Publication: Sapa Issued: Johannesburg Date: 2005-09-28 Reporter: Sapa

The Man Who Made the Mining World Exciting

 

Publication 

Sapa
BC-OBIT-KEBBLE

Date

2005-09-28

Issued

Johannesburg

Reporter

 Sapa

 

Flamboyant mining magnate in an industry he was passionate about transforming and art awards sponsor Brett Kebble was 41-years-old when he was shot and killed in Johannesburg on Tuesday night.

He had been described in a recent article as a polished persona with a "gung-ho, devil-may-care attitude that made the local mining world as exciting as during the heady days of Barney Barnato".

Last month he had been forced to resign from JCI, Western Areas and Randgold and Exploration amid mounting controversy, pressure and alleged financial irregularities.

It was the second time Kebble had been forced to step down from the position of chief executive in the last five years. He had resigned in 2000 shortly after revelations that he may have manipulated shares in order to repel the hostile takeover of Randfontein Estates Mining Company by Harmony Gold.

Born in Springs and educated at St Andrew's School, Welkom and Cape Town University, Kebble joined his mining engineer father, Roger, in the mining industry after a career in law in Cape Town.

He teamed up with his father in 1991 to purchase a controlling stake in Rand Leases Gold Mining Co. Ltd. From this base, in 1994 he helped engineer the successful takeover of Randgold and Exploration Company Limited. As an executive director of Randgold he oversaw the reorganisation of the group including several mergers and acquisitions and the listing of Randgold Resources on the London Stock Exchange.

In 1996 he injected his family's 33 percent stake in Randgold into Consolidated Mining Corporation thereby creating a base to help fund the purchase of a controlling stake in JCI in November 1996.

During 1998 he accomplished the largest investment ever made into South Africa by selling half the mine, South Deep -- Western Areas' major asset -- to a Canadian mining company, Placer Dome Inc. In 2002 Kebble announced the merger of JCI with Consolidated African Mines Ltd (CAM) and the merged entity was listed on the JSE as JCI Ltd in July of that year.

"In terms of their contribution to the South African mining industry, the Kebbles were the first to release mines from burdensome management contracts, initiating a period of profound transformation in the South African gold mining industry," read his personal web site.

In his personal capacity, he was the sponsor of South Africa's most generous art awards, The Brett Kebble Art Awards.

"An avid art lover, Brett bought his first piece, an Irma Stern, upon receiving his first paycheck," read the web site.

"His personal collection includes some of South Africa's finest historical artists, including Gerard Sekota, Irma Stern, Maude Sumner, Maggie Laubser, Vladimir Tretchikoff and Alexis Preller.

"The Brett Kebble Art Awards are annual awards that strive to recognise excellence in contemporary visual arts, this year's eponymous awards will boost the bank balances of seven deserving artists by more than R500,000 in total."

His web site added that his philosophy "must be viewed in the context of his passion for Africa".

"He is an ardent promoter of Black Economic Empowerment and devotes considerable energy to creating patriotic capital bases based in Africa."

Kebble was also committed to the New Plan for Africa's Development.

With acknowledgement to Sapa.