AVID Investment Corporation was introduced to the Social Security Commission by former Swapo MP Ralph Blaauw, who also claimed that the Swapo Party Youth League owned 80 per cent of the company’s shares and that former President Sam Nujoma, too, was an Avid shareholder, suspended SSC manager Avril Green claims in an affidavit submitted to the High Court.
The sixth day of a Companies Act inquiry into a N$30 million investment the SSC made with Avid started yesterday with Acting Judge Raymond Heathcote informing the array of lawyers involved in the inquiry that an affidavit from Green had been filed with the court. The Acting Judge provided lawyers with copies of the affidavit.After referring only to a paragraph towards the end of the statement, in which a claim is made that SSC chairman Frans Kapofi said he had been offered money in return for extending the investment’s repayment deadline, the court moved on to other business.GROWING EVIDENCE With that, the affidavit had quietly become part of the growing volume of evidence before the Acting Judge.Its low-key admission as evidence stood in stark contrast to the often explosive nature of the claims made in the sworn statement.The name of Blaauw – a former Swapo MP, and now Acting Secretary General of the National Youth Council – has already surfaced previously in the enquiry, with one of those mentions having come from Swapo Party Youth League Secretary Paulus Kapia, who told the court that Blaauw had approached him to ask him to join Avid’s board of directors around April last year.Blaauw himself was not a director, but his wife, Sharon Blaauw, was and still is.Green’s affidavit, however, places Blaauw much more at the centre of events around the SSC’s investment of money through Avid than had been the situation until yesterday.At the same time, references to “higher authority” – a phrase that also featured in a slightly different guise in an affidavit from Green on which the SSC’s court application for the provisional liquidation of Avid was based – also made a comeback in his statement.’HIGHER AUTHORITY’ In Green’s previous affidavit, he stated that Avid had applied “pressure from higher political authority” to get the SSC to agree to invest money with the company.In the new affidavit, he states: “On Monday 3rd of January 2005 I was approached by Mr Ralph Blaauw, who introduced himself as a member of parliament and told me that he had been sent by higher authority to introduce Avid Investment Corporation (Pty) Ltd to the SSC.He told me that he represents Avid Investment Corporation (Pty) Ltd and that 80% of the shares in the Investment Company belongs to the Swapo Party Youth League, which resorts under the President of Namibia.He also told me that the President had a share in the company but that it would not be disclosed anywhere.”He explained to me that the Swapo Party Youth League had obtained a special licence from the World Bank, which would allow them to enter a special trade on investments, thereby making fantastic returns on investments possible.They however needed to plough their returns back into the community and that it was for this reason that the Swapo Party Youth League was the majority shareholder in Avid Investment Corporation (Pty) Ltd.”Green says he informed Blaauw that he would need the blessing of the SSC’s Chief Executive Officer, Tuli Hiveluah, to enter into negotiations with Avid.”Mr Blaauw told me that ‘higher authority’ would speak to the Chief Executive Officer,” Green continues.What happened next, according to Green, was that Hiveluah wrote to Kapia on January 13 to invite Avid to make a presentation on their products and services and the capabilities of their asset managers to the SSC.A former Avid director, Otniel Podewiltz, also went to see the SSC’s then Manager: Corporate Finance, Gideon Mulder, who was initially against doing business with Avid, Green states.Mulder “was clearly upset about Mr Podewiltz’s visit to him”, and he thereafter changed his attitude about doing business with Avid, Green claims.Green states Avid initially wanted the SSC to invest N$60 million, but he was not happy to invest such a large sum with a company with no proven track record “and a lot of secrecy regarding the investment”.MISGIVINGS He claims that at a meeting with Hiveluah and Mulder on January 20, he suggested that the SSC should entrust Avid with only N$10 million to N$20 million on condition that the SSC obtained evidence that any guarantee that Avid would give it would be a valid document.The CEO, however, recommended that the SSC invest N$30 million, and was supported by Mulder, Green claims.When he testified in the inquiry, Mulder claimed that it was his task at the SSC to make sure that an investment would be safe, but with regard to the Avid investment there had been interference from his superiors, so he followed their instructions.According to Green, though, he was the one who had misgivings about a potential investment agreement with Avid, and that Mulder and Hiveluah nonetheless continued with the investment.Despite reservations, he counter-signed a recommendation on January 21 for the N$30 million investment.He was still not convinced of Avid’s reliability and the information supplied to him, and continued to make enquiries, until he stopped the transfer of money to Avid.Mulder told him that he informed Blaauw on January 22 that the money was not transferred and that the transaction had been cancelled on Green’s instructions.Blaauw then wanted to know from Green why he had cancelled the transfer of the money, Green states.The next day, Kapia also called to ask why the investment had been stopped.On January 24, they had a meeting with Kapia where Hiveluah “pertinently informed” Kapia that if Lazarus Kandara was involved with Avid, the SSC did not want to have anything to do with Avid.”Mr Kapia assured us that Mr Kandara was not involved with Avid,” according to Green.The exact opposite was the case, with Kandara having been fully in charge of Avid, the enquiry has heard.The day after that meeting, Green continues, Mulder told him that Kapia had approached him, Mulder, “with tears in his eyes” to transfer the N$30 million to Avid.Green says he travelled to Cape Town that same day.When he returned six days later, he found out that the N$30 million had in the meantime been transferred to Avid after all.Lawyer Mel Harmse, who has been representing Mrs Blaauw, remarked yesterday that he had contacted Ralph Blaauw in Botswana, where he is on business, in connection with Green’s statement.His instructions from Blaauw were that Blaauw would strongly dispute the version of events as related by Green, Harmse said.Blaauw would specifically deny Green’s claim that he had told Green that Nujoma was a shareholder of Avid and that the Youth League owned 80 per cent of the company’s shares, Harmse indicated.The Acting Judge provided lawyers with copies of the affidavit.After referring only to a paragraph towards the end of the statement, in which a claim is made that SSC chairman Frans Kapofi said he had been offered money in return for extending the investment’s repayment deadline, the court moved on to other business.GROWING EVIDENCE With that, the affidavit had quietly become part of the growing volume of evidence before the Acting Judge.Its low-key admission as evidence stood in stark contrast to the often explosive nature of the claims made in the sworn statement.The name of Blaauw – a former Swapo MP, and now Acting Secretary General of the National Youth Council – has already surfaced previously in the enquiry, with one of those mentions having come from Swapo Party Youth League Secretary Paulus Kapia, who told the court that Blaauw had approached him to ask him to join Avid’s board of directors around April last year.Blaauw himself was not a director, but his wife, Sharon Blaauw, was and still is. Green’s affidavit, however, places Blaauw much more at the centre of events around the SSC’s investment of money through Avid than had been the situation until yesterday.At the same time, references to “higher authority” – a ph
rase that also featured in a slightly different guise in an affidavit from Green on which the SSC’s court application for the provisional liquidation of Avid was based – also made a comeback in his statement.’HIGHER AUTHORITY’ In Green’s previous affidavit, he stated that Avid had applied “pressure from higher political authority” to get the SSC to agree to invest money with the company.In the new affidavit, he states: “On Monday 3rd of January 2005 I was approached by Mr Ralph Blaauw, who introduced himself as a member of parliament and told me that he had been sent by higher authority to introduce Avid Investment Corporation (Pty) Ltd to the SSC.He told me that he represents Avid Investment Corporation (Pty) Ltd and that 80% of the shares in the Investment Company belongs to the Swapo Party Youth League, which resorts under the President of Namibia.He also told me that the President had a share in the company but that it would not be disclosed anywhere.”He explained to me that the Swapo Party Youth League had obtained a special licence from the World Bank, which would allow them to enter a special trade on investments, thereby making fantastic returns on investments possible.They however needed to plough their returns back into the community and that it was for this reason that the Swapo Party Youth League was the majority shareholder in Avid Investment Corporation (Pty) Ltd.”Green says he informed Blaauw that he would need the blessing of the SSC’s Chief Executive Officer, Tuli Hiveluah, to enter into negotiations with Avid.”Mr Blaauw told me that ‘higher authority’ would speak to the Chief Executive Officer,” Green continues.What happened next, according to Green, was that Hiveluah wrote to Kapia on January 13 to invite Avid to make a presentation on their products and services and the capabilities of their asset managers to the SSC.A former Avid director, Otniel Podewiltz, also went to see the SSC’s then Manager: Corporate Finance, Gideon Mulder, who was initially against doing business with Avid, Green states.Mulder “was clearly upset about Mr Podewiltz’s visit to him”, and he thereafter changed his attitude about doing business with Avid, Green claims.Green states Avid initially wanted the SSC to invest N$60 million, but he was not happy to invest such a large sum with a company with no proven track record “and a lot of secrecy regarding the investment”.MISGIVINGS He claims that at a meeting with Hiveluah and Mulder on January 20, he suggested that the SSC should entrust Avid with only N$10 million to N$20 million on condition that the SSC obtained evidence that any guarantee that Avid would give it would be a valid document.The CEO, however, recommended that the SSC invest N$30 million, and was supported by Mulder, Green claims.When he testified in the inquiry, Mulder claimed that it was his task at the SSC to make sure that an investment would be safe, but with regard to the Avid investment there had been interference from his superiors, so he followed their instructions.According to Green, though, he was the one who had misgivings about a potential investment agreement with Avid, and that Mulder and Hiveluah nonetheless continued with the investment.Despite reservations, he counter-signed a recommendation on January 21 for the N$30 million investment.He was still not convinced of Avid’s reliability and the information supplied to him, and continued to make enquiries, until he stopped the transfer of money to Avid.Mulder told him that he informed Blaauw on January 22 that the money was not transferred and that the transaction had been cancelled on Green’s instructions.Blaauw then wanted to know from Green why he had cancelled the transfer of the money, Green states.The next day, Kapia also called to ask why the investment had been stopped.On January 24, they had a meeting with Kapia where Hiveluah “pertinently informed” Kapia that if Lazarus Kandara was involved with Avid, the SSC did not want to have anything to do with Avid.”Mr Kapia assured us that Mr Kandara was not involved with Avid,” according to Green.The exact opposite was the case, with Kandara having been fully in charge of Avid, the enquiry has heard.The day after that meeting, Green continues, Mulder told him that Kapia had approached him, Mulder, “with tears in his eyes” to transfer the N$30 million to Avid.Green says he travelled to Cape Town that same day.When he returned six days later, he found out that the N$30 million had in the meantime been transferred to Avid after all.Lawyer Mel Harmse, who has been representing Mrs Blaauw, remarked yesterday that he had contacted Ralph Blaauw in Botswana, where he is on business, in connection with Green’s statement.His instructions from Blaauw were that Blaauw would strongly dispute the version of events as related by Green, Harmse said.Blaauw would specifically deny Green’s claim that he had told Green that Nujoma was a shareholder of Avid and that the Youth League owned 80 per cent of the company’s shares, Harmse indicated.
