Dumb Charlie - Black Businessman of the Year

The guy with the blue shirt and the pink tie (left) is someone calling himself Charles Modise who is embroiled int the SA Communist Party/Cosatu mystery of the missing R500 000.

He complains that he donated R500 000 to the SACP in 2002 but it never showed up in their coffers.

Modise laid criminal charges against SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande last week, alleging that Nzimande stole it.

Of course the mainstream media never troubled to ask Modise 1) why it took him 5 years to decide that the money never reached its destination or 2) why a "businessman" was making a contribution to an anti-capitalist organisation or 3) where Nzimande's receipt was or 4) how Modise came to be walking around with R500 000 cash.

Modise then said he had handed R500 000 "stashed in bags" to Cosatu President Willy Madisha to give to the the SACP.

Madisha was indignant at being dragged into the furore. "I have not opened a case against comrade Blade Nzimande," said Madisha piously. "But I am prepared to make a statement to the police."

Madisha then decided to finger Nzimande, and confirmed that he had received the money and did hand it to "the relevant person". The media failed to ask Madisha the whereabouts of the SACP receipt or the cancelled cheque.

It took Louis de Koker, the director of the Centre for the Study of Economic Crime at Wits, to figure out the obvious: "It's a peculiar way to make such a large donation. Such conduct raises questions about the attitude and the accounting systems of the giver and the receiver. It can be perfectly above board, but this is also a preferred methodology for those who wish to hide their tracks."

Modise is experienced at bribery and corruption. John Block, former Northern Cape Transport MEC, who resigned in shame in 2004 after an expose revealed that he blew taxpayers' money on jazz festivals, also awarded dodgy tenders worth more than R20 million to Sedipeng Construction, a company owned by Charles Modise.

The Scorpions also investigated Modise following allegations that he was a Malawian citizen with a South African ID book, which he obtained illegally. The Sunday Times established that Modise donated money to the African National Congress and even paid rent for the party's Upington office.

Modise's attorney, Lawley Shein, who specialises in defending people that everyone but the Court knows are criminals, said Modise had been in exile in Malawi and was known there by another name. "He is an SA citizen and his ID document is legal," declaimed Shein.

Shein admitted Modise donated R100 000 for an ANC dinner attended by Deputy President Jacob Zuma in th Northern Cape. "He also paid R10 000 in rent for the party's Upington office, like any businessman would do," said Shein.