adminroles come into conflict.
However, as an African National Congress official who is not a public representative or a member of the executive within the government, there are no mechanisms through which these conflicts could be managed.
ANC officials are not required to declare their business interests to the party, either publicly or privately.
But should Mr Ramaphosa be asked to serve in the government, he would have to abide by both Parliament’s disclosure requirements and the executive code of ethics.
The past year has seen a dramatic escalation of Mr Ramaphosa’s wealth. From last year to this year his worth rose 39 percent to R3,1 billion.
This is according to the Sunday Times Rich List, which measures wealth on the basis of an individual’s holdings in listed companies.
A glance at the holdings of Shanduka, in which the Ramaphosa Family Trust owns 30 percent, reveals a large and diverse range of interests across almost every sector. In the financial sector, these include holdings of 1,2 percent in Standard Bank, where Mr Ramaphosa is also a director, 7,8 percent in Alexander Forbes and 1.5 percent in the Liberty Group.
Shanduka also owns 0,54 percent of industrial holding company Bidvest, with varied interests including vehicle dealerships. In the telecoms sector, Shanduka has interests in both South Africa and Nigeria, the fastest growing mobile communications market in the world.
The interests include 0,45 percent of MTN SA and about 5 percent of MTN Nigeria. It also has a 32,7 percent interest in a cellphone tower building operation in Nigeria — Helios Towers — and 12,5 percent in Seacom, which constructs undersea cables.
The MTN Nigeria deal, concluded last month, had the markets buzzing partly out of envy, but also over concerns about several conflicts of interest. MTN Nigeria is the most profitable part of MTN on the continent.
The highlighted conflicts of interest include that Mr Ramaphosa is chairman of MTN Group, the majority owner of the Nigerian operation. But the company has said Mr Ramaphosa excluded himself from all the discussions relating to Shanduka’s purchase of shares in MTN Nigeria. — Businessday.
Online Reporter