Who is funding Rivonia Circle?
And why it matters for the future of South Africa's democracy.
“Who is funding Rivonia Circle?”
This is a question I, and others, have been asking since 2022: trying to find out who was behind a glitzy ‘civil society organisation’ with a corporate spokesperson who wants to be president as its founder.
In October 2022, in response to one of these questions, a senior employee of the organisation promised to publish its funder list in its annual report. With the 2024 election looming, it has still not published a single annual report nor published any funder list. In fact: on the day of the election (29 May 2024) it will be exactly 600 days since that promise was made.
Why the secrecy? And why have they gotten away with it? I think the reason Rivonia Circle has repeatedly evaded exactly the kind of transparency it has demanded from the State and political parties is that the truth could unravel the scheming of quite powerful groups to determine the outcome, and the aftermath, of the 2024 election. It would link senior ANC leaders like Kgalema Motlanthe (head of the ANC’s elections committee), rightwing lobbyists like Greg Mills, billionaires like the Oppenheimer family, senior individuals linked to foreign military and intelligence structures, and – importantly – Songezo Zibi and the other political candidates of RiseMzansi.
Furthermore, it would expose a key flaw in the legislation that governs election funding: a flaw that civil society organisations (including Rivonia Circle itself) funded by the same interest groups have distracted from through litigation on much more trivial aspects of this legislation.
Although I had my own suspicions about who was funding Songezo Zibi, there were too many plausible options all with very similar ideological agendas and vested interests to be sure (e.g. billionaires Michiel Le Roux, Martin Moshal, the Oppenheimer Family and various others). Last year, however, I found myself in discussion with a well-connected individual who is close to the current acting director of Rivonia Circle, Lukhona Mnguni. Mnguni has been a pivotal figure in choosing to conceal the organisation’s funding sources – and therefore the source of his own salary - for two full financial years.1 It was this person, a friend and perhaps even mentor, of Mnguni who told me categorically which organisation had funded both Rivonia Circle and, intriguingly RiseMzansi itself. That this organisation would fund Rivonia Circle completely undermines RC’s positioning as some kind of progressive, left-of-centre, bottom-up, anti-establishment organisation. The funding of Rise similarly exposes the many leaders in that organisation who posture as left-wing radicals. In addition, the ability of Rise to conceal that funder exposes a fatal flaw in current party funding legislation. So it makes sense that both organisations, and their leaders, would be very keen to conceal this information.
So who is the secret funder?
According to this well-informed source, the funder of Rivonia Circle – and the seed funder of RiseMzansi - is an organisation known as the Brenthurst Foundation. If this is true it would be a major violation of the principles of accountability and transparency that those involved, like Songezo Zibi, have been preaching:
The Brenthurst Foundation is a rightwing ‘think tank’ which was formally established by the Oppenheimer Family in 2004.2 Originally oriented towards influencing economic policy in South Africa during the presidency of Thabo Mbeki, it has subsequently been more involved in efforts to influence political and economic outcomes in other African countries – sometimes by supporting opposition leaders, other times by funding incumbents and also conducting ‘election monitoring’. This is partly because the Oppenheimers have divested from a substantial portion of their South African assets and, reportedly, invested heavily in assets in other African countries.3 Nevertheless, many of the Oppenheimers remain based in South Africa, a significant proportion of their wealth remains here and their funding of opposition parties indicates very clearly their desire to remove the ANC or at least ensure that it better serves their interests and ideological inclinations. The Director of Brenthurst, Greg Mills, likes to boast of his direct work with NATO in Afghanistan while also using the rightwing Daily Maverick newspaper to get himself press passes: wearing multiple conflicting hats at the same time.
Brenthurst funding Rivonia Circle and RiseMzansi would be in line with its playbook of trying to secure the appointment of African leaders who will serve the ideological, private and geopolitical interests it represents.
Rivonia Circle takes its name from the famous Rivonia Trialists: seeking to leverage the legacies of anti-apartheid activists (as many opportunistic individuals and organisations do). For some, including myself, it was very evident at the outset that Rivonia Circle was intended as a platform for the political ambitions of a man by the name of Songezo Zibi. Zibi deserves an article of his own because he is potentially a key figure in the pre-election machinations that have been playing out. It is clear that some very powerful interests are trying to position Zibi and his associates to leapfrog into powerful positions within the State. More on that soon. For now let’s focus on the organisation he set up after deciding to leave his position as lifelong corporate spokesperson to launch his political ambitions.
Rivonia Circle’s marketing promotes it as something like a grassroots, bottom-up civil society organisation. It’s glossy paraphernalia, website, events at expensive hotels, and other characteristics never really aligned with that. However, because of a media that is at best uncritical and overstretched, at worst is completely biased and funded by the same sources as Zibi, the glossy facade of Rivonia Circle has remained largely unexamined. Even more worringly, the judiciary itself has accepted the organisation’s claim to being a public interested civil society organisation without apparently ascertaining its funding sources or questioning its possible agendas.
Rivonia Circle illustrates the very real threat to democracy of covertly funded organisations, since it has litigated on a number of matters that directly affect political party funding, the scope for independent political candidates and the conduct of the elections. For an organisation to be able to do this without its funding sources being known means that potential conflicts of interest or malign motives can also be concealed. At the extreme, such an organisation could be funded by a foreign government – directly or more likely through intermediaries – posing a direct threat to democratic sovereignty.
Having the Brenthurst Foundation as its funding source is embarrassing for Rivonia Circle and RiseMzansi, and sharply undermines the political positioning of both. But that may not even be the main reason why it has been concealed. The main reason, I believe, is that if one pulls on this thread of information it potentially unravels a much bigger scheme to manipulate the political and societal trajectory of South Africa. I will explain that in my next article.
Despite this and Mnguni’s clear political bias, he continues to moonlight as ‘political commentator’ and no journalist has yet asked him to disclose his funding source(s), which is testament to the South African media’s active complicity in manipulation of public sentiment and understanding.
I have a recollection of Brenthurst starting its activities earlier than this formal establishment data.
Some years ago I had a chance conversation with someone close to the Oppenheimers who told me that they have invested heavily in agricultural land in other African countries. Occasional news stories indicate they are also investing in other assets - such as this one on their purchase of a large shareholding in a Nigerian can manufacturing company.