INTRODUCTION

The discovery referenced as the ‘Blue File’ arose as a result of an investigation into allegations of irregularities concerning the Estate administration of the late Bernard Glazer. Nowhere in history are the Glazer Brothers mentioned for their achievements, and yet as research has revealed, they were very powerful men on this continent as well as abroad. Bernard Glazer [opposite] was a private individual who played a major role in developing Southern and Central Africa when he consolidated their interests, after his brother Sam’s [below], untimely death in 1959. Bernardrepresented honour, integrity and courage, representative of the former generation that built this country. He acted behind the scenes in conjunction with the highest executive levels of both government and private enterprise, in Africa and internationally. It is of historical importance to record this compilation as Bernard was a player in the larger globalization process before it was labelled. These foundations are crucial for an understanding of the smoke and mirror activity today.

In Bernard’s Will he appointed his son Sam Glazer [after reaching 21], Julius Feinstein( Opposite) and Cyril Jaffe (Below) as Administrators, the latter two, his oldest and most trusted directors of numerous companies locally and abroad, to ensure and perpetuate his vision.

Feinstein has practiced as a chartered accountant and auditor since 1942 and, until his recent retirement, was the senior partner of the auditing firm Kessel Feinstein, now Grant Thornton. Mr. Feinstein was Bernard Glazer’s financial adviser, accountant and auditor from those early days and served as a director of a number of Glazer-controlled companies.

Mr. Jaffe was admitted to Werksmans during 1948 and was until his retirement a senior partner of that well-known legal practice. Mr. Jaffe was appointed a councillor of the Law Society of the Transvaal in 1979, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Tax and the Standing Committee on Company Law of a large number of companies; Chairman of the Securities Regulation Panel 1994 to date and Alternative Member Insider Trading. Directorate of the Financial Services Board, 1999 to date; Director of Rand Mines Properties Limited 1984 – 1992. (See Glazer Central Mining/ Rand Mines controlling bid 1956/7)

In 2002, Michele Glazer, Bernard Glazer eldest daughter and beneficiary of her late father’s estate requested an investigation whereby she claimed the ‘Administrators’ had defrauded her. Substantial mineral, industrial and financial interests held by her late father had not been disclosed in the Liquidation and Distribution Statements to the Master of the Supreme Court, her inheritance had been deliberately delayed and that existing property portfolios diluted or sold. Michele had been completely marginalized and as a result of settlement delays had entered into various debt for equity agreements to include Regal Treasury which in house Attorneys Werksman had structured a cession of her rights in terms of Bernard Glazer Will? Furthermore, Michele had entered into a ‘questionable family agreement’ in 1997 were she ceded her entitlement in terms of the Will, to her brother Sam Glazer. Furthermore, Bernard Glazer passed away under unusual circumstances on 17 July 1984.

How could such a claim be made against her own brother, Sam and Bernard’s respected advisors? Allegations of Glazer mineral interests in Botswana were refuted by a senior member of the Ministry of Intelligence as simply Anglo succession of interests from the early British South Africa (BSA) in Africa. The information on Glazer was limited other than the 1969 kidnapping of his son, Sam. In 2002, Michele had advanced a sum of R250 000 to Warren Goldblatt of Associated Intelligence Network (AIN) to investigate her father estate  after employing various legal and auditing firms to investigate the same. Our investigation soon revealed that her file with AIN was under the control of Trustee, J Feinstein and not more than R6000 work had been undertaken by AIN. Furthermore, documents submitted by Michele had been destroyed or those electronically converted missing. Equally records at the Masters Office were either incomplete or missing for a period.

Based upon the evidence and with a proper reading of the Will and Powers of Trustees, the contract entered into with her brother and the so-called ratification thereof by the Administrators and with reference to the above, the Administration of Deceased Estates Act and certain provisions therein, we believe that Michele is compelled to set the matter right by way of an application to Court for an Order setting aside the agreement entered into. We are of the view that the agreement entered into between Michele and her brother, wherein she cedes her entitlement in terms of the Will from that date to him, is irregular and unenforceable and in fact void abinitio in view of the fact that the position that he, her brother, occupied at the time of concluding the contract, was as a heir as well as an Administrator of the Trust and that there is a clear conflict between the two positions with regard to prejudicing other heirs and furthermore, the agreement is not approved by the Master of the Supreme Court. We advise that on our (Legal Team) interpretation of the Will wherein the Trust is created, the Will does not make provision for this scenario.

Further to the above, having regard to the assets of the Estate and the complex web of transactions of the Tati Concessions and mineral rights and royalties accruing thereto, and its successors, there appears to have been a massive fraud committed by the Administrators and Executors of the late estate, whereby assets that were the property of the deceased at the time of his death, were wilfully and deliberately concealed from the Master of the Supreme Court and are not referred to in the Liquidation & Distribution (L&D) accounts and have effectively been siphoned off.

This, no doubt, prejudices not only the South African, UK Government and others, by not disclosing the estate duty that would be due to it, but there is the further question of prejudice to heirs in that the impression is created that the Trust does not have assets, wherein, in fact, the substantial portions thereof were never in the first place brought into the Trust, which we are sure will be of interest to the Receiver of Revenue, as well as to constitute a criminal offence. Furthermore, that her brother fraudulently withheld relevant information from her, which would be a further ground of setting aside the 1997 Agreement, based on fraudulent misrepresentation, as well as whether or not one can cede in the context of a vesting estate, a future right or hope.

The reconstruction of the Glazer Brother’s history in Southern Africa and internationally, remains the significance of the intellectual property that will provide an understanding of what is happening in South Africa presently. There is a grey area in South African history during the TRC hearings not disclosed in the public interest between1970-1984 and thereafter to 1994.The nature and scope of Glazer assets, externalization, current conversion and utilization by external forces, may have an influence to the stability of the sub-region and the SADEC community of countries.

Contrary to public opinion of mineral rights ownership in Southern Africa, beginning with Cecil John Rhodes and the Charter Group of companies, and the well publicised history of Anglo American/De Beers, Rio Tinto and Lonrho, there is the unpublished history of the Glazer Brothers. Did a cabalistic group of corporate barons hijack Glazer assets? If so, this is an extraordinary story that will demonstrate a far more sinister and unbridled greed that will cast long shadows across the decades to darken the reputations of some of South Africa’s most eminent professional men.

Bernard Glazer did much to open up Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia from the early 1950’s with acquisitions of former British South Africa Company’s (BSAC), such as Tati Co [1.6 million acres in Botswana] and The Bechuanaland Exploration Co, the former managers for the BSAC in Southern Africa. This company held vast interests in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia, including mineral, trading, timber and water rights. A schedule of some principal investments included Central Mining and Investment Corp-Rand Mines, African & European Investment Co, Charterland & General, Durban Roodepoort Deep, Rand Selection Corp, SA Mines Selection Ltd, Rhodesian Anglo American, President Steyn Gold Mining Co and Pretoria Portland Cement. With these various share interests the Glazer Brothers made controlling bids for Central Mining Investment Corp and Lonrho in 1956/57. At the same time Consolidated Gold Fields was formed and records indicate an interest therein.  One must bear in mind that the foundation of Southern Africa’s wealth and development after WWII was created in all commercial spheres, with mining at the core. Therefore, the matrix reconstruction of foundation structures 1948 – 1984 is relevant and what Glazer had acquired in the 1950`s of UK companies dating back to 1888.

A core asset of the Glazer Brothers property portfolio was their acquisition of African City Properties Trust in 1952. This company was incorporated in England in 1894 and owned a large portfolio of land and buildings mostly in the JHB CBD area. This company, with its entire asset portfolio, was sold in 1965 to Urban Investment Properties (Pty) Ltd, the sole shareholder of which was the Joint Municipal Pension Fund (Transvaal), situated in Benoni. The entire parcel was later acquired by Retco Ltd at some time in the seventies. Retco’s major shareholder appears to have been Federated Employers Insurance Ltd, which later became Fedsure, before it was taken over by Investec in 1987. However, the parcel of land didn’t move all the way with the Federated bundle. It was hived off in 1981 – after having been held through Retco by South African Breweries for a while – to the CBD Property Fund, which was controlled by Sage Holdings Ltd through Sage-Ned-Equity Properties (Pty) Ltd. The start of the exit trail was when ACP (1952) Ltd was converted to a private company in 1983, as were many of Glazer’s companies around this time. By 1997, the year Michele signed the questionable Family Agreement with her brother Sam, Sage Group was ranked at number 51 on the Sunday Times Business TimesTop 100 Companies list. It had a turnover of R2.4 billion, total assets of R5.8 billion and managed assets exceeding R9 billion.

Of particular relevance was Glazer’s expansion of his international operations in the 1970’s. He enjoyed a close friendship with his banker, Jan Hurter, who at the time was Chairman of Volkskas and also sat on the board of the South African Reserve Bank. One important subsidiary acquired was E.S. Schwab, a small merchant bank in London, which facilitated the bankinglicence so necessary in the days of apartheid sanctions. Prior to his death Bernard Glazer entered into a Joint Venture (JV) with Volkskas Limited resulting in him owning a 25% share in Volkskas International. Also acquired in the 1970’s was the Siberian Syndicate Limited (Inc.1913), an investment holding company with interests in Siberia and other mining investments in Russia, and a 10.7% holding in the ‘original’ Gold Fields. The name was changed to Crest International Securities in 1970 and had on its board numerous influential South Africans such as the Lubner brothers.

One cannot look at the future without taking into account the structures that Glazer established. Have these have been used by legal and fiscal architects to funnel large amounts of wealth out of a number of African countries? The current wave consolidation in the mineral sector is not dissimilar to ‘Rhodes Revisited’ with new faces and refer the reader to the consolidation in 1962 (P27) who hold sway over Africa’s destiny through the control of, or at least a major influence over, the financial and mining sectors. The historical relevance of his story remains the global political and financial structures that existed behind the veil of apartheid and in spite of economic sanctions; it will also suggest a plan to bring the ANC into government and maintain the pattern repeat of stripping the country of its wealth at the same time.

It is common knowledge that, during the eighties and thereafter, there was a capital flight of assets from South Africa, which deals were done by way of asset swaps and complex cross shareholdings in companies, the consequence of which is seriously hampering South Africa’s own development ability. Much of the macro economic problems faced by African countries is as a result of financial deals that were put together decades ago, the results of which are now being reaped by various countries in having their mineral wealth stripped from them at far below the market related price. Tony Blair suggested in 2004 that the solution to African problems required resolution of mineral right ownership. That said,Botswana is enjoying the benefit via royalties, taxation and employment. We accept the Glazer Trust was undervalued at the time, to the prejudice of the Fiscals, with reference to windfall tax. Also, one must not look at these things with reference to the law and tax regime that is in place now, but rather what the law and tax regime was, at the time that the trustee's did what they did. What is relevant from a NIP is what the long term consequences are for SADC and NEPAD, the continued asset stripping of the mineral wealth, as well as factors that are going to affect sustainable development and the balance of payments in years to come. What is also of relevance is to understand the market and the various factors that affect it, and can be manipulated to become a form of economic destabilization to the region in general. The relevance is determining, who and whom we are doing business with, and who and what is influencing things when they happen or are manipulated to happen. Intelligence is nothing other than information appropriated for purpose other than what it was initially intended, it has to be relevant, accurate and have a predictive quality.

 But then all of the above may pail into insignificance when you consider the debt obligations that our own Government is responsible for in the Arms Deal and the 2010 World Cup. But more importantly a political balance is required to protect our future. “The IFC, the World Bank’s private –sector lender, had spent $1bn in Africa since it was set up in 1956, and the lion’s share of that funding had taken place in the past four years” said Thierry Tanoh, IFC director for sub-Saharan Africa. (Reuter’s 15June 2007- ‘World Bank keen to invest more in Africa’). ‘Coincidently’, the IFC recent financing of Lonmin UK and share option increase (14 August 07) is of particular relevance after Lonmin acquisition of AfriOre in 2006. Both companies have substantial Glazer property interests. Similarly, Rodrigo De Rato, MD of the IMF stated 16 March 2007 in an article entitled, IMF Can Help Unleash Africa’s potential, “Africa has enormous potential. Harnessing this potential will require enlightened policies, both on part of the international community and especially on behalf of Africans themselves.

The agenda is daunting but we know what needs to be done.

MAY HISTORY BE YOUR JUDGE ‘BENNY” GLAZER- Research Team