Brett Kebble

South African businessman

Roger Brett Kebble (19 February 1964 – 27 September 2005) was a South African mining magnate with close links to factions in the ruling political party, the African National Congress. Known to be personally eccentric, he became a major player in South African gold and diamond mining from the mid 1990s, especially through black economic empowerment deals, but was embroiled in allegations of corporate fraud and misconduct, the extent of which was revealed only after his death. He was shot dead on 27 September 2005 in Johannesburg. The investigation into his death, involving several prominent businessmen and politicians, received significant public attention. His name was also prominent in media coverage of Jackie Selebi's 2009 corruption trial. 2010 court testimony revealed that Kebble was killed by hit men hired by his security chief, allegedly at his own request – an apparent suicide by murder. However, the complete circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear.

Kebble was born in the mining town of Springs, on the East Rand. He matriculated from St. Andrew's School, Bloemfontein, and earned a law degree from the University of Cape Town in 1986. He was an articled clerk at Mallinicks thereafter. He entered mining in 1991, when he and his father, a former mining engineer, acquired a controlling stake in Rand Leases Gold Mining and later acquired leadership of Randgold & Exploration through a hostile takeover. Under his leadership, and to finance its R4 billion acquisition of the South Deep gold mine, Western Areas sold a half interest in South Deep to a rival firm and hedged production forward at a low price, to disastrous consequences when the gold price increased. Subsequently, Kebble's reputation declined.

Kebble was reported to be a member of the African National Congress (ANC), and was certainly one of its major financiers, especially in the Western Cape. He was reportedly allied with the ANC Youth League and with Jacob Zuma, who, during the early 2000s, led an internal faction of the ANC which opposed President Thabo Mbeki. After his death, party members honoured him in the media and at his funeral, aged 41, while driving to a dinner engagement with his business associate, Sello Rasethaba. He was shot several times while in the driver's seat of his Mercedes. Agliotti admitted, and Selebi confirmed, that he had called Selebi shortly after Kebble's death, from near the scene of the murder. In its indictment of Kebble on 27 October 2008, the National Prosecuting Authority gave credence to this claim: it recognised that Kebble had orchestrated his own murder, and sought to prosecute Agliotti for his involvement in the plot. In 2009, while Agliotti was awaiting trial, Selebi was prosecuted for corruption, accused of accepting bribes and gifts from Kebble, Agliotti, and businessman Billy Rautenbach in exchange for information and preferential police treatment. During that trial, Agliotti testified that Kebble's security chief, Clinton Nassif, had, at Kebble's request, hired three hit men – Mikey Schultz, Nigel McGurk, and Faizel Smith – to shoot and kill him. Early in the trial, one of the hit men, Mikey Schultz, confirmed Kebble's claim that he, McGurk, and Smith had been hired by Nassif – at a fee of R2 million – to assist Kebble in his own suicide. Schultz said that he had himself pulled the trigger and had shot Kebble five times. The Scorpions, the elite unit of the National Prosecuting Authority which pursued Agliotti's prosecution before it was disbanded, was criticised for having indemnified Nassif, Schultz, and others implicated in the murder.

During the Selebi trial, it emerged that Agliotti had acted as middleman between Selebi and Kebble at a fee of $1 million, paid from the JCI books. Kebble employees had offered holidays to Selebi's family and, through Selebi, had provided equipment to the police, and Selebi had attended dinners at the Kebbles' Johannesburg home and intervened in matters on their behalf. During the Agliotti trial, Shultz testified that Kebble, through John Stratton, ordered the murder of several people, including Martin Welz, the editor of Noseweek.

After Kebble's death, his companies submitted to forensic investigations. It transpired that Kebble and other directors at JCI appropriated and sold 21.8 million shares of Randgold Resources – worth some R2 billion – held by Randgold & Exploration. Some of the proceeds were channeled into Western Areas, the other mining company controlled by Kebble. Legal action has since been ongoing to resolve the issue of the missing Randgold Resources shares. On 21 January 2010, a revised settlement agreement was signed between the JCI Group and the Randgold & Exploration Group. In 2019, Randgold & Exploration claimed it was owed R2.7 billion by Kebble's estate.

His art collection went under the hammer on 6 May 2009. Bidders from as far as Australia, New Zealand and Pennsylvania were at the auction. One hundred and thirty three pieces of art were sold for ZAR53.90 million. This falls short of the one billion rand that he was said to have squandered.

Kebble was the controversial patron of the Brett Kebble Art Awards which he established in 2003 to provide a showcase for established artists, and to help those less known to attain recognition. It was also meant to build a non racial bridge into the 21st century. The Kebble as it became known, was the most inclusive award of its kind (often criticized for including a "craft" category to be judged on par with the other mediums like painting, sculpture, printmaking and photography) in South Africa. Adding to this, it was also the richest, having a total purse of R620 000 (roughly $98 000) with a grand prize of R200 000 (roughly $32 000). After Kebble's murder, his family decided to cancel the 2006 awards. In February 2006, artist Deborah Weber opened a solo exhibition in Johannesburg called Art Media Media Art on the same day that the BKAA were to open at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. She explored the time trajectory from being selected as an artist for the 2004 Kebble Art Awards, to working on the awards in 2005, and ending with Brett Kebble's death in September 2005.