Durban-born billionaire Martin Moshal has reportedly donated around R59.5 million to political parties between April 2021 and December 2023.
According to the Outlier and based on data from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Moshal has donated R35 million to the Democratic Alliance (DA).
He has donated R20.5 million to ActionSA and R4 million to Build One South Africa (BOSA)
WHO IS MOSHAL?
The Australian-based billionaire is known to be extremely media shy and, therefore, not much is known about the mega donor.
Moshal lives in Camp Cove, a bay on the southern side of Port Jackson, Sydney harbour in Australia.
Moshal is said to be a serial entrepreneur in the tech industry for more than 20 years.
He studied Business Science at the University of Cape Town. He holds an Honorary PhD from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. He is also an Honorary Fellow of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Moshal’s wealth is largely unknown, but according to an expose done by British Newspaper Daily Mail, he does own some, if not a large majority of gambling giant Betway.
The newspaper back in 2020 conducted an investigation into the offshore ownership of Betway’s structure.
The UK-based journalists traced Moshal’s ownership back to offshore trusts.
The report further noted that the owners of Betway are hidden behind shell companies in Guernsey, Malta and the British Virgin Islands.
On his foundation’s website, Moshal is described as an entrepreneur and co-founder of Entrée Capital.
Entrée Capital invests in various technology and business innovation companies across the globe.
The company manages around $1.25 billion across a number of funds and has offices in Tel Aviv, London, and New York.
While Moshal is based in Sydney, he at one point owned a seven-bedroom mansion in Hampstead in the UK. The home was estimated to be valued at around £7.8 million in 2020.
His political donations
In August Moshal spoke exclusively to the South African Jewish Report and gave some insight into his political donations.
Speaking on the state of South Africa, Moshal noted that, “so many people made the ultimate sacrifice to create a democratic South Africa for a better future for all. In the past few years, it should be clear to all that those sacrifices have been put at risk and could have been for nothing. What a tragedy that would be”.
He said that he wants to have a wider and deeper impact and that influences his political funding.
“The social returns of good governance and a growing economy are enormous. As individuals, there’s only so much we can achieve. A government has the ability to have an impact on the entire country for better or worse. That’s why investment in competent parties with integrity can have such an impact on the country as a whole,” he said.
“At this moment in history, it’s important to provide support to all centre-left and centre-right parties. I’m supporting the DA, ActionSA, and I intend to support Mmusi Maimane’s Build One South Africa as well as the Inkatha Freedom Party. If they come together or work in some way as a team, they could provide solid leadership and government of the country,” he said back in 2023.
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