EEF Speaks As Glencore Company Admits To Bribery & Market Manipulation, Fined Over R15 Billion

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party has expressed as Glencore admitted to bribery and market manipulation charges involving ZAR15 billion.

The EFF speaks after the U.S. Department of Justice Tuesday last week issued a statement saying Glencore International A.G. (Glencore) and Glencore Ltd., both parts of a multinational commodity trading and mining firm headquartered in Switzerland, each pleaded guilty and agreed to pay over $1.1 billion to resolve the government’s investigations into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and a commodity price manipulation scheme.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York said Glencore paid bribes to secure oil contracts, to avoid government audits, and make lawsuits disappear.

These guilty pleas are part of coordinated resolutions with criminal and civil authorities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil.

Glencore is also a member of the Minerals Council South Africa, which has a “Membership Compact”.

In a statement, seen by Pindula News, the EFF party led by Julius Malema said the admission has vindicated the party that has in the past been castigating the company. Reads the statement:

EFF STATEMENT ON GLENCORE’S BRIBERY AND MARKET MANIPULATION ADMISSION
Sunday, 29 May 2022

The EFF is not shocked by Glencore’s admission of foreign bribery and market manipulation. Glencore, a company which is a major producer of commodities within mining and the oil sector, has pleaded guilty to charges of bribery and market manipulation in the United States to prevent further investigation by the Department of Justice, and agreed to pay a fine of more than R15 billion.

The charges by the US Department of Justice arise out of a decade-long scheme by Glencore and its subsidiaries to make and conceal corrupt payments and bribes through intermediaries.

The EFF is vindicated as we have consistently called Glencore a criminal syndicate that operates in a mafia-style through deep state channels, using politicians like puppets. The guilty pleas by Glencore in the United States contains evidence beyond reasonable doubt that demonstrates corrupt payments to the tune of US$76 million, to secure improper advantages to obtain and retain businesses.

As a criminal syndicate, Glencore did not have any legitimate business anywhere where it operates as all its businesses, notably between 2007 and 2018, employed corrupt tactics throughout the world. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that any of Glencore’s business dealings in South Africa were above board. Glencore’s relationship with Cyril Ramaphosa, which started in 2012 when they sold him shares was nothing but a corrupt transaction. Glencore paid Ramaphosa through intermediaries to gain political influence and manipulate contracts with key state-owned entities, particularly Eskom.

Cyril Ramaphosa has been having business dealings with the very state he presides over, and this was done through Glencore which has been verified as a global criminal today.

The South African economy has suffered drastically because of Glencore and puppets like Ramaphosa whose wealth stems from corruption. The EFF warned Parliament during the Energy debate in 2016 that Eskom is collapsing because of inflated and corrupt coal prices. South Africa does not have stable electricity generation today because Glencore was central to the manipulation of coal prices. When we refused to withdraw that Cyril Ramaphosa was involved with a criminal syndicate in a corrupt relationship, we were chased out of Parliament to protect criminals.

It is now a known fact that Glencore’s bribes and business dealings were to advance particular neo-liberal economic policy, to ease the theft of international cartels which masquerade as companies.

The EFF is once again proven correct, that the private sector is one of the most corrupt, self-centered sectors in society, and their interest in profit maximization has no ethical boundary.

The EFF calls on the South African Revenue Services to investigate all of Glencore’s transactions since 2007 to date and use their capacity to follow every cent. The EFF calls on the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) to establish a special task team to work with the Financial Intelligence Center (FIC) and the HAWKs to investigate all of Glencore’s business dealings in South Africa.

The EFF will write to the Speaker of the National Assembly to demand an establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee to investigate all of Glencore’s transactions since 2007. The EFF will not waste any time writing to Cyril Ramaphosa or any of his cabinet ministers to demand anything as they are undoubtedly involved in the cover-up of Glencore’s corrupt activity in South Africa.