Koos in the firing line
Come clean, Carrim tells Koos
Revelations that Naspers’s pay-TV arm MultiChoice paid millions to the SABC and the Guptas have sparked a heated exchange
Not many people get to accuse Naspers chairman Koos Bekker — SA’s fourth-richest man (estimated wealth: R16.5bn) — of having a flexible relationship with the truth. But that’s what Yunus Carrim, former communications minister and now chairman of parliament’s portfolio committee on finance did this week. Leaked e-mails revealed how MultiChoice paid R100m to the state-owned SA Broadcasting Corp (SABC) and R25m to ANN7 (which was owned by President Jacob Zuma’s friends, the Guptas). The implication is that as a quid pro quo, Naspers wanted to sway government policy on set-top box encryption to avoid competition. As calls for an independent inquiry into MultiChoice mount, Carrim told the Financial Mail he believed Bekker "had a big hand in changing government policy on encryption" back in 2014. "Bekker," says Carrim, "is astonishingly arrogant. He’s done very well in the ICT sector and no doubt he’s very creative and enterprising, but I saw very little of that in my exchanges.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.