ at least 200 people and have willing investors who are investing their money into the operation,” he said.
Last year, an audio clip was leaked to the media, claiming that Liebenberg said the apartheid government should have used an atomic bomb to destroy Soweto, the then epicentre of political campaigns. It was not the first time that the now-famous businessman, whose backing of Zuma has contributed to the scrutiny of his moves, was fingered in a racial incident.
According to DA spokesperson on sport, arts and culture, Veronica van Dyk, the party reported Liebenberg to the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in 2020 over a leaked video in which he was seen imitating President Cyril Ramaphosa and deduced that being black allowed one to be corrupt.
In his conversation with The Star, Liebenberg said that, like all South Africans with a conflicted cultural upbringing, he has erred in how he addresses certain issues and must have spoken out in frustration and addressed racial issues without considering how these affect other races, particularly the country’s black people.
“I am not racist. I might have spoken or uttered a racist word out of frustration that one time in my life, but I believe that I am not racist. I grew up conflicted by my right-wing culture, and looking back, I understand how conflicted my background and culture have been. One thing I know about myself is that I do not want to see our country destroyed just because I am an Afrikaner,” Liebenberg told The Star.
“I admit to having addressed the issue of President Cyril Ramaphosa in a dramatic manner on social media. Sometimes I am dramatic about addressing things on social media ... I do not have hate against President Cyril Ramaphosa, and my support for former president Zuma comes from the fact that I have done my research and I have read the books written about him that paint him as having captured the state, and that, for me, is the biggest problem.”
Liebenberg said helping people is what makes his soul rest, and he often helps people regardless of their racial identity.
“Helping people, for me, is my salvation. I love people in general, and God has given me so much that whenever I am called to help, I do it without thinking twice. Sometimes I am guilty because of what God has given me,” he said.
The Star