Veteran’s chequered past
The Mail & Guardian has established that the two Umkhonto weSizwe veterans involved in the dispute between home affairs and Double Ring Trading 222 are “General” Joshua Nxumalo and Major-General Gerald Pitso.
Nxumalo was one of the ANC’s tough men in exile and has attracted great controversy in the past, not least through his involvement in the Virodene scandal.
In 1997 Nxumalo received a stake in the company developing the controversial Aids drug for his “introductions” work. The ANC denied allegations at the time that the stake was earmarked for the ruling party.
Nxumalo was reported at the time to have cut his business teeth as part of his role in the ANC underground. His “getting things done” approach allegedly involved stolen cars and contact with drug dealers.
He strongly denied this at the time, but not that he had been jailed in exile. Pitso, who retired from the South African National Defence Force a few years ago, was a very senior member of SANDF intelligence.