The Kebble Collusion – 10 Fateful Days in a R26 Billion Fraud

by Barry Sergeant (Jacana)

The so-called New South Africa has had more than its fair share of high-profile criminal cases and scandals.

But there is still probably nothing that beats the murder/assisted suicide of larger-than-life businessman Brett Kebble in September 2005 for mystery and intrigue in the country.

Sergeant, in this second book on the politically connected mining magnate, unravels the dirty saga across 373 pages (appendices and endnotes take it to 456) and he provides more financial details and incidents of boardroom shenanigans than contained in a good Hollywood script.

Kebble was probably too intelligent, witty and charming for his own good in the eyes of the author, who labels the fraud committed by the mastermind of the JCI-Western Areas-South Deep axis and his fellow crooks as one of the world’s biggest unprosecuted frauds.

As the title suggests, Sergeant gives a good account of those fellow crooks and he actually wishes to see them brought to justice soon.

While Kebble appeared a master at his murky financial dealings since 1997, he built up a mountain of debt in search of an apparent holy grail of South African mining at South Deep and this eventually led to his death.

Sergeant’s list of the evil business activities and actual amounts involved is impressive, but one wonders whether he would have obtained an even greater read by further exploring Kebble’s inner demons.

These, possibly stemming from a father-son dynamic and related to a complex sexual identity, don’t make too many pages of the book, but Sergeant’s aim is to see Kebble’s sidekicks and shady business colleagues, some of whom turned against him later on, land in jail.

This is a world of dirty dealings and not all the wrongdoers may be brought to justice, but he has his fingers crossed. – Carl Peters