Kebble: It looks like a hit
2005-09-28 07:34
Johannesburg - Mining magnate Brett Kebble appears to have been deliberately murdered, says his advocate, Willem Heath.
"It appears that it was probably a malicious attempt to kill him and he was in fact killed," Heath told SAFM on Wednesday morning.
Kebble was shot dead in Melrose, Johannesburg, around 21:00 on Tuesday on his way to a dinner engagement.
Heath said indications were that the first shot aimed at Kebble came from behind and that there had been no attempt to get his vehicle.
Police said Kebble's vehicle and body was found on a bridge crossing the M1 to Pretoria.
"We don't know if he was led into an ambush or if he was followed," said police spokesperson Superintendent Chris Wilken.
Heath said Kebble's father and business partner, Roger Kebble, had been informed of his son's death around 22:00 on Tuesday and was "extremely shocked".
Kebble, 41, was recently forced to resign from the boards of JCI, Western Areas and Randgold and Exploration amid mounting controversy, pressure and alleged financial irregularities.
It was the second time Kebble had been forced to step down from the position of chief executive in the last five years.
He had resigned in 2000 shortly after revelations that he may have manipulated shares in order to repel the hostile takeover of Randfontein Estates Mining Company by Harmony Gold.
Kebble's father, Roger, was contacted and told Sapa: "I am in Paris. I don't know what happened. I am getting phone calls from everyone. You can find out from other people. Leave me alone now for a while, please."
Kebble joined his mining engineer father in the mining industry after a career in law in Cape Town.
He teamed up with his father in 1991 to purchase a controlling stake in Rand Leases Gold Mining Co. Ltd. From this base, in 1994 he helped engineer the successful takeover of Randgold and Exploration Company Limited.
As an executive director of Randgold he oversaw the reorganisation of the group including several mergers and acquisitions and the listing of Randgold Resources on the London Stock Exchange.
Controlling stake in JCI
In 1996 he injected his family's 33% stake in Randgold into Consolidated Mining Corporation thereby creating a base to help fund the purchase of a controlling stake in JCI in November 1996.
During 1998 he accomplished the largest investment ever made into South Africa by selling half the mine, South Deep - Western Areas' major asset - to a Canadian mining company, Placer Dome Inc.
In 2002 Kebble announced the merger of JCI with Consolidated African Mines Ltd (CAM) and the merged entity was listed on the JSE as JCI Ltd in July of that year.
"In terms of their contribution to the South African mining industry, the Kebbles were the first to release mines from burdensome management contracts, initiating a period of profound transformation in the South African gold mining industry," read his personal website.
In his personal capacity, he was the sponsor of South Africa's most generous art awards, The Brett Kebble Art Awards.
Kebble had been described in a recent article as a polished persona with a "gung-ho, devil-may-care attitude that made the local mining world as exciting as during the heady days of Barney Barnato".
He was passionate about transforming the mining industry, a promoter of Black Economic Empowerment and committed to the New Plan for Africa's Development.
- SAPA