Rob Hersov: Puppeteer or Puppet? [Part 2]

In my last piece on Rob Hersov, I noted that he had close links to the founder of an organisation promoting xenophobic sentiments, to a convicted criminal who he was touting as a future president, and to the head of the ANC elections committee: an impressively wide array of individuals. Indeed, an improbably wide array of individuals for any single person – even a wealthy businessman seeking political influence with nothing else to do. It raises questions not just about the potential harmful effects of Hersov’s activities on South African democracy, but also his motives and which interests his very active efforts to influence the 2024 elections might be serving.

I suggested that to understand who Rob Hersov is, what his agenda might be and whether he is indeed wealthy, we need to briefly go back to the past and the history of Basil Hersov – Rob’s father.

Robert Basil Hersov (born 1960) is the son of mining magnate Basil Edward Hersov (born 1926) – from who Robert gets his second name. Basil Hersov was the CEO and chairman of mining group Anglovaal from the late 1960s, which had been co-founded, in turn, by his father. He later moved on to occupy various other senior positions in banking and mining. Basil Hersov profited handsomely from apartheid and received awards from an apartheid president and an honorary appointment to the South African Defence Force (apartheid military). Hersov also served on the ‘defence advisory board’ of PW Botha from 1980.

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Following keenly in his father’s footsteps, Rob Hersov completed his military service in the SADF, serving as an infantry officer in the apartheid military from 1983 to 1984 – something he could have easily avoided given his family’s wealth if he wanted to.

A canny businessman, Basil Hersov positioned himself to benefit from the post-apartheid era as well and, at least partially, succeeded in doing so. Notably, he was linked to dubious transactions related to the corrupt Arms Deal in which R70million was funnelled through an offshore company seemingly linked to BAE Systems. The Arms Deal may have been the single largest instance of corruption in post-apartheid South Africa until at least 2010. Rob Hersov, however, decided he did not like post-apartheid South Africa has much as he appears to have enjoyed its apartheid predecessor, and left the country for almost 30 years.

While Rob Hersov himself may have held some highly paid positions over the years and had some minor entrepreneurial successes, none of them are likely to have yielded sufficient wealth to, for example, bid for six regional airports. It seems fairly clear that his wealth and access to wealth, along with his opportunities, have come to a large degree from his wealthy family. In the terminology sometimes used to refer to the (somewhat more successful) Elon Musk, Rob Hersov is an ‘apartheid nepo(tism) baby’.

But the importance of Hersov’s family goes beyond mere wealth, it is also important for understanding long-standing links to other powerful individuals who are also actively influencing political outcomes in South Africa.

One notable example is the Menell family who were co-owners and partners in Anglovaal for almost 70 years. One of the grandsons of Simeon Menell, who co-founded Anglovaal with Rob Hersov’s grandfather, is Rick Menell who is also actively involved in funding and influencing political dynamics in South Africa. This connection is even more intriguing given that the Menell family has historical connections to the current ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa. Indeed, a 2013 New York Times article refers to Rick Menell as a ‘close friend’ of Ramaphosa. Yet Menell is funding, amongst others, opponents of the ANC. Moreover, Menell’s brother-in-law is the current White House chief of staff.

One could write an entire book on the three generations of the Hersov family, and certainly of the Hersovs and Menells, but this is not intended to be a biography: our concern here is the 2024 elections. So let me summarise the situation. Two wealthy, influential grandsons of apartheid-profiting families: Rick Menell and Rob Hersov. One is a close friend of the ANC president (Ramaphosa). The other has links to the head of the ANC election committee (Motlanthe). Both are advocating – Hersov forcefully and openly, Menell subtly and behind-the-scenes – for the removal of the ANC from power. Both grandsons have possible links to foreign governments and propagandists (Rupert Murdoch in the case of Hersov).

These connections alone should leave anyone seriously committed to South African sovereignty and democracy having restless nights. It seems implausible that a proud direct and indirect beneficiary of apartheid like Rob Hersov would suddenly return to South Africa, discover the joys of democracy, discover that he detests corruption, and campaign to remove the political party that overthrew apartheid for those reasons.

Yet even the concerning facts and connections I have described above are merely the tip of an iceberg. In the remaining few weeks before the 29^th of May elections I will try to sketch out as much of the rest of as I can. I have a few objectives here. The first is to express and explain my concerns about the manipulation of South African democracy. The second is merely to describe what I believe to be driving the dynamics that are currently playing out and, as a result, what I expect to happen in the elections and after the elections. And the third, I suppose, is to be able to reference these predictions and analyses at a later stage after this has all played out.

If you care about South African democracy, or just like to understand what is really going on, or have some investment decisions to make before the election: keep reading.