Gangster State

But I was handed an explosive set of documents that seem to explain
why VNA might have needed to charge an apparently inflated fee.
These papers also support my sources’ claims about Zuma’s ‘thank-
you fee’ from VNA. A closed corporation called Premier Attraction
1016 received R 2 million from Narsai’s VNA in the 2015 / 16 financial
year, according to its financial records. Premier Attraction had invoiced
VNA for ‘consulting services’ in June 2015 , and Narsai’s company
paid the R 2 -million fee at some point before the financial year ended in
March 2016 , right in the middle of the Vrede housing project.
According to the invoice, Premier Attraction had done work for VNA
relating to a ‘Mpumalanga development’. In November 2018 , I asked
Narsai whether VNA had done any work in Mpumalanga. At the time,
I did not mention the invoice from Premier Attraction. Narsai said
VNA had only worked as a ‘sub-consultant’ in Mpumalanga between
2003 and 2005. He would later tell me a different story.
The man behind Premier Attraction is Thalente Myeni, the son of
staunch Zuma ally Dudu Myeni. Thalente Myeni and a band of
politically connected businessmen were shareholders in a consortium
that won a huge contract worth R 51 billion to supply new commuter
carriages to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).
Dimadox, the company Myeni used for his stake in the PRASA deal,
was supposedly located at Zuma’s house in Forest Town,
Johannesburg, according to the company’s registration records. In
2005 , the Scorpions raided this property during their probe into
Zuma’s involvement in the Arms Deal.^35
There have long been rumours that Zuma and Myeni’s mother were in
a romantic relationship. Both have denied this.^36 But the documents
detailing Thalente Myeni’s financial affairs suggest there is a close link