News24.com | STOCK TAKE | PIC must make a call on RBPlat - and where is Herr Jooste?

OPINION

PIC needs to make a call

Will the pick be to stick?

It is fast approaching 18 months since Impala Platinum first announced a deal to acquire Royal Bafokeng Platinum – a venture that is expected to unlock enormous value in the platinum belt.

Since late 2021, the deal has had countless twists and turns – most of them involving Northam Platinum, which also had designs on acquiring a controlling share of RBPlat.

That is, up until early April, when Northam pulled the plug on an offer to shareholders, citing weak metal prices as a killer for what it had previously sold to the market as a long-term play. (Platinum group metal prices have since surged upward, but that's a story for another day.)

With a potential Northam offer off the table, all Implats now needs is for the final shareholder of significance – the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) – to finally decide if it will sell any, or all, of its 10% stake in RBPlats to the sole bidder.

Having swept up a string of shares this month, Implats is now little more than 5% away from acquiring its long-desired controlling share in RBPlat.

While the drawn-out nature of the transaction up to this point is not necessarily its fault, it should certainly be the PIC's concern.

Implats has also indicated it is running out of patience and would have to walk away from the deal if it is ultimately unable to acquire control.

The PIC – which manages R2.5 trillion in assets, mainly on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund – has held its cards close to its chest but has emphasised its support for "any" transaction that can demonstrate benefits for its clients, their beneficiaries and affected communities.

Already there is value is being destroyed on the ground at RBPlat as it remains strategically paralysed and struggles to retain its best employees amid the prolonged takeover process.

There is general consensus that the deal offers compelling strategic, operational and financial benefits for all stakeholders. It presents an opportunity to create a sizeable and sustainable production base on SA's platinum belt, unlocking value by combining Impala Rustenburg and RBPlat's operations, which already partly overlap each other.

It will also deliver tangible socioeconomic benefits for the region and its communities, including employment security and sustained benefits for the various industries and stakeholders supported by the mining activities in the region.

Implats is almost at the finish line, but that doesn’t mean success is certain. It is high time for the PIC to make a move.

Where is Herr Jooste?

Falling through the cracks

For months Steinhoff watchers have debated whether the group's former CEO, Markus Jooste, would hop on a Lufthansa flight and make his way to the town of Oldenburg to place himself before a German court.

Jooste has been charged with accounting fraud in Germany in a case dating back to 2015, a full two years before the Steinhoff scandal erupted in South Africa.

But on Tuesday, his seat remained empty.

Just three hours into what was supposed to be a months-long trial, the court adjourned. It's unclear when it will restart. 

The Steinhoff case has always been more important to South Africa than it is to Germany. 

Before its stunning share price collapse, Steinhoff was one of the biggest companies in the JSE. Its shares were a staple in the pension funds of many, including civil servants. In Germany, by contrast, the company was only listed in 2015 and never carried the weight it did in South Africa.

Still, many South Africans hoped that German court could succeed where local authorities have so far failed and hold someone responsible for the debacle.  

What tripped the whole process up? The seemingly mundane question of Jooste's passport.

As his fast-talking German lawyer Bernd Groß explained, Jooste had wanted to attend but feared being arrested at the border. He couldn't risk leaving without a promise from the South African authorities that he wouldn't be nabbed when he tried to pass passport control.

No, Jooste's passport hadn't been confiscated by authorities, said Groß. Yes, it was with his attorneys, but, you see, he can't use it.

Back in 2017, Jooste had arranged with South African authorities to not travel overseas, said Groß.

In any case, he said the South African investigations into Jooste's role at Steinhoff were far larger and more complex than the German case. And there may be some movement there soon.

The explanation didn't do much to convince chief prosecutor Frank Lohmann. He saw no sign of "serious efforts" by the defence to get the main accused to court. He applied for an arrest warrant, but this has not yet been issued.

But without the main accused, the trial couldn't proceed.

It seems that Jooste's co-accused, George Alan Evans, was little more than an afterthought.

The case against him was withdrawn in return for a 30 000 euro fine. Evans soon left the court, perhaps to head back to Jersey in the Channel Isles.

As the German media mulled around outside the court after proceedings ended, wondering what to do, some were eager to hear more about Jooste's case in South Africa.

They were surprised to learn that he is not facing any charges yet.

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STOCK TAKE | The low Bain threshold - and food prices are out of control

STOCK TAKE | Crypto rises, but for how long, and eye-catching moves at Transaction

STOCK TAKE | Facebook gets leaner, and meaner

STOCK TAKE | Brian Molefe, amateur advocate

STOCK TAKE | A future you don't want to subscribe to

STOCK TAKE | The ANC's Barbra Streisand moment?

STOCK TAKE | Did MPs read the rail White Paper Cabinet adopted, and can Eskom offer some good stats?

STOCK TAKE | Struggling sugar industry eyes Godongwana nervously and Telkom seems to get speedier

STOCK TAKE | The Magda U-turn - and SA's great credit rush

STOCK TAKE | The cost of cybercrime and the state of the captured nation

STOCK TAKE | Eskom's tough lessons for a zombie apocalypse

STOCK TAKE | Spar's flawed thinking

STOCK TAKE | Nampak is boxed in a corner

STOCK TAKE | Steinhoff's unsettling future for shareholders, and Telkom loses its suitors

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