ENIGMATIC former arms deal consultant Fana Hlongwane is an elusive man, especially when he’s hiding out in his seaside enclave, tucked away in the surroundings of the ultra-luxurious Zimbali Coastal Resort.
Hlongwane is the man who reportedly received payments of more than R200 million in consultancy fees and commissions through third-party entities involved in the South African government’s controversial arms procurement deal.
He was late Defence minister Joe Modise’s adviser from 1995 to 1998 before becoming an arms deal consultant.
Hlongwane struck gold after he was hired to “promote the reputation and sale” of Hawk and Gripen aircraft to South Africa on behalf of international arms manufacturers BAE and Saab.
Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts is informally interviewing people associated with Hlongwane’s companies to find out how it all took place.
This after the DA’s David Maynier launched a successful application under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to obtain documents relating to the decision taken last year by the Hawks’ Lieutenant General Anwa Dramat to halt the arms deal investigation.
Described by Maynier and in the media as “flawed”, the six-page document delivered under PAIA as justifying Dramat’s decision was further thrown into question when, in the middle of last month, the chief executive of Swedish arms giant SAAB admitted that a SAAB-owned, but BAE-operated company had paid R24m to Hlongwane under suspicious circumstances in 2003.
It also emerged that, in a breach of protocol, Dramat’s decision to cease the investigation had not been communicated to Scopa.
The omission was inadvertent, Dramat insisted, but The Sunday Independent understands various questions yet to be answered have set off alarm bells in Parliament’s public accounts oversight committee.
Hlongwane is believed to be using the two-storey, five-bedroomed Zimbali house during the holiday season, although he missed last week’s Durban July.
He also has a taste for exotic and fast cars and his fleet includes a Lamborghini Murcielago, a Bentley Azure, two Ferraris and a Porsche Cayenne.
On the rare occasion that the media-shy Hlongwane comes to Zimbali, he is said to keep a low profile.
A number of staffers at the luxury estate and hotel workers said they did not even know what he looked like.
However, a Zimbali official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “He drives in quietly and just locks himself in his apartment. He’s a very private person.”
Even if you gain access to Zimbali, paying Hlongwane a visit is a tricky, if not impossible mission.
The estate, a stone’s throw away from the sea, has an electric fence, and on its website boasts unrivalled security restrictions.
Hlongwane lives in another mansion in Joburg’s exclusive Hyde Park.
The 4 000m2 property, which was purchased in December 2000 for R5.9m by Tsebe Properties – another company linked to the arms deal – was given a municipal valuation in 2007 of R18.2m.
It is said to feature a cinema, three dining-rooms, a bedroom the “size of a medium house”, landscaped rose gardens and a classy wine collection.
The Guardian newspaper reported in 2007 that the company was a shareholder of Osprey Aviation, a South African firm it identified as BAE’s primary agent in the country.
One of the founding directors of Tsebe Properties was Osprey’s Richard Charter, formerly the chairman of BAE Systems SA.
