Anti - Corruption Unit ACU investigates Hawks for Racketeering in 'Undercover Billionaires' Louis Jr Tshakoane Case. In a recent turn of events the Hawks similarly known as the Specialized Commercial Crimes Unit in Johannesburg based in Eloff Street has been flagged by the ACU Anti-Corruption Unit of South Africa for its involvement in the fraud investigation against the Undercover Billionaires International Crypto-Currency business which sells UMC digital virtual coins to the public according to the framework outlined by the South African Reserve Banks Position Paper on digital virtual currencies in 2014. A sophisticated illegal syndicate using State resources and bribes has been identified by Detective Alfred Temane with key individuals being employees of Media publications, Public Relations practitioners, Hawks captains and subordinates, SAPS officers, SARS officials and FOREX traders in South Africa.

It has come to our attention that a spider network exists around this matter and many others overlapping and investigations are at an advanced stage now says Temane. Louis Jr Tshakoane who is a well-known Best-selling author. Master Forex Trading Millionaire has been featured on Vuzu Rich Kids during 2016 for his inspiration lifestyle.

Started Undercover Billionaires International as a business networking company aimed at alleviating poverty by bridging the gap between aspiring millionaires and existing ones. At the age of 16 Tshakoane, Jr became the youngest self-made millionaire in South Africa when British Billionaire from the Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson gave him R2 million rand in gym equipment and R500, 000 in cash to help previously disadvantaged youth in a township east of Johannesburg called Tembisa.

He has since worked for companies like Lamborghini Johannesburg and UBS South Africa a Swiss bank where he picked up his passion for FOREX Trading. In 2016 April Louis Jr Tshakoane created a digital coin called Undercover Millionaires Currency similar to the famous Bitcoin Crypto-Currency which is currently trading at R135,000 per coin.

More than 25,000 people purchased UMC coins from the network via its website www.undercovermillionaires.com trading was going very well as Louis Jr Tshakoane marketed around the world his intellectual property that anyone can own a part of. Currently, the coin is trading at R5,63 and fluctuates daily based on supply and demand.

R118 million rand worth of peer to peer lending coins were bought within the first year through the trading of its members. Of which R26 million worth of coins were purchased from the source company that generated the initial batch namely Undercover Billionaires International of which Louis Jr Tshakoane is 100% sole director and invested in my mining equipment in order to profit from the sale of his coins.

He hired around 20 employees to manage his brand, business, and clientele around 4 offices in the country. He has spent more than R1 Million advertising himself as a brand on social media sites Facebook and Instagram. He registered his business with CIPRO and SARS to remain compliant with regulatory requirements. His accountant Frans Phiri of Phiri Accountants has also drafted Audited Financial Statements as of February 2017. He did not register with the FSCA formally the FSB (Financial Services Board.) For UMC because after doing the research he discovered that cryptography based businesses aren't deemed legal tender and hence the trade thereof did not require a license to sell digital coins.

None the less he did partner with a July, 2016/2019 FSP/NCR licensed company called Epic Finance Pty Ltd owned by his Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship classmate Mvuleleni Mgibe. Should the need arise for him to offer such services the clients will be sent to Epic Finance Pty Ltd for financial intermediary advice consultations. Now after all of this rumor has it that a group of unscrupulous media journalists, police officials, Hawks officials, and the public prosecutor have been accepting bribes from one of his Forex competitors in order to keep Tshakoane and his family behind bars for no justifiable reason and taint his reputation.

A one police detective Mabunda of the Sandton Police Station once made an attempt to extort money from Louis Jr Tshakoane at a Sandton Bread and Basket restaurant. Louis then appeared at the Sandton Police station before Head of Fraud Detectives Col. Sikhwene to open a case of intimidation against Mabunda who is well known for confronting Forex Traders in the area with bogus cases. Sikhwene then pleaded with Louis not to pursue the matter due to fear of embarrassment.

He then issued a summons for Louis to appear at the SCCU court in Eloff Street instead of him being arrested since he wasn't evading the case opened against him. Louis appeared first in court during October 2017 and the matter was immediately struck off the roll due to overwhelming evidence that he was innocent and did not owe a one Petrus Khoza found by Judge Van Burren.

A one Captain Hanyani Ngobeni of the SCCU opened another docket on this matter and instructed a one Captain Mzwandile Gobozi who has since resigned due to his various scandals at the station to persecute Tshakoane. During a Johannesburg appearance in July 2018 Louis Jr Tshakoane was apparently unlawfully kidnapped by Captain Gobozi and handed over to an Investigating officer from Estcourt KZN to appear in another matter which Gobozi created after reviewing Undercover Billionaires bank statements and fabricating a new case simply to frustrate Tshakoane who was already on bail in Johannesburg for R70,000. This was a clear act of defeating the ends of justice.

Subsequently, Gobozi resigned from his post and is no longer serving at SCCU Johannesburg. The case in Estcourt was subsequently withdrawn due to lack of evidence. NPA appointed Public Prosecutor Terrance Zitha then took it upon himself to lie under oath on record during the bail hearing for Louis Jr Tshakoane.

The matter has been sitting at the SCCU court for over 18 months now without a shred of evidence being presented before the court. Tshakoanes legal team kept pleading with the court judges for a speedy trial upon multiple lies and excuses being made by the Prosecutor claiming on record that he was ready to commence with trial since the bail hearings.

None the less postponement after postponement has been made by the State Prosecutor. The only thing found in the dockets by the defendant's legal team has been Undercover Billionaires banks statements and statements made by 12 people. That's right. After wild allegations have been made that the company swindled over 500 investors. It has come to light that out of 25000+ members.

Only 12 people have come forward after only 1 Thato Menu a Standard bank manager claimed Tshakoane defrauded him and that he was not licensed. That's right a person working for a bank with key knowledge on how investments work went and took a loan from Capitec to buy coins amounting to over R150,000 from multiple UMC members.

Ran to the same Sowetan Newspaper claiming that theft has been conducted by Louis Jr Tshakoane. of which He clearly still has access to all his UMC coins on www.undercovermillionaires.com which have appreciated in value since 2016. The FSB also made a formal statement in the Sowetan article actually exonerating Louis Jr Tshakoane by saying that his company was not registered with them and that one does not need to be registered with FSB to run a cryptocurrency.

Now comes the part of the parents to Louis Jr Tshakoane. Louis Snr Tshakoane who is regarded among soccer enthusiasts as a Living Football Marketing Legend. Has served Kaiser Chiefs for 25 years as marketing director and 10 years as Bafana Bafana manager. Traveled to over 100 countries and was loved especially by the likes or Nelson Mandela.

Has been dragged into this matter to taint his long reputable character. He has simply been wanted by the Hawks together with his wife simply because he attended a seminar hosted by his son. And his wife Suzan Tshakoane is waNTED simply because the Undercover Billionaires company purchased her a car that it owed her after her son used her BMW for Undercover Billionaires purposes prior to the business going well.

How can his parents be benefiting from the proceeds of so-called criminal activity if the case now has been taken by Louis Jr Tshakoanes legal team to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for Representations in order to be acquitted? Since multiple attempts to go to trial have been postponed more than 4 times. It is with great prejudice that the Tshakoane family has suffered malicious prosecution, prosecutorial misconduct, harassment, intimidation, defamation, kidnapping, wrongful arrest, extortion attempts ect. during this time.

Surely God will intervene to bring these unlawful public servants to justice. Should anyone be facing similar prejudice from the aforementioned officials kindly email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact Detective Alfred Temane on 0829478510 from Anti Corruption Unit South Africa. Formal complaints have been laid to the office of the President, NPA, IPID, ACU and Public Protector.

During its investigation the Fraud Department of FNB has found nothing that can categorize Undercover Billionaires international as a ponzi scheme or pyramid scheme as all funds paid into the company account were used for business purposes such as marketing expenses, travel & transportation costs, salaries, office rentals, stationery, equipment, property, tax etc.

Instead of the typical borrow from Peter to pay Paul scenario. Undercover Billionaires has also presented source or funds to FNB. Crypto Currency coins are generated through a process called Mining. And each coin holder earns what is called a Mining Reward for verification of transactions on the network called a Blockchain. A distributed public ledger named UMC blockchain is available for all members on the system for transparency purposes.

The system operates independently from Undercover Billionaires and is self-sustainable. This is what Hawks fail to understand. It is being misrepresented to the public that Louis JR and his company promised people unrealistic returns on a regulated investment. Louis could not promise a return on investment in the form of real money since UMC is a cryptocurrency, not a traditional investment. It is clear that the Corruption problem in South Africa is still thriving. A Cancer to the progress of the Country. How are the youth supposed to excel in business when they prosper devilish behavior is being displayed by law enforcement.

A problem President Cryil Ramaphosa and the African National Congress need to address since the Tshakoane family are well supported by the International community. This paints a very ugly picture to the millions of social media followers around the world watching all this unfold who already support Louis Jr Tshakoane and his vision to alleviate poverty in Africa.

This includes over 10000 millionaires and billionaires his company Undercover Billionaires conducts business with that are now wary of continuing to do business with South Africa through foreign direct investment with the fear that they will be next.

New book on Values-Based Leadership in the South African context launched.

Johannesburg, Gauteng February 18, 2019:  Dr Ashley Frank, successful executive coach to the C-Suite of the country’s largest corporations launched his new book in Johannesburg last night (February 17). This is the former business school professor’s third book, but his first aimed at the general reader. His previous books, case studies in Investment Valuation & Markets (both published by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press in 2003), were influential contributions to graduate teaching and welcomed by the academic and practitioner community alike.

Dr Frank’s current book provides a complete strategy for Chief Executives wishing to embed a values-based culture within their organisations. The book shows how moral obligation, when placed upon laws of leadership, result in a values-based culture, that should be rooted in values statements and lived in a corporation’s culture. It looks at several case studies to see how principles of Corporate Governance (and in particular the King Code) actually play out in society. And it offers a framework for understanding why traditional attempts to inculcate “business ethics” often fail. Unlike other books on the subject, it also considers corruption at the level of the state (political and bureaucratic officials), particularly since the public and private sectors often become intertwined at points of economic crime. It presents a complete strategy for any Chief Executive wishing to ground their leadership in moral authority, based on: assessing corporate culture, reviewing internal codes, removing conflicting objectives, being the change and practising mindfulness. Importantly, it discusses why Board support is vital to a Chief Executive and offers concrete suggestions as to how it can be engaged.

Speaking at the book launch Dr Frank explained the book’s title “Tunnel Out: A Challenge to South African Chief Executives” “The lay public may not quite get the full meaning of the book’s title but it’s a play on the word “Tunneling”, which is a colloquial term for financial fraud. Most importantly the book is written as a challenge to Chief Executives to take active steps to avoid incidents of corporate malfeasance. To this end it provides a step by step guide on how to implement a values-based culture within any corporation”. Values-based leadership is the idea that leaders should draw on their own and followers' values for direction and motivation. It’s a philosophy that observes that a person’s most natural motivators are their personal values, because these values lie at the core of a person’s identity. It is more natural for leaders to refer to their own values in creating a vision or making decisions and equally it makes sense for leaders to connect with their followers' values which makes them more likely to act. Richard Barrett, author of “Building a Values-Driven Organisation”, defines values-based leadership as "a way of making authentic decisions that builds the trust and commitment of employees and customers." Leaders who apply this philosophy are likely to experience certain inner benefits, such as making better choices (and feeling more comfortable to act upon them), building more trusting and avoiding stressful relationships with followers. The book argues that when both Chief Executives and employees feel aligned with their authentic selves, corporations can be both highly profitable as well as ethically responsible.

Dr Frank also explained the decision to launch the book in e-form only: “Digitisation is increasingly becoming the preferred way of making information available to as wide a readership as possible. We (the author and the publishers) wanted the book to be available internationally but accessible to readers in South Africa, without having them need to pay shipping and customs, to get a copy”.

The book is available for download at Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/2G0FTyd

Contact Mr. Eugene Barnabas at +27-(0)71-213-0653, to arrange a review copy or to interview the author.

African Utility Week industry survey yields interesting results

Solar PV is overwhelmingly seen as the most promising generation source for Africa while corruption, skills gaps and access to finance are some of the biggest challenges that power and water professionals face in their industries. This is according to a survey by the organisers of African Utility Week among attendees of the annual event in Cape Town last year. Other questions in the survey included what respondents think will have the biggest impact on the energy and water sectors, what future technology excites them and what the biggest challenges are that they face in their industry.

Of the 834 people surveyed, 696 are South African (71%), 199 are from 24 other African countries (63 Kenyan, 85 Nigerian) and 40 from the rest of the world, including Europe, USA, China, India and Canada.

Most promising generation source
Asked what the most promising source of generation is for Africa, Solar PV scored more than 54% amongst the respondents while nuclear was second with 11%. “The reason could be that rooftop PV, when measured against the other technologies, is easy to execute as a project and photovoltaic modules are becoming very affordable,” says Nicolette Pombo-van Zyl, editor of the energy trade journal, ESI Africa.

She adds: “it is also the most obvious technology to use in mini- and off-grid projects as well as for use in hybrid models. However, what is interesting but not surprising is that 11% of respondents feel that nuclear energy is the most promising generation source. Nuclear has its merits. What is disappointing is how few are in favour of biomass as a promising source of generation capacity, considering that this technology offers a distributed model and a measure of reducing the mounds of waste that Africa’s cities are confronted with. Another concern is the lack of interest in wind energy – only 8% of respondents felt this technology a worthy source; however, it does rank slightly higher than hydro where the continent’s impressive potential capacity is recorded. Wind energy is likely to make tentative steps towards market growth now that South African, Kenyan and Moroccan wind farms are making good headwinds.”

Nuclear scored the lowest amongst power and water professionals when asked what they think will have the biggest positive impact on the energy and water sectors in Africa within the next 5-10 years:  (Respondents were allowed to select more than one of the 12 options provided.)

1. Technology innovation 59%
2. Government commitment and transparency 55%
3. Uptake of renewables 47%
4. Expansion of mini grids 28%
5. Distributed generation 25%
6. Cross border partnerships 24%
7. Investment in capacity building 21%
8. Local investment 21%
9. Direct foreign investment 20%
10. Roll out of ICT systems 9%
11. Nuclear 7%

“Even though nuclear made a spectacular appearance in the previous question, here it ranks lowest, with technology innovation taking the prime spot” says ESI Africa’s editor, adding that “Tech R&D in all spheres of energy, power and water are already advancing with enthusiasm. And sometimes the simplest of solutions can be developed for the specific needs of a local community making the most impact. This is made possible by various organisations that are investing in entrepreneurship programmes and providing support to local innovators.”

She continues: “the other key area that respondents are hopeful will make a positive impact is around government’s commitment and transparency. Now that there has been an increase in public and industry association monitoring groups, such as OUTA and SAWEA, along with the ongoing Eskom Inquiry and South Africa’s leadership changes – this area is set on the right path to make a noteworthy impact.” 

Future technology 

Asked which future technologies most excite the respondents, the results were as follows:

1. Smart Grids 54%
2. Energy storage 49%
3. Energy trading 49%
4. Connected/smart cities 37%
5. Electric vehicles 36%
6. Energy trading 14%
7. Blockchain 14%

“These results show an interesting grouping around smart grids, energy storage and energy efficiency, which are intrinsically connected,” says Nicolette Pombo-van Zyl. “It’s disappointing that energy trading and blockchain are perceived as too futuristic to be the technology that respondents are most excited about. The African continent was able to leapfrog landline telephony straight to mobile; countries can do this again by becoming the leaders in energy trading and the use of crypto currency to fund projects and transact in the utility, energy and water space.” 

That the market has a healthy appetite for the futuristic technology was confirmed in a separate question whether the market is ready for the digital utility with a focus on smart meters, grids, Internet of Things and ICT – the overwhelming reply was a yes from 84% of the respondents.

Biggest challenge = corruption
At 49%, corruption was indicated as the biggest challenge that power and water professionals face in their industries but issues such as skills gap, access to finance, regulation and policy clarity, red tape and  economic slowdown were also perceived as important hindrances, scoring from 36% to 28%. 

Says the ESI Africa editor: “corruption is still perceived as a major obstacle and this goes along with respondents’ strong call for government commitment and transparency. It will take concerted leadership from all levels of government to rid the continent of this deeply entrenched challenge. The skills gap is also pinned as a high concern, putting development at risk – the loss of engineers, technicians and managers who are now retired or close to retirement age is a real factor; perhaps reviving apprenticeships along with attractive offers would make inroads to solving this risk.” 

The future lies in…
When asked the question: “The future lies in:” and given four choices only, namely distributed generation, mini grids, utility scale grids and storage, distributed generation was a clear winner at 40% with storage second at 27%, then mini grids with 22% and utility scale grids scoring the lowest with 11%. 

According to Pombo-van Zyl, distributed energy resources (DER) are top of mind as an imminent risk to the traditional utility and municipality business model – and not just in Africa. She explains: “it is being discussed at all levels of the utility business from its executive boards to internal auditors as it poses a threat to traditional revenue streams. However, the good news is that utilities have acknowledged a future that includes distributed generation – the challenge is in how to manage the technicalities around accommodating this on the national grid and its impact on revenue.” 

She adds: “it must have been a tough choice for survey respondents to choose between distributed energy, mini grids, utility-scale grids and storage. This is evident in the close percentages, with the obvious outlier being utility-scale grids; probably due to grid connected generation having made little inroads on increasing electrification rates across the continent.”  

Skills deficit in power and water sectors
Skills in finance, engineering/technical, people management and leadership all scored high (29%-33%) in a question on what power and water professionals perceived to present the biggest skills deficit in their companies. The ESI Africa editor’s take on these results: “it is a concern that there is a joint winner from this question: finance and engineering/technical skills. Without these two significantly important skills being resident within the utility market it is no wonder that companies’ cash flow is untenable and technical losses along the value chain are present due to maintenance challenges. A potential solution lies in leadership and people management, which also scored very high in this question.”  

Award-winning energy platform
The 18th annual, multi-award winning African Utility Week will gather over 7000 decision makers from more than 80 countries to discuss the challenges, solutions and successes in the power, energy and water sectors on the continent. Along with multiple side events and numerous networking functions the event also boasts a seven track conference with over 300 expert speakers.

The African Utility Week expo offers an extensive technical workshop programme that is CPD accredited, free to attend, and offers hands-on presentations that take place in defined spaces on the exhibition floor. They discuss practical, day-to-day technical topics, best practices and product solutions that businesses, large power users and utilities can implement in their daily operations.

Industry support
African Utility Week has already secured important industry support including Eskom Rotek Industries, Hexing and Landis+Gyr as platinum sponsors and Aberdare, Africa Utility Solutions, SAP and Sensus as gold sponsors.

Dates for African Utility Week:
Conference and expo: 15-17 May 2018
Awards gala dinner:  16 May 2018
Site visits: 18 May 2018
Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa

Website: http://www.african-utility-week.com  & www.african-real-estate-summit.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfricaUtilities    #AUW2018  
Linkedin: African Utility Week

Contact:
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.