Mafia State: Richards Bay Minerals pushes back, but the war is not yet over (2024)

Ominous sentinels line the long, straight roads to Richards Bay, a city living in fear of assassins.

First, towering eucalyptus trees stand sentry on either side of the N2, about an hour’s drive north from Durban towards Mozambique. Closer to the turnoff to Richards Bay, trees make way for giant pylons and power lines criss-crossing the road leading to Africa’s biggest deepwater port.

Industry here is colossal and appears invulnerable.

But the opposite is true; terror stalks resource-rich and economically strategic Richards Bay. People are being watched.

This story is about organised crime, corporate vulnerability, political manipulation and how these all intersect.

It is also the story of three men: gangster Nkululeko Mkhize; Werner Duvenhage, the managing director of Richards Bay Minerals (RBM); and Martin Mbuyazi, a community representative with influential political connections.

Mkhize was shot dead by police in September 2023, but his legacy still looms large in a tale of murder, grand-scale theft, extortion and claims of police corruption – a tale of a “resource curse” centred on Richards Bay that has already claimed at least 18 lives.

When Mkhize died in a shootout in Zimbali Estate, one of South Africa’s fanciest gated communities, his neighbours were horrified. Investigators who had tracked his meteoric rise to power cursed about the secrets he took to his grave and the people he had extorted, celebrated.

His short, violent and flamboyant life provides a window into a bigger story about politically connected mafias laying siege to businesses in Richards Bay – RBM in particular.

RBM is one of the biggest targets of these well-resourced criminal gangs and is mounting the most spirited, comprehensive fightback, led by Duvenhage.

RBM’s massive economic pull

RBM was established in 1976 to extract heavy mineral sands from the dunes of northern KwaZulu-Natal.

The company employs about 5,000 people – a mix of permanent and contract labour.

In addition to RBM’s annual taxes of R1-billion, which make it the largest taxpayer in the province, the company estimates its economic impact at R8-billion a year.

In addition, R1.5-billion of its R5.5-billion procurement spend in 2021 went to local businesses.

This huge pot of cash exercises an extraordinary pull on good and bad actors in the surrounding community, as well as their political and criminal overlords.

That dynamic was accelerated by the mandatory Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) equity adjustments introduced when the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act came into effect in 2004.

In July 2008, RBM announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for its 26% BBBEE Transaction.

The company is now a joint venture between Rio Tinto (76%), staff (2%) and a black economic empowerment entity (24%).

The BEE entity includes four local tribes (Dube, Sokhulu, Mbonambi and Mkhwanazi) whose land is mined for mineral-rich sands to produce zircon, rutile, iron and slag, which are in turn used in a range of products, including paint, smartphones and sunscreen.

A 2009 deal established trusts to manage the community benefits paid by RBM.

Since then, RBM has paid about R530-million to the four tribes, but the battle for control over that wealth has been a factor in the destabilisation and violence that have plagued the surrounding communities.

As we will see, it seems that the same considerations – access to resources and power – may have driven some interventions from the provincial government and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).

The trust battle

Between 2015 and 2018, RBM withheld disbursem*nts to some of the trusts, paying them into a legal holding account pending the resolution of governance concerns around these trusts and the lack of benefit flowing from them to the community.

In October 2018, Duvenhage was appointed MD and began confronting the volatile strands of violence, vested interests and corruption the company was enmeshed in.

In 2018, RBM’s operations were halted twice followingviolent protests by contractors. In 2019 the company was again forced to suspend activities following the shooting of one of its employees.

Violence directed at the mine forced RBM to declare force majeure in late June 2021.

RBM’s tussle around community benefits was a contributing factor. The issue is layered but hinges on a lingering leadership dispute in the Mbonambi tribe, the biggest of RBM’s four host communities (more about this shortly).

In the same month, the DMRE threatened to suspend RBM’s mining licence and strong-armed the company into paying out the withheld funds, subject to a discussion around reforming the trust deeds.

But after the money was paid in August 2021, tribal authorities withdrew from Duvenhage’s reform process.

Duvenhage, however, pushed back.

In 2022 RBM went to court, asking the judge to order amendments to the trusts and arguing that they were being abused and were characterised by a “gross lack of governance” that saw only an estimated 16% of the funds benefit the community.

RBM said that, upon inquiry, it established an “ominous picture” of large sums of money directed to unspecified expenses, investments in third parties, loans and distributions of trust assets to non-beneficiaries.

RBM’s court action, still awaiting judgment, asks for new rules to ensure trustees perform their duties and use the money to benefit communities.

RBM wants to remove Amakhosi (traditional leaders) and their immediate families as beneficiaries and create boards of independent trustees jointly appointed by traditional councils and the company.

RBM also wants the power to audit financials and step in if trustees fail.

The four host tribes opposed RBM in court (though the company has since settled with the Sokhulu tribe).

The man spearheading the fight against RBM on behalf of the host tribes is Martin Mbuyazi, appointed by the KZN government as an administrator of the Mbonambi tribe in February 2017.

In court papers, Martin Mbuyazi said RBM’s “bullying” was aimed at controlling money flows and the communities themselves.

To understand his role and how he got to be appointed, we must rewind to the succession battle that gripped the Mbonambi clan, not coincidentally just as the massive benefits from RBM were poised to flow.

This necessary history will highlight the questionable role of a succession of KZN premiers.

It will also introduce us to Martin’s business partner, Judia Mbuyazi, who was first mentor to, then rival and finally victim of, the violence of Nkululeko Mkhize.

Dethroned

In 2006, a year after his father died, Sibusiso Mbuyazi was appointed as Inkosi, or chief, of the Mbonambi clan.

In December 2008, RBM’s multibillion-rand BEE deal, which included significant community benefits, was formalised.

Sibusiso Mbuyazi was the founder of the Mbonambi Community Development Trust and co-founder of the Mbonambi Community Public Benefit Trust and a trustee in both.

In January 2010, Sibusiso was dethroned in a process facilitated by the provincial government under the then-premier Zweli Mkhize.

He was removed and replaced by his younger half-brother, Mkhanyiseni Mbonambi.

Sibusiso took the matter to the High Court but died in 2012.

His widow, Sithembile, also the executrix of his estate, pursued the court challenge on behalf of her son.

In 2017, the then-premier Willies Mchunu appointed Martin Mbuyazi as administrator of the tribe, pending the resolution of the succession dispute.

His appointment was meant to bring stability, but with hindsight might be interpreted as aimed at securing particular business and political interests: it was crucial for the release of more than R70-million in community benefits paid from RBM, as well as for who controlled them.

There were various court processes leading up to 2018 around Sithembile’s right to act on her late husband’s behalf.

She eventually won in the Constitutional Court in December 2018. The full judgment supported her right to pursue a review of the premier’s original decision to withdraw her late husband’s appointment.

Nevertheless, Martin Mbuyazi was recognised as iBambabukhosi (stand-in chief) in March 2019.

After the Constitutional Court decision, the ANC provincial government, then led by Sihle Zikalala, attempted to mediate, but the violence continued.

Community leader Meshack Mbuyazi was gunned down in December 2019, shortly after attending a meeting with Zikalala.

Meshack, a contractor at RBM, had led a delegation representing Sithembile, who was too fearful to attend.

In 2020, Zikalala appointed lawyer Comfort Ngidi to settle the matter.

Sithembile submitted herself to that process: “We had to stop fighting in court. It was frustrating and could drag on forever. So, we sat with the mediator [Comfort Ngidi, who has since died] and he looked at the family tree and said my husband was the chief.”

The challenger, Mkhanyiseni, was livid over the outcome and went to court to secure an order confirming his brother’s removal as chief.

Sithembile said she was unaware of that court process and never contested it.

In the two years that followed, the queen waited for Zikalala and the provincial government to give her a certificate of recognition, acknowledging her as regent.

That call never came.

Entrenched

Instead, Martin Mbuyazi entrenched himself in the business of the tribe.

In 2015, he became a director of Ubunye Mining Services – a joint venture between Unitrans and Ivysea 15, representing Sokhulu, Mbonambi, Dube and Mkhwanazi “entrepreneurs ”– to take over a range of materials transport and handling services at RBM.

The Mbonambi “entrepreneur” who sat on the Ivysea board was one Judia Mbuyazi.

After his appointment as administrator and stand-in chief, Martin took effective control of the Mbonambi Community Development Trust and the Mbonambi Community Public Benefit Trust, becoming chair and completely replacing the trustees appointed by the late Inkosi Sibusiso.

Lulama Cele, who shares a long business history with Judia Mbuyazi, was appointed trust secretary.

Martin also assumed directorships in the tribe’s other interests: the RBM empowerment vehicle, Blue Horison, the Mondi-controlled Siyaqhubeka Forests and its property trust, which purported to negotiate a land claim settlement with Transnet that may pave the way for the expansion of the Port of Richards Bay.

When RBM was forced by the DMRE to release withheld funds to the trusts in August 2021, the Mbonambi Community Public Benefit Trust, chaired by Martin, paid him out nearly R1-million in “travel costs” the day after the money landed in its account.

It also paid more than R5.8-million to Inkosi Mkhanyiseni. The Inkosi did not respond to amaBhungane requests for comment.

In 2022, the property trust bought a R5.5-million home in the Mzingazi Golf Estate in Richards Bay, which online records suggest is occupied by Mkhanyiseni.

Around this time, Martin Mbuyazi fell out of favour and his security concerns were such that it appears he decamped from the area.

The deposed chief’s widow Sithembile says Martin has not been seen by the community since 2022. “He hasn’t been there. I have no idea what has happened to the money. My late husband set up the trust in 2009. In January 2010, he was dethroned because some people wanted to hit the jackpot.

“My people did not benefit from that money.”

How did Martin Mbuyazi come to be appointed administrator?

Sithembile said the government “announced Martin, who claimed to be a Mbuyazi, though it is known that he is Greek”.

Who is Martin Mbuyazi?

Mbuyazi once sported a WhatsApp status picture showing him shaking hands with Jacob Zuma.

Two independent sources told amaBhungane that Martin was close to Judia Mbuyazi and Nkululeko Mkhize.

Through his lawyer, Martin Mbuyazi declined to respond to our questions.

He was previously linked to a private security company and also worked for Cord Consulting, a politically connected business, as well as for the Network of Independent Monitors.

Martin is said to have been adopted by the Mbonambi tribe and later worked with former KZN premier Willies Mchunu.

Mchunu told amaBhungane that before becoming premier, he was KZN MEC for safety and security; he and Nomusa Dube, the MEC for cooperative governance traditional affairs, were tasked by the provincial government to help resolve the Mbonambi chieftaincy dispute.

Mchunu said he was “assured” at an Mbuyazi family gathering that the family was duly mandated to speak on behalf of the tribe when they recommended an administrator.

To Mchunu’s “surprise”, the family presented Martin Mbuyazi.

He declared that he knew Mbuyazi as a violence monitor and, while caught off guard by the recommendation, proceeded to “formalise” the family’s request with the understanding that he belonged to the family: “Whether he was adopted or not, I don’t know.”

Mchunu said Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini later approached him about complaints that “I appointed a Greek person to run the affairs of the family”. He told the king he followed due process and rejected claims that he had links to Mbuyazi beyond having worked with him as a violence monitor.

“There were allegations the ANC was getting some benefit from RBM, and I categorically denied that, unless anyone else can tell me who … the king made sweeping statements that the ANC was after RBM money … . I only formalised a family decision. I am not close to Martin Mbuyazi nor have I anything to do with RBM money.”

Mbuyazi is still listed as a director of Gudlulwandle Investments and Siyaqhubeka Forests. Gudlulwandle owns 5.4% of Siyaqhubeka, an investment that appears to have paid off handsomely. Forestry-related land claims worth more than R200-million were earmarked for Siyaqhubeka between 2011 and 2022.

According to Deeds Office data, in April 2022 Mbuyazi bought a property in Sandton for R19-million.

Despite the rumoured threats against him – and despite the formal recognition of Inkosi Mkhanyiseni – Martin remained sufficiently influential to be authorised by all four tribal trusts to oppose RBM’s efforts to reform the trusts.

All about the money

Yet, in a 2020 report, community leader Ntozakhe Mkhathini claimed that villagers had lost confidence in government intervention and blamed Martin Mbuyazi, “who was branded as a messiah to solve our problems”, for causing further problems.

Wax Ndlela, a spokesperson for the faction of the Mbonambi clan ousted when Inkosi Sibusiso was derecognised, claims the move was orchestrated by the ANC-led provincial government with the connivance of Judia Mbuyazi.

A family member of the assassinated Meshack Mbuyazi told AmaBhungane that “people have been killed for money that was meant for the community”.

“A lot of money has disappeared, and there are no proper reports. The trust hasn’t been viably elected. The Inkosi is the custodian of this, and there is no [genuine] Inkosi. The first task of new trustees would be to investigate what funds were paid out previously and to whom.”

The family member said ANC figures had forced government interference in the traditional leadership dispute in order to get their hands on the money.

According to this family member, Meshack Mbuyazi had threatened, before he was killed, to flush out “the mafias hijacking” big RBM contracts.

Let’s now take a closer look at these “mafias” and where the infamous Nkululeko Mkhize fitted in on the criminal food chain.

Criminal syndicates

Product theft is another challenge for RBM, running into hundreds of millions of rands per year, but the miner is just one of the biggest among a host of companies being targeted in Richards Bay.

Big league crime has seen millions spent on private security by most of the big firms that operate there, including Foskor, South32, Mondi, Tronox Sands, Bidvest and Richards Bay Coal Terminal (one of the world’s biggest).

In February 2024, Foskor procurement manager Sifiso Mncube was shot dead while driving home after work. Gunmen pumped 25 AK-47 rounds into his car.

He was the latest in a string of high-profile corporate murders, primarily directed at RBM.

In May 2021, Nico Swart, RBM general manager, was shot dead.

In July 2020, community elder Judia Mbuyazi was shot dead.

In December 2019, tribal leader Induna Meshack Mbuyazi was shot dead.

In August 2016, Ronny Nzimande, RBM’s HR manager, was shot dead.

Police and private security sources who spoke to AmaBhungane on condition of anonymity said community representatives fought over the RBM benefits and that Mkhize was among the most ruthless actors in these disputes, which still threaten RBM’s planned R10-billion Zulti South expansion.

Gangster Nkululeko Mkhize lived a short, flamboyant life before he died in a shootout with police last year. In this video, he is seen hosting a traditional ceremony in KwaZulu-Natal.

So, who was Nkululeko Mkhize?

Depending on who you talk to, Mkhize was a small-time thug who knocked the lights out or a protected crook involved in a much bigger enterprise, and his death at the hands of police was convenient for his erstwhile partners in crime.

By the time he died, Mkhize was a feted “businessman”, drug dealer and cash-flush extortionist who drove around in convoys, often accompanied by as many as 10 heavily armed bodyguards.

One source described him as “illiterate and angry”, and another said he was “madly ambitious, ridiculously greedy”.

He is representative of a breed of criminals who flourish under political cover and exercise considerable clout.

By the time Mkhize died, aged 32, he was awash in cash, renting houses in at least two luxury gated estates, wearing designer clothes and filming himself and his chums hosting lavish traditional ceremonies.

Several mini-documentaries were shot of various events hosted with great fanfare by Mkhize. The films show heavily armed men and a host of celebrities. One event was a traditional ceremony for Mkhize’s fiancé, Ntethe Nkosi from Nongoma. The Umkhehlo gifting ceremony saw Mkhize arrive with a 30-strong entourage, including bodyguards, and boast about his fancy lodgings and costly outfits, including Louis Vuitton gear.

Part of the ceremony included public donations to the bridal couple, an ostentatious display of wealth that saw cash payments ranging between R5,000 and R100,000. Notable personalities attended and donated money. Among them was Ngizwe Mchunu, a staunch Zulu tribalist and ardent supporter of former president Jacob Zuma. Another guest was Black Business Federation boss Malusi Zondi, who contributed R20,000. Zondi was also photographed at the podium at Mkhize’s funeral. Zondi is an outspoken champion of business forums and he is on record admitting he “associated with heavies”.

Interviews with various sources connected Mkhize with Judia Mbuyazi.

A well-placed police source said Judia was “no angel himself” – he helped facilitate Mkhize’s rise in business and was a silent partner in Mkhize’s Lekos Towing business.

But the two fell out over a woman, and because Mkhize wanted to extend his taxi interests. This only emerged in 2021 after police set up a specialised task team to probe the RBM murders.

The terrifying taxi man

Though Mkhize is dead, people still talk in hushed tones about him.

A businessman who crossed him years ago said this in response to inquiries: “I’m sorry, I don’t want to talk about him, even off the record. I don’t want to utter his name. He cost my business and my family so much. I don’t want to think about him or the people he worked with. They are still out there.”

“People were terrified of him,” a Richards Bay businesswoman said, adding that Mkhize’s extortion extended from rival taxis to roadside hawkers, evidenced by a widely circulated voice note from Mkhize demanding protection money.

“He collected money every week in buckets. For every taxi that operated in his area, he demanded R100 a day. He was very feared. Nobody dared cross him. He was involved in drugs, and his victims said he was involved with the police. He wanted to be part of every business in Richards Bay. He even wanted to collect money from Mr Delivery motorbike riders.”

A private security company dug into Mkhize’s background when he started applying for tenders at a big firm in Richards Bay.

Their profile report, seen by amaBhungane, said Mkhize initially became prominent in Richards Bay through his association with members of the Mbuyazi family from the Mbonambi tribe.

Police sources said Judia Mbuyazi initially bankrolled Mkhize’s Lekos Towing.

The profile report linked Mkhize to the murders of Ronny Nzimande, Meshack Mbuyazi, Nico Swart and – after their fallout – Judia Mbuyazi himself.

“He operated as a hitman organising and executing assassinations.”

The report also said that Mkhize’s own security was provided by a company that protected the Nhlabane Taxi Association, which operates routes around RBM.

Connections

A source told amaBhungane Mkhize was a school dropout who left Zululand to work for one of the country’s most prominent taxi families in Durban, the Gcabas, who are related to Jacob Zuma.

The private profile report said Mkhize sought protection from the Gcaba family and subsequently took control of taxi businesses in Richards Bay, “something unlikely to be allowed if there was not a relationship with them”.

He was also friendly with the family of local Richards Bay taxi owner Vika Biyela, who has had a long feud with the police. In 2020, Biyela’s family homestead was raided by police and weapons were seized. Biyela belonged to various business forums, including the Asidlali Umhlathuze Business Chamber and the Cetshwayo Business Chamber.

The Cetshwayo Business Chamber lists four directors: Biyela, Alpha Nxumalo, Henry Mpungose and Thabani Gcaba, apparently from the Gcaba taxi family.

Several sources interviewed for this story made much of the Gcaba family connection.

A veteran taxi operator described Biyela and Mkhize as “Gcaba’s boys”.

Nkululeko Mkhize’s father, Mfihleleni Mkhize, worked for two Gcaba-linked bus companies: Tasnat and Masithembe.

The Gcaba family’s involvement in industry turf wars is well documented. It includes a shooting outside the Durban High Court in 1998, a retaliation for the 1996 assassination of Gcaba patriarch Simon Gcaba.

In 2015, Mfundo Gcaba appeared in court claiming self-defence after a fatal shooting at the Brook Street taxi rank in Durban.

In March 2024, the Gcaba family released a statement denying Mfundo was the paymaster in the hit on rap artist Kiernan Aka Forbes after the National Prosecuting Authority said bank records showed Gcaba paid one of the accused.

The Gcaba family did not respond to questions sent by amaBhungane.

Nkululeko Mkhize’s own family is a powerful force in the taxi industry and has political connections.

His brother, Zithulele Africa Mkhize, known as Mathula, is a powerful, politically connected Durban taxi boss.

Mathula moves around under heavy guard. He is also a co-accused in the corruption trial of former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede, who is deeply associated with the RET/Zuma faction of the ANC.

Much of Mkhize’s backstory only emerged after he was shot dead with his accomplice, former police officer Sabelo Cele, at the plush Zimbali estate about 40km north of Durban.

In a story about Nkululeko’s funeral in the Sunday Times, he was described as having built an “empire on blood and tears”.

“I want to apologise on behalf of my brother,” Mathula told mourners.

“I know there are those who are here to celebrate his death. If you are here today and you’ve cried and grieved because you lost your family members at the hands of my brother, I want to apologise on his behalf.”

In Zululand, Mkhize was known for his opulent lifestyle, but only after the shooting did reports of his involvement in “tender mafia” activities surface widely.

So, too, did talk of links to drugs – and dirty cops.

Zimbali shootout

The Zimbali shootout with police happened on 20 September 2023.

The day before, on 19 September, Mkhize and Cele assassinated drug rivals in a shootout outside a shopping centre in Richards Bay, 135km away.

Five people were killed. The next day, a report appeared referencing police suspicions about a drug-related turf war.

Police sources said that two of the five killed in Richards Bay were drug dealers and rivals of Mkhize and Cele. The others were innocent bystanders.

A dashcam video seen by amaBhungane shows a triumphant Mkhize seemingly being driven back from the Richards Bay hit. In the backseat, a beaming Mkhize waves handguns and a rifle for the camera.

After the Zimbali shooting, SAPS spokesman Colonel Robert Netshiunda said police were acting on intelligence related to the drug hit.

He said that at Mkhize’s rented Zimbali house, the police were shot at and returned fire. Police later seized guns and 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

Mkhize had been under the scrutiny of law enforcement agencies for some time.

Read more: Taxi bosses, construction mafia and political murder: The violence entrepreneurs challenging business and the state

A Sunday Times story said that police were actually at Zimbali to arrest Mkhize for a 2020 murder at the Lekos business premises in Richards Bay, where a 28-year-old man was shot dead. At the time, Mkhize was arrested but reportedly claimed that people were stealing from Lekos and that he squared up against three armed men and shot one.

But a local security company disputed his version. The post-mortem report and CCTV footage contradicted Mkhize’s self-defence story. Later, a security guard on duty the night of the Lekos murder and two men who accompanied Mkhize were shot dead in separate incidents, eliminating potential witnesses against him.

Mkhize had an inside track with local police, which is probably why the Lekos shooting was not properly investigated at first.

Notably, Mkhize’s partner-in-crime and the man who died at his side, Cele, was a former policeman.

Interest in the Lekos case only re-emerged when a detective task team was established to look into the spate of murders at RBM.

Investigations – and a cover-up?

Almost immediately after Mkhize was shot dead by the police, there was speculation that he was deliberately silenced to protect the food chain he fed on – and those higher up.

Celebrity radio presenter Zimiphi “Zimdollar” Biyela, the sister of Vika Biyela, alleged that police had assassinated Mkhize.

A Sunday Times article quoted a source who said: “We are a bit disappointed that he was killed because there is important information that he still had with him.”

The story said Mkhize was a “ringleader … [but] we see him as someone coordinating orders to kill originating from someone else”.

This ties up with information from well-placed police sources who spoke to amaBhungane, indicating that prior to his death, police were closing in on Mkhize for a host of RBM-linked murders.

As early as March 2023, the Sunday Times was able to quote a source close to the investigation, identified as “a man in his 30s with local business interests” – clearly Mkhize – in connection with some of the murders.

But the SAPS focus on RBM varied from intense to lacklustre.

The task team established after Swart’s murder included seasoned detectives who profiled Mkhize, finding new evidence about the Lekos murder and more.

They learnt about Mkhize’s links with Judia Mbuyazi, how Mkhize’s power had grown and how the men fell out over business and a mutual love interest.

Mkhize survived a hit, apparently ordered by Mbuyazi. It rendered his left arm partially lame. He retaliated by orchestrating the Mbuyazi murder. Mbuyazi’s wife was in the passenger seat of the car, parked near a shop in Richards Bay, when the killers struck. She miraculously survived.

Police arrested one of the Mbuyazi shooters, Omega Ngubane, but he was inexplicably released on bail and later shot dead.

Subsequently, members of the task team assigned to RBM were withdrawn from Richards Bay and told to carry the murder dockets but focus on the company’s thefts. Though demoralised, detectives beavered away. They built a profile of Mkhize and investigated his connections.

Interference

Amabhungane was told that informers had warned police that Mkhize was going to be killed because he had gone “too far” with boasts about his antics and flashy displays of wealth.

Investigators were allegedly promised damning information about Mkhize from a forum member active around RBM.

But suddenly there was a mysterious head office directive to hand over all the dockets to police brass based in Durban.

It was August 2023.

Mkhize was shot dead by police in September. Some police members smelled a rat.

AmaBhungane has found evidence of internal police conflict over the RBM case, though it is difficult to establish whether it was a turf war or something more sinister.

The RBM murder dockets and the RBM theft dockets appear to have been taken from the task team and put under the control of provincial police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

However, this was resisted by Major-General Nonhlanhla Zulu, SAPS Specialised Operations Component head, who effectively controlled the task team.

AmaBhungane was reliably informed that on 19 December 2023, a complaint relating to defeating the ends of justice was opened in Richards Bay. Notes in the complaint file refer to task-team leader Zulu getting a call from Mkhwanazi demanding the handover of dockets.

Police sources also confirmed to amaBhungane their view that Mkhize’s shooting at Zimbali was suspicious.

SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe did not respond at all to questions posed by amaBhungane.

Mystery wealth

The source of Mkhize’s wealth is vague. Apart from reports of extortion rackets, he didn’t have much traceable business. He had three registered companies, including Lekos.

There is a public record of one receiving a minor state tender, but sources said Mkhize used multiple proxies to get tenders from local firms. He demanded a slice of their work, or else.

A document sent to amaBhungane lists Mkhize as one of 20 Kwambonambi Business Forum executive members. Other names include Sizwe Mthiyane and Ntokozo Dube, who are in court for RBM product theft.

A source linked to RBM described the three men as “a significant force” in the Kwambonambi Business Forum.

How important is that forum compared to others like Cetshwayo, especially considering that police sources told amaBhungane that Mkhize “ordered the RBM hits and was directly linked to them”?

Police sources said that Mkhize was a kingpin, unabashed about wanting to “take over” RBM by securing a stake in contracts and community benefits, but other highly placed sources in Richards Bay are convinced that Mkhize was a cog in a bigger wheel.

If that is so, to whom was he connected and how?

A private security source told amaBhungane: “Mkhize was a big mafia guy. He worked with many networks, had free rein and had top cover. Things are relatively quiet now, but the murders remain unresolved. Nobody has filled Mkhize’s place because they don’t have the blessing from above.”

If the network is a criminal pyramid, where did he fit in?

Sophisticated crime syndicates

A senior Richards Bay company executive told amaBhungane: “All these things are connected. Procurement, trusts – if you stand back, the same people appear, like Nkululeko Mkhize.”

Private security experts and company executives point to the sophistication of crime syndicates in Richards Bay.

Stolen minerals are exported, requiring a multi-layered network of players, including truckers, corrupt port and customs officials, freight forwarding companies and companies that sell the stolen product offshore.

“This runs into billions of rands,” a source said. “This is a big criminal enterprise with money at its disposal. Some police are fantastic, but the closer you get to Richards Bay, the higher the levels of intimidation. Nkululeko was ruthless.”

Various sources said criminals are politically connected and have links to business forums and taxi businesses.

“This is very dangerous. It’s important to spotlight how well developed this organised crime is. It is sophisticated, violent, and brutal.”

Who got the money?

It is difficult to see who has benefited most from RBM.

That would require a detailed record of what RBM has paid out in tenders, which RBM has not disclosed.

It would also require a careful analysis of payments by RBM to the community trusts.

Although their financials submitted in court do not seem to provide a comprehensive account, the essence of RBM’s court case against the trusts is the allegation that money paid out by the mine is not properly accounted for, which is denied by Martin Mbuyazi.

But the detailed accounting available for the R18-million paid out on 25 August 2021 to the Mbonambi trust is perhaps partially instructive.

As previously described, some goes to Martin (R1-million for travel costs) and the Inkosi (R5.8-million); but there is also R3.8-million to Blackbird Advisory and R7.3-million to a company called Andisa FT for an alleged school ablutions construction project.

Blackbird Advisory is a financial consultant for some of the tribes and has earned significant fees.

Andisa FT is co-owned by Fundi Dlamini. She was reportedly fired as general manager of community relations at RBM in September 2016 along with four other senior employees, a week after the September murder of RBM human resource manager Ronny Nzimande, although the company stressed the two issues were not related.

The Zululand Observer reported at the time that it was believed the disciplinary action was the result of possible irregularities with regards to a transport tender, though this was never confirmed.

Two years later, Dlamini appeared as co-director in two companies with Martin Mbuyazi’s wife, Palesa.

Dlamini responded via her lawyer to amaBhungane’s questions, saying: “Due to the private and confidential nature of the matters involved, our client is constrained from disclosing specific details. This is to ensure compliance with legal provisions concerning the protection of individual privacy and the avoidance of harm. Additionally, we deny any misleading implications from the questions posed.”

One source told amaBhungane: “There was someone at RBM who gave information to politicians. One of the managers told me he got a call from the premier who said, ‘I know you have this tender, and I want you to award it to so and so’. How did the premier know that?”

There is no indication that the source was referring to Dlamini, but the anecdotes give some idea of the fraught relationships and suspicions that RBM’s gigantic honeypot conjured up.

The Ubunye local empowerment deal launched with fanfare in 2015 also seems to have run into problems.

Unitrans parent KAP noted in its 2023 integrated report that “effective 30 November 2021, USCS acquired a minority 30% non-controlling interest in UbunyeMining Services Proprietary Limited for a consideration of R20-million”.

It appears that the empowermentpartnership with Ivysea – representing the local entrepreneurs – was unwound, perhaps at the instance of RBM, and all the Ivysea directors, including Martin Mbuyazi, resigned.

Direct theft outdoes trust benefits

The benefits flowing to individuals from the community trusts and from empowered procurement deals appear to be dwarfed by the impact of direct theft.

In a Sunday Times report last year, RBM’s annual losses to theft were reportedly R750-million.

If hundreds of millions worth of products are stolen from RBM and other big companies in Richards Bay every year, who are the big players in that game, and how are they linked?

Various sources said criminal syndicates had key people embedded in strategic firms in Richards Bay and at the port. They also have police on their payroll.

Where did Mkhize fit into this network, if at all?

During its product theft investigation in 2023, RBM conducted a sting operation after tracking a truck to a warehouse belonging to Chinese giant Cosco Shipping in City Deep, Johannesburg.

This was one of several premises raided by sheriffs under civil “Anton Piller” searches, enabling the confiscation and preservation of samples for later use in court.

The company’s civil action supplemented criminal investigations.

Various questions also arise about potential links between the companies whose premises were raided by the court sheriff.

In the Anton Piller court documents, various companies and individuals are named, including: Cosco Shipping; Aerotex Commodities; Seletha Industrial and Hydraulics; Opulent Minerals; Tobun and Tobun; and Sambhic Resources.

There is no discernible link between Mkhize, the business forums, any of these companies, or the company raided in Durban in 2024, Southway Logistics, where stolen RBM products were seized.

Regarding Southway, SAPS said a truck driver was found in possession of stolen zircon and chloride worth R15.5-million and the investigation led police to Durban, where the RBM minerals were found. All the named companies have denied wrongdoing.

At the time, police said that since the establishment of the Richards Bay task team, 43 suspects had been arrested for charges ranging from murder, theft, trespassing and possession of suspected stolen property to unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, fraud and intimidation. Police said 68 dockets were under investigation; 47 of these cases were in court and 202 guns had been confiscated.

RBM’s fightback against product theft at the mine has yielded significant results.

In July last year, Duvenhage told the Sunday Times that theft was down 80% in four months.

Duvenhage said that despite the drop in thefts, criminal kingpins operating syndicates still had to be caught. “It is critical that we get to that level. Some of our frustrations stem from how we are stepping up that ladder to the top,” he said.

At the Mining Indaba earlier this year, Duvenhage said murders at RBM were linked to procurement, not to the disputes over the community trusts.

But as we have seen, the issues and the personalities are interwoven.

Duvenhage’s strategy

Werner Duvenhage is central to RBM’s attempts to win over the local communities and its fightback against violence and theft, but he is media-shy and cautious about providing personal insight into the local dynamics and his own strategy.

Duvenhage came to RBM in October 2018 after spending more than a decade managing uranium mines in the Namibian desert.

Although he speaks in a measured, calm style, a colleague who has worked with him says that “Werner’s hardcore. He doesn’t take sh*t”.

At the Mining Indaba in February, Duvenhage was at pains to underline that the situation was so delicate that he handled the issues around the trusts personally.

He was quoted as saying that “only one person talks about the trusts and that’s me. You will only find one name on the affidavits and that’s mine. We have made it very clear there is no one else you can fiddle with that is going to impact where we are going with the trusts.”

He also stressed that the safety of his executives was paramount.“The majority of the senior leaders at RBM travel to work in armoured vehicles with close protection officers. Until we have dealt with this situation we just don’t know.”

In public, Duvenhage has repeatedly stressed the need for a partnership with communities. At the RBM Open Day in April, his speech emphasised the need to mobilise the community’s support behind the retention of the Zulti South Project.

In June this year, MiningMX suggested that it was “all systems go” for the Zulti South expansion, yet RBM’s formal response to amaBhungane’s expansive questions appeared designed to underscore just how fragile the situation remains – and that the multibillion-rand expansion remains on hold.

The company said that “at Richards Bay Minerals, the safety and security of our people and the host communities remains our priority, and our core motivation for sustained pushback on crime.

“In 2021, RBM faced significant operational disruption due to an escalation in the security situation, including increased civil unrest and criminal activity. RBM subsequently discovered the existence of a sophisticated criminal network involved in product theft affecting our business. This criminal activity not only had a detrimental financial impact on our business, but it also contributed to instability in the region and negatively impacted the safety and security of our people and host community members.

“These disruptions also threaten the viability of the Zulti South project, which is essential in the next stage of development for RBM, and key to maintaining RBM’s contribution to the province and our partner communities. Today the project is indefinitely suspended and neither RBM nor the host communities can benefit from it until we can be confident that it can be developed in a stable and safe environment.”

Conclusion

The links between Nkululeko Mkhize, the taxi industry and business forums synonymous with violence and extortion are illustrative. The ANC provincial government’s handling of the Mbonambi leadership dispute and the installation of Martin Mbuyazi as administrator raises red flags about political manipulation.

Another concern is the police handling of the RBM product theft and murder dockets. Why did the police blow hot and cold on the investigation, and why were the dockets suddenly reassigned just before the fatal shootout with Mkhize?

Were the investigations disrupted to arrest key figures linked to criminal networks? The tussle and internal police strife over handling the cases are suspicious and undermine effective law enforcement responses to organised crime and perceptions about police effectiveness.

Executives at several big companies in Richards Bay are convinced Nkululeko Mkhize operated with the blessing of “higher-ups”, but that he got too big for his boots and threatened to upset their organised criminal network, for which he was conveniently shot dead by police.

A source said “he was becoming a hindrance to the longevity of the mine and the benefits associated with that”.

Much suggests this hypothesis is accurate.

Our story highlights how organised crime syndicates have infiltrated businesses and are able to steal, extort and murder with relative impunity.

Efforts to fight back are costly and undermined by claims of police corruption.

Theft and the alleged misappropriation of community benefits threaten the longevity of businesses with significant economic impact.

Political connections that shield and empower criminal activity perpetuate a culture of impunity and each murder adds to the climate of fear. DM