Apartheid Banks: NPA Docket

Memorandum prepared for the National Prosecuting Authority on the potential criminal liability of two banks (KBC and Quintet Bank) that aided and abetted the commission of the crime of apartheid as a crime against humanity.

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1. Apartheid Guns and Money2. National Prosecuting Authority Docket3. Request for Consent4. TRC Commissioners Support5. John Dugard endorsement6. Civil Society Endorsement7. Sign the #ApartheidBanks petition

Belgium’s Kredietbank (now known as KBC Group) and its sister bank in Luxembourg (then known as KBL, but changed its name to Quintet Private Bank in 2020 shortly after Open Secrets handed over its docket to the NPA) are responsible for laundering money for the South African apartheid state, that allowed the apartheid regime to secretly buy weapons despite mandatory UN arms sanctions in the 1970s and 1980s. These weapons were essential for the apartheid state’s violent domestic repression, and for the wars and attempts to destabilise other governments and liberation movements in southern Africa. Not only was the banks’ assistance vital to keeping the apartheid government in power, but they also profited from these transactions – building their companies on the suffering of millions of people. Apartheid is not only evil in practice, but it is also a crime against humanity. This means, like other crimes such as murder, prosecution of aiders and abetters of crimes against humanity can happen at any time, including decades later.

The fight for justice: our correspondence with the NPA

Since sending our docket to the NPA, on the 3rd of September 2020, Open Secrets has continually engaged and pressured the NPA to investigate and prosecute Apartheid’s Banks. 

The culture of impunity for corruption and economic crime in South Africa didn’t start with State Capture or the Arms Deal. Evidence shows that large international financial institutions made billions of Rands worth of profit from economic crimes during apartheid and that these networks of power and influence exist today and can be linked to modern state capture. Because these networks and crimes of the past were not dealt with, a culture of impunity has set root. Despite the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommending the prosecution of apartheid era crimes, we have seen no action or substantive reparations for the victims of apartheid. It is therefore imperative that these crimes are prosecuted and the culture of impunity disrupted.

Letter to NDPP October 2021
Apartheid Banks. Correspondence. December 2020
Apartheid Banks. Correspondence. September 2020

Launch with the Financial Mail

On the 3rd of September 2020, Open Secrets and the Financial Mail hosted a discussion the need for justice for apartheid eras crimes. The discussion was hosted by FM editor Rob Rose and the discussants included, human rights lawyers, Navi Pillay and Yasmin Sooka and Open Secrets’ Hennie van Vuuren and Tabitha Paine.

Apartheid Banks: Explainer videos

The following is a recap of the work we’ve done on the Apartheid banks. Otherwise known as Belgium’s Kredietbank (now known as KBC Group) and its sister bank in Luxembourg (then known as KBL, but changed its name to Quintet Private Bank in 2020 shortly after Open Secrets handed over…

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SARB Files|  Brigadier Johann Philip Derk Blaauw

In April 2021, after a 8-year battle, the SARB finally released the records of Jan Blaauw and Vito Palazzolo to Open Secrets. This is the result of a precedent-setting legal action that ensured the right of all South Africans to access information in the public interest.

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SARB Files|  Palazzolo

In April 2021, after a 8-year battle, the SARB finally released the records of Jan Blaauw and Vito Palazzolo to Open Secrets. This is the result of a precedent-setting legal action that ensured the right of all South Africans to access information in the public interest.

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CECR Vol.2| The Auditors

While the economic impact of Covid-19 will impact KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young (EY) like much of the private sector, they are cushioned by years of sustained and avaricious profit-taking.

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Apartheid criminals still at large

Ilham Rahoot |Mail & Guardian | 21 February 2020 | The floor has been reopened. The past two weeks’ furore over FW de Klerk’s denial and hasty withdrawal of his statement that “the system of apartheid is not a crime against humanity”, as well as the inquest into activist Neil…

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Lifting the lid on apartheid-era economic crimes

Lloyd Gedye | New Frame | 21 February 2020 | The South African History Archive’s battle with the South African Reserve Bank to access information pertaining to alleged financial crimes will go to the Supreme Court of Appeal. What can the South African Reserve Bank’s archive of records tell South…

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België weigert witwasconstructies KBC tijdens apartheid te onderzoeken

Stef Arends | Orig jaar dienden twee Zuid-Afrikaanse ngo’s klacht in tegen KBC Groep. Die bank voerde grootschalige witwasoperaties uit ten tijde van het apartheidsregime, en zorgde daarmee dat een internationaal wapenembargo decennialang kon worden omzeild. Het OESO-contactpunt voor ethisch internationaal ondernemen weigert de klacht echter in behandeling te nemen.…

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NGOs disappointed with decision not to probe apartheid banks

ENCA | JOHANNESBURG Two NGO’s say they are disappointed with a decision not to investigate banks for allegedly supporting the apartheid government. The Center for Applied Legal Studies and Open Secrets submitted a complaint about the role of European banks during apartheid. Tumelo Matlawa from the centre for applied legal…

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European Authorities Refuse to Investigate Apartheid’s Banks

MEDIA RELEASE 31 July 2019 EUROPEAN AUTHORITIES REFUSE TO INVESTIGATE APARTHEID’S BANKS More than one year after submitting a complaint detailing the role of European banks in supporting and profiting from apartheid, CALS and Open Secrets have been informed that authorities in Belgium and Luxembourg are refusing to investigate these…

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“In probing this troubled and quiet past, van Vuuren productively ruptures a comfortable separation between the apartheid era and contemporary South Africa. ‘The current struggle against corruption in South Africa,” he concludes, “is undermined by a basic lack of appreciation of the nature of that corruption and the criminal networks that…

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#ApartheidBanks: Still Waiting For Justice

Shaazia Ebrahim | A number of international banks funded the apartheid regime and its military through credit. It has been one year since Open Secrets, along with the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), demanded accountability from the international banks in Belgium and Luxembourg that financed apartheid. The organisations submitted a complaint to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and…

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Apartheid’s banks no closer to facing justice

Tabitha Paine | Lee-Ann Bruce Without the help of European banks, the apartheid government would not have been able to buy arms and continue its campaign of violence and oppression. Between 1977 and 1994, countless people lost their lives while the banks essentially profited from their deaths. What can be…

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Bank at heart of Gambian tyranny

Hennie van Vuuren | Khadija Sharife | Mark Anderson Yahya Jammeh once said he would rule the Gambia for “one billion years”. His rule proved somewhat shorter — he lost the presidential elections in 2017 after 22 years in power. Since then, a massive clean-up of Gambian institutions has begun.…

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How apartheid poisoned the world

Peter Hain | The Spectator | 15 December 2018 Most people would claim to abhor apartheid, but London, Washington, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Buenos Aires and Tel Aviv were all in on the act. Around 1970 I was labelled ‘Public Enemy No. 1’ by white South Africa’s newspapers for leading militant…

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CECR Vol.1| The Bankers

The report begins by outlining the role played by international banks in supporting the apartheid state, both through the facilitation of illegal weapons trades and the continued provision of loans and capital despite international recognition of apartheid as a crime against humanity. It also considers the impact on democratic South…

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“It’s not very often that a book really reshapes our perception of an issue, but Hennie van Vuuren’s “Apartheid, Guns and Money: a tale of profit” is one. It is a massive work: over 600 pages and the result of a decade of meticulous, painstaking work.” ~ Martin Plaut (School of Advanced Study), The…

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“When secretive evil deeds are covered in darkness they prosper. From apartheid-era asset stripping they have probably mutated and continue to influence our democratic dispensation. This work shines a light, revealing many uncomfortable truths. It provides important lessons on unfinished business and the need for us now more than ever…

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“Apartheid Guns and Money… is probably the single most important book that has been written about South Africa for the last 20 years.” ~ Professor Achille Mbembe, WiSER, author of ‘On the Postcolony’

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“A brilliant urgent account of our history. Go out and get Apartheid Guns and Money…once you start, you won’t stop until the last page.” ~ Redi Thlabi, broadcaster and award-winning author of ‘Endings and Beginnings’ and ‘Khwezi’

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“This important book seeks to uncover one of the key secrets of the last decades of the apartheid era, how the National Party government sought to defeat the international arms embargo. It serves as a timely reminder that the founding values of our new Constitution, that government must be accountable,…

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“By the time you get to the last page of Hennie van Vuuren’s excellent new book, you’ll hopefully understand why South Africans have such little appetite for the past. For, as van Vuuren shows in this passionate and meticulously researched book, ours is an undigested and perhaps indigestible history; that is,…

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“In this brilliant, revelatory book van Vuuren forensically reveals the systemic corruption of apartheid and the collusion between the state, local and foreign businesses and governments at its core. This dark chapter in our history is essential to understand and progress beyond the current spiral of corruption, collusion and state…

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“A labour of political passion, this admirably well-researched book is a must-read. Its most important achievement is to show that illicit trade does not occur in some parallel realm detached from corporate boardrooms and governments; it is stitched into the fabric of statecraft and the exercise of power.” ~ Jonny Steinberg,…

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“R2K salutes the research team of Open Secrets South Africa for their commitment in unearthing the truth. We are very proud to call them comrades! Ongazi Makazi!”  ~ Statement by the Right2Know Campaign

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“Apartheid Guns and Money, for my money, should be on the list of prescribed books for high school students in Grades 11 and 12 as well as university students, especially those majoring in political science, economics and forensic investigations.”  ~ Kim Helfrich, DefenceWeb

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European Banks Called To Answer For Apartheid Crimes

Fatima Moosa | The Daily Vox | 25 April 2018 From 24 to 27 April, civil society organisation Open Secrets along with the University of Witwatersrand’s Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) will take a complaint to banks in Belgium and Luxembourg regarding their apartheid economic crimes. They are demanding accountability from the international…

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Update: Blow to Apartheid’s Banks

Joint press release by Open Secrets and CALS UN Independent Expert weighs in on OECD complaint, and NGOs challenge conflicts of interest in Belgian decision-making body  A heavy blow has been dealt to two European banks at the centre of the apartheid-era international arms money machine. The implicated banks are…

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United States Agencies Stick with Secrecy on Apartheid Crimes

  Today the United States celebrates its “Freedom of Information Day”. It is supposed to provide an occasion to focus on issues of public access to information and transparency in the US government. Given the extensive capacity of United States agencies, particularly their intelligence and law enforcement agencies, the US…

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‘Lifeboat’ scandal: An unlikely whistle-blower?

News broke last Friday that the Public Protector’s leaked report into the Bankorp/Absa “lifeboat” scandal dating back to the dying years of apartheid rule called for Absa to repay over R2-billion to the South African fiscus. The public response was cacophonic. Depending on your vantage point, media reports suggested that…

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The Good Old Days? 8 ‘Crony Capitalist’ Case Studies

In another post, we’ve responded to recent claims that public accountability has eroded in the post-apartheid period. Whatever the current problems facing South Africa, we argue that there are no ‘better days’ to hark back to. Here are eight corruption scandals under the apartheid system that remain ‘open secrets’, for…

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Marc Rich, apartheid’s most important sanctions-buster

There has been a stream of obituaries for Marc Rich, infamous billionaire, sanctions-buster, and one-time “King of Oil”. But these obituaries cannot tell the full story: we are still piecing together his true legacy [UPDATE: This article was republished by The Daily Maverick] Probably the most successful oil trader of…

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