Mvelaphanda Group
Mvelaphanda Group (JSE: MVG) is a company in South Africa, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), that was founded by Tokyo Sexwale, a compatriot of Nelson Mandela. The group was formed in 2003/4 by the merger of Mvelaphanda Holdings and Rebserve. Mvelaphanda Holdings is active in the fields of financial services, healthcare, mining, general industry and real property.
Mvela Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Mvelaphanda Group Ltd and has a significant interest in JSE-listed Mvelaphanda Resources Ltd. It has other substantial privately held interests in the mining, energy, real estate and various other industrial sectors in South Africa and Africa.[1] The chief executive of the company is Mark Willcox.[2] In January 2012, Mvelaphanda Holdings, OZ Management (a subsidiary of Och-Ziff Capital Management Group) and Palladino Holdings announced the creation of a joint venture called Africa Management Limited, which will also see the creation of African Global Capital, a platform through which to invest in public and private markets across Africa. This platform will focus primarily on natural resources.[1]
Controversy
Mvelaphanda has been the subject of repeated scrutiny due to its involvement with Palladino Holdings in a suspicious USD25 million loan that disappeared that was originally intended to start up a state mining company. Furthermore, terms of the loan stated that the lender could take a 30% in state mining assets and former Guinean mines minister, Mahmoud Thiam alleged that the deal was a quid pro quo in return for Condé campaign support. Thiam implicated Tokyo Sexwale in this claim, asserting a close association between Palladino and Sexwale’s Mvelaphanda.[2]