By Santosh Beharie
The mere mention of Schabir Shaik and his Nkobi group conjures up images of unimaginable wealth and luxury.
Designer clothes, penthouse suites and flashy cars have become synonymous with the fraud-accused Durban businessman who founded his now world-famous group of companies in a coffee shop in 1995.
But, while Shaik and Nkobi Holdings raked in millions from government contracts, including the arms deal, the family of the late ANC stalwart, Thomas Titus Nkobi, has tried in vain, even resorting to litigation, to get Shaik to drop the name.
They are tired of the late ANC treasurer-general's good name being dragged through the mud, especially since the start of Shaik's corruption trial in the Durban High Court.
But, Shaik denies that he has tarnished the Nkobi legacy. His spin doctor, Dominic Ntsele, said Shaik had decided on the name out of a profound respect for Nkobi.
"The two of them became really close after meeting in the late 1980s, when working and travelling together on ANC business.
"They had a direct relationship and the late Tata Nkobi had a profound effect on Schabir's life. He was, indeed, Schabir's mentor," Ntsele said.
Even before the arms deal scandal became widely known, the Nkobi family had tried to stop Shaik using the name, which, they say, he had never obtained their consent to do.
In 2001, the Nkobis hired Johannesburg lawyer Ian Jordaan to pursue Shaik's alleged abuse of the family name.
But letters threatening litigation failed to scare Shaik into submission, forcing Jordaan and the distraught family to approach President Thabo Mbeki.
But that, too, brought them little success and Nkobi's wife, Winnifred, finally instructed Jordaan to close the case about two years ago.
"She told me that she did not want to be involved with the case in any way because it was adversely affecting her health," said Jordaan.
At the time, Jordaan had been told that Shaik had neither obtained the consent of the family nor Nkobi to use his name.
Several calls to Winnifred's cellphone and home went unanswered this week.
She had apparently instructed Jordaan to comment on her behalf, but by Friday he, too, said he could not get in touch with her.
Meanwhile, a Nkobi Holdings brochure proudly proclaims that the company was named in tribute to the late Nkobi, treasurer-general of the ANC for 27 years, until his death.
"Few people know that when tata TG (as Nkobi was affectionately known in the ANC) fell ill he moved to Durban to live with Schabir's family. The two had a strong personal connection," said Ntsele.
With the unbanning of the ANC in 1990, Shaik moved to its Johannesburg headquarters, Shell House, to work under Nkobi, the ANC's national treasurer-general.
A year after Comrade TG, died of a stroke in September 1994, Shaik had no doubt about the name of the company he had decided to start.
Nkobi Holdings is today involved in projects to the value of about R8,1-billion.
Its subsidiaries are in various sectors, including automotive asset management, professional services, privatisation infrastructure, defence, leisure, property developments and telecommunications.
Ntsele said it was Nkobi who once asked Shaik if he would rather become a politician, or a businessman. Shaik chose the latter.
"And it was on Tata TG's insistence to start a highly technical business, that created jobs and helped rebuild the country, that Schabir started Nkobi Holdings."
Ntsele said it hurt Shaik when people accused him of dragging Nkobi's name through the mud.
"In fact, there were many unsung struggle heroes, like TG. Schabir believed the only way his name would be remembered was through naming his company after him."
A senior leader of the organisation and a key figure in the liberation struggle, Nkobi was born in southern Matabeleland (later part of Zimbabwe) on October 22, 1922.
He grew up and was educated in South Africa, where his father worked on the mines as a migrant labourer.
He studied at Adam's College near Amanzimtoti with the likes of Zimbabwean politicians Joshua Nkomo and Bernard Chidzero and, after high school, he did a B Com degree at Roma College in Lesotho.
He formally joined the ANC in the 1950s.
Nkobi played a leading role in the 1952 Defiance Campaign. He was one of the volunteers who travelled from village to village, collecting demands that were incorporated in the Freedom Charter.
He was part of the 1955 Kliptown Congress that drew up the charter.
Nkobi shot to prominence in 1957 when he chaired the Second Alexandra People's Transport Committee, which was co-ordinating a bus boycott.
In the same year, he was arrested for participating in the potato boycott, which was organised to highlight the plight of black prisoners. In 1958, he became the national organiser of the ANC.
During the 1960s, Nkobi was among thousands of political activists who were detained. After his release, he continued working for the ANC as national organiser. He was banned in 1961 and his orders were extended to 24-hour house arrest the following year.
In 1963, Nkobi was instructed to leave South Africa for exile, where he was active in mobilising international public opinion against the apartheid regime.
From 1968 to 1973 he served as deputy to then treasurer-general of the ANC, Moses Kotane. Nkobi was elected to the post in 1973, a position which he held until his death.
He played a vital role in mobilising the resources that made possible the ANC's resounding victory in the April 1994 elections. In those elections, he was elected to parliament.
So whatever the reason for Shaik's choice of the Nkobi name, may his soul rest in peace.
- Additional information from the official ANC website.