Nelson Mandela

• Together with a small group of foreign policy analysts, I worked with Aziz over the span of 30 years, shaping the post-apartheid South African government’s approach to international relations and its foreign policy.
• We spent countless hours debating foreign affairs and the numerous crises and challenges government had to face as a relative “newcomer” in continental African and global affairs.
• Sadly, towards the end of his career as a diplomat he witnessed the slow decline of South Africa’s stature and influence in global affairs.

The Mandela and Mbeki years

• Under presidents Nelson Mandela (1994-1999) and Thabo Mbeki (1999-2008), South African diplomats who’d sharpened their skills during many years of exile became sought-after as facilitators and mediators.
• Under their guidance Africa converted the Organisation of African Unity into the African Union, and reset relations with the international community via the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
• Neither could it withstand the grand corruption which reached its apogee in South Africa under former president Jacob Zuma (May 2009 - February 2018).

Preparatory years

• The congress became involved in the broader anti-apartheid struggle in later years.
• In 1963, Aziz completed a degree in sociology and Afrikaans at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
• It eventually shaped government’s more formal foreign policy of 2011, entitled Building a Better World: The Diplomacy of Ubuntu.
• It lives on as the Institute of Global Dialogue, based at the University of South Africa.

Role in government

• From there, he was appointed by President Mandela as deputy minister of foreign affairs.
• This enabled him to play an unassuming but key mediating and facilitation role dealing with major crises on the continent and beyond.
• Aziz resigned from government and parliament in 2008, shortly after Mbeki was removed as president of the ANC in 2007.

The ‘diplomat-scholar’

• He played a prominent role, with his brother Essop, in a small but influential think-tank, the Concerned Africans Forum.
• In 2015 he headed the short-lived South African Council on International Relations.
• The council was established by the government as a body of experts and a sounding board for senior decision-makers.

• Naspers Limited ("Naspers") (JSE: NPN): Shareholders are referred to article published on 31 October 2022 by Asian Tech Press.
• The article claims that a CITIC-lead group (a Chinese stated-owned investment company) is in talks with Naspers to buy all the Tencent shares owned by the Group.
• Established in 1915, Naspers has transformed itself to become a global consumer internet company and one of the largest technology investors in the world.
• Naspers is focused on stimulating South Africas local tech sector through Naspers Foundry .

• Naspers Limited ("Naspers") (JSE: NPN): On 31 August 2021, Naspers announced that an agreement had been reached between PayU Payments Private Limited (PayU), a subsidiary of Prosus N.V. (Prosus), and the shareholders of the Indian digital payments provider BillDesk to acquire BillDesk for US$4.7 billion.
• Closing of the transaction was subject to the fulfilment of various conditions precedent, including approval by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
• Naspers, through its subsidiary Prosus, has been a long-term investor and operator in India - investing close to US$6 billion in Indian technology companies since 2005.
• Established in 1915, Naspers has transformed itself to become a global consumer internet company and one of the largest technology investors in the world.

• Following the transaction, Prosus and its affiliate company, Movile (a Brazilian investor in technology companies) will fully own iFood.
• iFood has performed exceptionally well since Prosus first invested in the business through Movile, founded by Fabricio Bloisi, in 2013.
• We first invested in iFood nearly a decade ago and during this time Fabricio and team have built a world-class food delivery business.
• Increasing our stake to full ownership is a demonstration of our committed and disciplined approach to investment and reflects our confidence in the long-term potential of iFood.