This week’s drama around disgraced ANC spin doctor Carl Niehaus has exposed elements of an ambitious plan to boost ANC president Jacob Zuma within the party and in public.

Niehaus’s ill-fated appointment last November -- in the face of internal opposition at Luthuli House -- appears to stem from an attempt to create a “machinery” to serve Zuma in the face of his arms deal travails.

While the ANC has continued publicly to back Zuma as its presidential candidate, there have been internal debates about his fitness as a candidate.

The Mail & Guardian has established that a further prong of the Zuma plan involved the intended appointment of Timothy Bell, a United Kingdom peer regarded as one of the fathers of modern spin. Bell helped put Margaret Thatcher in power and keep her there and more recently helped sweep Britain’s most protracted arms scandal under the carpet.

Bell appears not to have signed on yet, and reports whether negotiations continue are contradictory.

Key architects of the plan to boost Zuma include Lindiwe Sisulu, a member of the national executive committee (NEC) subcommittee set up to support him with his legal troubles, and Julie Mohammed, Zuma’s private lawyer and friend.

Following the M&G’s exposé of Niehaus’s trail of debt and fraud last week, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe initially said the party would “stand by him and assist him during this difficult period” -- but that he would be redeployed from the position of party spokesperson.

But by Tuesday, following a torrent of further revelations, the party decided to discipline him and he stepped down.

When Niehaus was appointed last November, some of his troubles with debtors -- and potentially with the law -- were well known in the ANC.

But internal opposition appears to have been quelled by the impression that his appointment had come from on high.

A businessperson privy to discussions told the M&G: “Shortly after [Niehaus] was appointed, an informal meeting was held where a number of NEC and one or two national working committee members were present.

“The people at this meeting expressed their profound disappointment with Niehaus’s appointment ... We all knew what happened at Geda [the Gauteng Economic Development Agency, where Niehaus admitted to fraud].

“It has always been understood that Niehaus was appointed by Mantashe without proper consultation and a lot of senior people did not support the appointment ...

“It’s also understood by the ANC leadership that Mantashe appointed Niehaus on the request of and with the blessing of [Zuma] himself.”

A Luthuli House source said Mohammed, Zuma’s lawyer, had motivated Niehaus’s appointment.

And a strategist with access to Luthuli House said Zuma’s backers -- Mohammed key among them -- moved to set up “a strong machinery around the presidency in Luthuli House”.

This led to unhappiness as it seemed to create a second centre of power -- one of the problems the new leadership had with former president Thabo Mbeki’s management style.

Niehaus’s brief at the ANC specifically included communication on Zuma’s legal troubles. He travelled to court appearances with Zuma, gave background briefings to foreign business people and journalists and wrote opinion articles on the matter.

He also liaised with former judge Willem Heath, who the M&G revealed last year was part of a “brains trust” set up to support Zuma. Heath remains involved in the effort.

The big gun, however, was to be Bell, who has advised leaders from Thatcher, Boris Yeltsin and Chile’s Augusto Pinochet to FW de Klerk’s National Party in the 1994 elections and the post-invasion Iraqi government.

Other Bell clients, whether through his Chime Communications or indirectly through one of the companies in its subsidiary, the Bell Pottinger group, include members of the Saudi Arabian government and British arms giant BAE Systems.

The latter positioned Bell uniquely to defuse the UK equivalent of South Africa’s arms deal scandal. He is widely credited with the spin that allowed former prime minister Tony Blair to force the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to drop investigations into BAE’s alleged bribery of Saudi royalty.

Bell reportedly spun the story that the Saudis would drop a new fighter aircraft order, threatening 100 000 British jobs, while Blair’s government argued the Saudis would stop cooperating in the war on terror if the investigation went ahead.

Such arguments may reverberate with Zuma’s backers, more so now that the ANC has formally joined Zuma’s legal efforts to have the charges against him dropped or permanently stayed.

Heath argued in Business Day last week that the National Prosecuting Authority should take the public interest into account, saying: “[A trial after the elections] would not only destabilise the ANC, but more pertinently, severely prejudice the ability of the nation to function, to allow the state to serve the interests of the populace.”

Another of Bell’s attractions is that while the SFO has dropped the investigation into the Saudi leg of BAE’s alleged bribery, it is still probing BAE payments in relation to the South African arms deal.

Being retained by Zuma to help solve his arms deal troubles -- and sell this to the public -- could open space for a more comprehensive “solution” to the entire arms deal scandal.

ANC spokesperson Jesse Duarte confirmed this week that Bell made a presentation to the ANC in December. A decision was taken not to retain him: “We said no as the ANC -- we didn’t want that.”

The source with access to Luthuli House said the initiative floundered because of Bell’s high price tag and his conservative background.

Duarte said she did not know whether there had been any parallel effort, on behalf of Zuma, but outside of party structures, to retain Bell.

However, a source close to Zuma told the M&G there was a distinction between Bell’s presentation on election matters and what he called the “Sisulu initiative” focusing on issues around Zuma’s trial.

Speaking from London, Sisulu confirmed meeting Bell, but denied ongoing contact. “We did, at some stage, think it necessary to get somebody to speak about the broader implications of the legal matters concerning JZ.

“We thought it’s necessary to employ somebody because we were not convinced that his case is sufficiently explained.”

Bell commented: “The fact is we don’t have a contract and we haven’t had a contract.”

Asked about negotiations towards a contract, he said: “I’m not prepared to comment on any confidential business discussions I’ve had with anybody.”

A source with indirect access to Bell told the M&G that Bell expected to start working in South Africa soon.

What the rest said

The M&G’s exposé of Carl Niehaus last week led to an outpouring of further revelations in other media organisations. Among the follow-up reports this week were:

• The Sunday Times reported that Niehaus was facing eviction from his R45 000 a month Midrand home because he allegedly owes his landlord more than R300 000. The paper published SMSs allegedly sent from Niehaus to landlord Eric Corbishley, in which he blamed the ANC’s “serious organisation challenges” for payment delays.
• The Sunday Independent reported that Niehaus had returned from his post as ambassador to The Netherlands claiming that he had bone marrow cancer. He said his cancer had been caught early and was cured.
• The Sunday World revealed that Niehaus had spent a night in jail last year after being arrested for failing to settle a R70 000 bill for a holiday at Sun City. He later settled the bill.
• The Star reported that Niehaus owes Legacy All Suites Management, which runs the luxurious Michelangelo Towers, R230 000 for unpaid rent.
• Beeld reported on Tuesday that Niehaus does not have a doctorate in theology from the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands. He claimed to have earned the degree while serving as South Africa’s ambassador in Den Haag.
• The Star reported on Tuesday that six years ago Niehaus allegedly convinced the owner of an East London travel agency to pay up front for a R100 000 holiday for himself and his family to Mauritius -- and then never paid her back. “He got a free holiday and I lost my Christmas bonus,” Let’s Travel owner Cheryl Clur told paper.
• The Times on Wednesday reported that top Johannesburg advertising firm Mortimer-Harvey claims it is still out of pocket for more than R1,5-million after Niehaus failed to pay them for work done in 2006 for the Children United Foundation South Africa. Niehaus was the foundations’s chief executive at the time. Over a third of the money was a personal loan to Niehaus.
• The Times revealed on Thursday that Niehaus’ creditors are claiming R4,5-million, this includes R2-million allegedly owed to Standard Bank for a bond on a Sandton house.
• The Times also reported on Thursday that Niehaus signed an acknowledgement of debt form agreeing to sell his apartment at Michelangelo Towers to pay the money owed to Mortimer-Harvey. However, he apparently did not own the apartment.

With acknowledgements to Stefaans Brümmer, Pearlie Joubert, Sam Sole, Nic Dawes and Mail and Guardian.