JOHANNESBURG - The controversial Zimbabwean business mogul, Billy Rautenbach (Pictured), has handed himself over to the South African authorities, who have been hunting him for years.Rautenbach, who is closely aligned to Zanu (PF) and is a large-scale land owner in Zimbabwe, has pleaded guilty to 326 charges of fraud involving his company, SA Botswana Hauliers Ltd. He has reportedly agreed to pay a R40 million fine to settle his decade-long legal battle. R10 million is payable up front, with the rest secured by his Western Cape farm as collateral.
According to Mthunzi Mhaga, a spokesperson for South Africas National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Rautenbach e-mailed responses to questions from the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.
I am pleased that the matter has been settled and that all personal charges against me have been withdrawn, Rautenbach said in his e-mailed statement. It has always been my goal to return to South Africa to pursue potential business opportunities once my name had been cleared.
Rautenbach left South Africa in 1999 when raids were conducted on his property to recover debts after his Botswana-based company, Hyundai Motor Distributors, collapsed. The South African authorities were said to have attempted to extradite the fraudster from Zimbabwe.
Following Zimbabwes military intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rautenbach served as Chief Executive Officer of Gecamines, a DRC state-owned mining company. In 2007, however, the DRC forced him to stand down and leave the country because of his unresolved fraud charges in South Africa.
Rautenbach was also the subject of a recent Channel 4 documentary on his involvement with Central African Mining Ltd., or CAMEC. The in-depth investigative film uncovered his dubious links with Zanu (PF) that led to him keeping and expanding his extensive agricultural properties when most white-owned land was taken over by the Mugabe regime.
The programme showed interviews with black farmers who were being forced off Nuanetsi Ranch by Rautenbach just a few months ago.
At one time the South Africans wanted Rautenbach extradited from Zimbabwe to face charges of murdering his South Korean business partner. It is unclear whether these charges have been withdrawn, as part of the R40 million deal with the SA authorities.
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