The alcohol industry has some big guns in its arsenal as it gears up for a war with Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma — but its star witness in the case which begins on August 18 will surely be the country’s highest rated retailer: former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson.

From 1971, Basson made his name as Renier van Rooyen’s finance director at Pep stores. But things really took off in 1979, when he persuaded Van Rooyen to buy an eight-store, family-owned grocery chain in the Western Cape for R1.9m...

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