Controversial 25-year-old “billionaire” Mandla Lamba has launched a scathing attack on journalists, labelling them “liars” who know nothing.
In an interview on radio station SAFM yesterday, Lamba said he was furious with several journalists who had tried to discredit him by exposing him as a fake billionaire wanted by the police for theft and culpable homicide.
“I never once said I was a billionaire, however I am not denying it either. The media misquote me and write lies about me, it really pisses me off,” said Lamba. “I am not aware of any warrants of arrest, so whoever is claiming that must phone my lawyer.”
Lamba, who is chairman of East American Resources, also lashed out at a Sunday newspaper journalist, calling him a “crawling cockroach”, after the newspaper reported that besides the criminal charges Lamba faced, his business deals were bogus, his qualifications were suspect and his life story was nothing but a web of lies.
“That man is talking such rubbish. Why does this journalist have to go sniffing in my business,” asked Lamba. “Do you know he phoned my business partners and told them I was a crook and rubbished me and my name?”
Lamba also threatened the journalist. “I will teach him a lesson he will never forget and he will always remember the name Mandla Lamba. He will be sorry for what he has written about me.”
Over the past year, Lamba has been feted as a young rising tycoon. He claims to own diamond, manganese and gold mines in South Africa, Zambia and Congo-Brazzaville. He drives flashy sports convertibles, reportedly spends R50 000 a night at Joburg’s trendiest night spots, employs three bodyguards and boasts he “lives lavishly, very corporately”.
“I did not come on air to talk about myself, but I am worried about the future of aspiring black businessmen,” he said. “As soon as a young black businessman succeeds they get attacked. I went overseas and studied and then when I got back I got attacked.”
Last week, City Press revealed Lamba had never obtained a doctorate in business administration from Unisa, as his profile on a business networking site claims. “I actually studied at the University of Liverpool, where I got my PHD in business philosophy, and I am qualified,” claimed Lamba.
The 25-year-old also claimed to the newspaper that business magnate and ANC heavyweight Cyril Ramaphosa and his wife, Dr Tshepo Motsepe, were his “mentors, counsellors and parental guiders”.
The Ramaphosas, however, are outraged by Lamba’s claims. Yesterday, Cyril Rampahosa phoned the radio show to unequivocally deny any contact with the self-proclaimed tycoon. “We’re not mentoring him, we’re not his friends, my wife and I do not know him,” Ramaphosa said. “If we mentored him we wouldn’t deny it, we would embrace him.”
When questioned about claims of fraud, Lamba denied it outright on air, saying his former allies were involved in a plot to discredit him.
When as,ed about the purchase of a 51 percent stake in Moussondji Gold in Congo-Brazzaville from Canadian mining giant Mexivada, Lamba said he did not want to talk about business deals. Mexivada spokesperson Michael Stetzel told City Press there had been an initial deal, however they investigated when no money was forthcoming and discovered Lamba was a “fraud”. The deal was then cancelled. - Saturday Star