CBE GAVE UNTRUE, MALICIOUS INFO ABOUT ME - MANYERE

MBABANE – A question on the truthfulness of information provided to the Parliament Select Committee, which investigated the loss of monies invested by emaSwati in Ecsponent Eswatini has come to the forefront.

Following the recommendations made by the committee after its investigation, Zimbabwe-born businessman George Manyere has said the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) omitted key information.The businessman has cited that the CBE provided what he has termed untrue and fatally malicious information about him when it appeared before the committee. In fact, the businessman, who is a person of interest in the matter, has signalled a strong intention to challenge the conclusions made by the Parliament Select Committee which was tasked with investigation how emaSwati lost E340 million which they invested in Ecsponent Limited.

Recover their money

In its report, the committee made a litany of recommendations and went on to state two choices which it said will provide the pathway for investors to recover their money. One of the options stated by the committee is that Parliament should assign the Minister for Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, working with the Governor of the Central Bank of Eswatini, Dr Phil Mnisi to set in motion a model that will get all the two major stakeholder’s companies on the matter; these being Manyere and Dave Van Niekerk and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) to at least pay back the principal amounts that were paid by the investors into Ecsponent Eswatini.

Following the recommendation and option suggested, this publication sought a comment from Manyere to ascertain if he is willing to enter into engagements with other stakeholders on the plan to reimburse the investors. It turned out that he is least impressed with the contents of the final report, in particular, a submission that was made by the CBE which was represented by Deputy Governor Felicia Dlamini-Kunene.

Written submissions presented by the deputy governor reflect that she informed the committee that whilst the funds were moved in between various inter-related entities. It is important to highlight that the inter-related entities were subsidiaries of two main companies, namely Ecsponent (South Africa) Limited, a listed entity on the Johannesburg Stock exchange (JSE) and Mybucks South Africa, a Luxemburg registered entity, which was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE).

Prominent individuals

She then said: “The relationship of the two prominent individuals, namely George Manyere and Dave Van Niekerk, with the two listed companies indicates that George Manyere acquired majority status of JSE-listed Ecsponent (South Africa) Limited in 2014. On the other hand, Dave Van Niekerk was the founder and majority shareholder of the Frankfurt-listed entity, Mybucks SA”. The deputy governor further said the flow of Ecsponent (Eswatini) funds to GetBucks (Eswatini) and subsequently GetBucks (South Africa) ultimately benefits the two listed holding companies, namely Ecsponent (South Africa) and Mybucks SA (the Frankfurt-listed entity).

“The flow of funds ultimately benefited the shareholders of Ecsponent (South Africa) and Mybucks SA,” she said. In a brief interview with this publication, Manyere stated that the report tabled by the Parliament Select Committee contains a fundamental error, which he said led to the conclusion made in as far as it relates to him. Specifically, he cited the mentioning of the time he is said to have acquired the Ecsponent (South Africa) shares as submitted by the CBE.

Fatally incorrect

He said the statement by the CBE is fatally incorrect since he through his investment company, Mason Alexander, only acquired shares in Ecsponent Limited at the end of 2016 and in 2017.Mason Alexander is Manyere’s company which was set up specifically to house his Ecsponent Limited shares. The company, it appears, did not exist before.This publication got hold of documents which support the businessman’s assertion. The documents include an agreement for the sale and purchase of shares which it has been gathered was also shared with the Parliament Select Committee before it finalised and tabled its report. According to the documents, Manyere acquired 34.9 per cent in Ecsponent Limited from Ecsponent Capital (RF) Limited.

Manyere further explained, “I was introduced to the investment opportunity to acquire the 34.9 per cent into Ecsponent Limited by Dave, who was then, the Group CEO of Mybucks, a Luxembourg financial services holding company which was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange”.

Fallout with his partner

He alleged that Van Niekerk had indicated to him that he had had a fallout with his partner, businessman Euene Engelbrecht in their investment vehicle, Ecsponent Capital, that they owned and controlled Ecsponent Limited. According to Manyere, Van Niekerk allegedly said he wanted his partner to exit Ecsponent Limited, where he was also the CEO since its inception in 2012. “I was initially reluctant since Ecsponent Limited was listed on the JSE with more than 3 000 shareholders and it would have been difficult for my group to undertake due diligence. I only proceeded with the transaction on the basis that it had a long stop date of December 31, 2018, which would have allowed me and my team to learn about the business from the inside,” said Manyere.

Also, he said he refused to put his money at risk by funding the transaction at that stage until he was satisfied with the state of the business and Van Niekerk funded the deal through one of his companies. Another document this publication is in the possession of reflects that it was on March 20, 2017 that Manyere joined the Board and became one of nine directors of Ecsponent Limited. Also, another document reflects that Engelbrecht stepped down as CEO and director of Ecsponent Limited on May 31, 2017.

Incorrect and malicious

Emphasising on his assertion, Manyere said, “It is fatally incorrect and malicious for the CBE to say that I acquired majority status of the JSE-listed Ecsponent (South Africa) Limited in 2014. What further concerns me is that despite myself clearly stating the above to the Parliament Select Committee and furnishing its members with the relevant agreements and evidence to that effect, they chose to sustain the gross misrepresentation in their final report”.Furthermore, Manyere said the Group Board of Directors of Ecsponent Limited (South Africa) was never involved in subsidiary operations as these were under the oversight of Group management, who also sat on the subsidiary Boards.

“It was only in August 2019 when I had sight of Ecsponent Eswatini’s financial statements after I made an unplanned visit to the kingdom and met with Ecsponent Eswatini CEO and chairman then, for the first time in my life,” said Manyere. Meanwhile, the Parliament Select Committee report reflects that the members met Manyere and posed several questions to him related to among other things, his first encounter in the country and how he met Van Niekerk.

Nominal capital

The committee, according to the report, also enquired on what could have contributed to his investment entity to collect an amount of E260 million from investors with a nominal capital of E700 only in its bank account. Also, the committee enquired on what made the businessman see that Ecsponent could be a lucrative investment and whether he noted that there were non-professional operations, characterised by forged, fictitious and fraudulent scheming in the whole saga. The committee also enquired about how the businessman felt about the CDH report and how he became interested in rescuing Ecsponent in the first place.

Prospects of recovery

Cliffe Decker Hofmeyr (CDH) is the company that was engaged by the CBE to investigate whether Ecsponent directors discharged their fiduciary duties and responsibilities; whether business investments and operations were within legislative precepts, establishing the flow of funds and prospects of recovery.The scope of work for CDH, as communicated in the request for proposal, included to investigate and establish whether there were any irregularities in the way in which Ecsponent placed investments with its investment managers and its foreign subsidiaries.

The forensic investigation was also aimed ascertaining whether assets were invested in line with its investment policy and further ascertain whether all Ecsponent assets had been accounted for and appeared in its books. Also, the forensic investigation had to ascertain whether Ecsponent conducted its business affairs, including the operations of any investment schemes, in line with the requirements of the Securities Act read together with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority Act (2010).

Meanwhile, Manyere, according to the Parliament report, is said to have provided responses which highlighted several things including that his first encounter with van Niekerk was in 2006, in Botswana, in the operations of Blue Financial Services. He is said to have stated that his first encounter in Eswatini was as an investor in August, 2019 with a Cabinet minister and then he was exposed to Ecsponent in Eswatini, but was totally disempowered by the management. Regarding the CDH report, Manyere is said to have advised that it should be incorporated with another report that was compiled by a South African consultant known as JKD Consulting.

Involved in the transactions

As reported by this publication, JKD report is the one that names of individuals and entities allegedly involved in the transactions. It exposes how some of the funds which were lost in Ecsponent Eswatini were allegedly transferred after being collected from local investors. On another note, this publication also sought a comment from the ESW, the former Ecsponent Eswatini and Max Mkhonta who spoke on behalf of the company, raised concern about the CBE’s submission that the company’s licenses expires on the December 31, 2024.
He said he could only comment on the issue of the curatorship which is the recommendation of the CBE.

“That is unfortunately misleading if indeed that advice originated from the CBE. Firstly, ESW gave up its licenses formally to the FSRA in December 2023. It therefore did not renew its licenses in 2024. Secondly, it is my respective view that you cannot place an entity under curatorship that you do not have jurisdiction over,” Mkhonta said.

Practically begging

He said the ESW has been practically begging all the powers that be since 2020, to support the efforts initiated by Manyere to rescue the local investors who lost millions in Ecsponent.
“No one, from the Ministry of Finance to the FSRA, genuinely bothered to reciprocate our efforts. It’s very ironic that for all intense and purposes, we are now back to a model that we have been advocating for, save that now it will include Dave”. Mkhonta said they have practically wasted over four years nursing people’s egos while the affected people have been struggling with some of them even dying without seeing justice. “Personally, it saddens me to see how we treated the downtrodden as a nation,” said Mkhonta.

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