A bizarre link has been uncovered between SA businessman Iqbal Survé’s Sekunjalo Development Foundation and the organisation which is at the centre of the largest and most controversial corruption scandal to hit the European Union. 

The link, which Survé claims to be entirely innocent, exists because an EU document records that the Sekunjalo Development Foundation was at one point the largest donor to a European Union lobbying organisation called Fight Impunity.

The organisation’s full title is Association Against Impunity and for Transitional Justice, and it has been at the centre of the alleged financial scandal in which police have seized €1.5-million in cash in at least 20 raids on homes, offices and hotel rooms across Belgium, France and Italy.

The press across Europe have been reporting at length on the scandal, which allegedly involves an attempt by Qatar to improve its relationship with Europe and defray criticism during and after the Fifa World Cup. 

Fight Impunity was founded by Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former member of the European Parliament, notionally to promote the cause of human rights and to bring violators to justice. Panzeri and a Fight Impunity and parliamentary staffer, Francesco Giorgi, are both now in custody.

So is Giorgi’s Greek MEP girlfriend, Eva Kaili, who is by far the most prominent of the people arrested so far. Kaili was one of the 14 vice presidents of the EU Parliament and has served for almost a decade.

To say these events have been dramatic would be a huge understatement: Kaili was arrested by Belgian Federal Police on 9 December following an investigation into organised crime, corruption and money laundering tied to lobbying efforts in support of Qatar. A suitcase of cash was found with her father upon his arrest, and bags of cash were found at her home. About €600,000 was recovered by the police.

Kaili has been expelled by her party, Pasok, and removed as an EU vice president. Much has been made of a speech she made at the European Parliament, praising Qatar’s human rights record and criticising accusations of corruption made against the country.

The organisation Fight Impunity was started in 2019 and it so happened that in September 2020, the secretary-general of the European Commission asked the EU Parliament’s ethics committee to deliver an opinion on former EU commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos’ envisaged involvement in the organisation.

Avramopoulos, a former Greek foreign minister, defence minister and mayor of Athens, was obviously a huge catch for Fight Impunity. He resigned from the organisation as soon as the scandal broke.

The record of the lengthy inquiry, which is available here, discusses a range of issues about Fight Impunity and its aims. When asked about the funding of the association, Avramopoulos said the sources of funding were “mostly donations”.

“As of today, the most important donor is the Sekunjalo Development Foundation,” he told the commission.

‘Most important donor’

Approached for comment, Survé said in a written response that he was approached by a representative of the organisation after he participated in a discussion to do with anti-trafficking measures and refugees at the World Economic Forum in Davos. (See sidebar below)

“The ensuing conversations resulted in Fight Impunity formally approaching the Sekunjalo Development Foundation (SDF) for donation during 2020. A sum of R4.5-million was duly donated to Fight Impunity between July to September of 2020. 

“SDF cannot comment on whether it was the largest donor to Fight Impunity since it is not privy to this information from the NGO. It can confirm though that these are the only funds that the SDF has provided and to what the SDF believes to be a credible and legitimate organisation involved in combatting human trafficking, stopping the abuse of detainees and prisoners, as well as restoring peace and justice”.

He said the SDF would disassociate itself from any wrongdoing by any organisation but reserves the right to “conduct its own investigation” to ensure that the funds donated to Fight Impunity have been used for the cause they were intended — the support of human rights interventions, particularly those in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations

The link between the SDF and Fight Impunity was discovered by an Israeli group, NGO Monitor, which was investigating non-government organisations, principally out of a concern that influence-peddling groups within the EU are modelling themselves as human rights organisations. 

Gerald Steinberg, the president of NGO Monitor, said that the EU’s “Qatargate” corruption scandal was enabled by an NGO operating under the facade of human rights.

“The fact that Sekunjalo was mentioned as a funder of the NGO involved should have raised significant concerns within the EU.

“We do not yet know details of the connection between Qatar, Sekunjalo, and the European officials. A very detailed and fully transparent investigation is necessary. Any attempt to bury the evidence will damage the credibility of all the parties”. DM

Iqbal Survé’s full statement

The Sekunjalo Development Foundation (SDF) and associated philanthropic organisations and foundations (the foundations), are globally recognised philanthropic trusts that have funded several different international initiatives related to anti-human trafficking, human rights issues and peace and justice projects over the past 20 years or more. Additionally, these foundations also support initiatives that combat climate change, enhance education as well as arts and culture.

To date, the foundations have had a combined positive global impact on more than 100 million people across Europe, USA, Asia, and Africa, with funding and donations of more than $100-million.

The foundations, although headquartered in South Africa, have also funded Swedish-based organisations such as the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child, with Dr Survé, along with Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Mr Ahmed Kathrada, being made honorary friends and who have received awards for example, for their philanthropic work in and around anti-trafficking programmes of children and women.

Several other international organisations have also received support and continue to do so, especially those related to climate change and the environment.

Fight Impunity

In respect of the NGO “Association Against Impunity and for Transitional Justice” (Fight Impunity), Dr Survé was approached by a representative of the organisation after he participated in a discussion to do with anti-trafficking measures and refugees at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The ensuing conversations resulted in Fight Impunity formally approaching the Sekunjalo Development Foundation (SDF) for a donation during 2020. A sum of R4.5-million was duly donated to Fight Impunity between July to September of 2020. 

SDF cannot comment on whether it was the largest donor to Fight Impunity since it is not privy to this information from the NGO. It can confirm though that these are the only funds that the SDF has provided and to what the SDF believes to be a credible and legitimate organisation involved in combatting human trafficking, stopping the abuse of detainees and prisoners, as well as restoring peace and justice.

It is not unusual for the foundations to provide donations to organisations outside of Africa, since the foundations are global entities and donate to several different causes all over the world as we have noted above.

The foundations do, though, wish to make the following abundantly clear; that they will disassociate themselves from any wrongdoing by any organisation that undermines the good work being done by legitimate organisations to combat the issues the foundations support.

However, the foundation (SDF) reserves its rights to conduct its own investigation to ensure that the funds donated to Fight Impunity have been used for the cause they were intended — the support of human rights interventions, particularly those in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. DM