Empowerment company SAB Zenzele Kabili’s annual general meeting (AGM) held this week failed to spark much interest despite some shareholders expressing unhappiness about the BEE vehicle.
Only 56% of the company’s shares were cast in votes for seven ordinary resolutions and one special resolution. This level of participation compared poorly with most other JSE-listed companies that have held their AGMs far.
Anglo American Platinum’s AGM had the highest level of participation, and shareholders voted 95% of the shares in issue at its AGM held on May 11. However, the AGM of Trencor only saw 52% of the company’s shares voted at the meeting on May 8.
Sunday World attended the SAB Zenzele Kabili AGM, the BEE group’s second AGM since its launch and listing on the JSE in May 2021, to observe proceedings following complaints from shareholders. However, during that AGM, the newspaper was surprised to see that the
maximum number of participants that joined the event was 19, despite SAB Zenzele Kabili having numerous shareholders.
SAB Zenzele Kabili’s sole asset account for 5.1-million AB InBev shares.
In addition, the AGM faced no questions from its shareholders this week. However, after the meeting, two SAB Zenzele Kabili shareholders told Sunday World they attended the AGM, which was held virtually.
However, they could not table their questions, which they found concerning.
A SAB Zenzele Kabili shareholder, who owns a tavern in Nigel in Gauteng, claimed to own about 900 SAB Zenzele Kabili shares. He attended the virtual AGM this week. “We are many, yet how could we not want to ask questions? Unfortunately, the AGM was a fruitless exercise,” the shareholder said.
A second SAB Zenzele Kabili shareholder, who owns a shebeen in Vosloorus, Gauteng, claims to own 575 SAB Zenzele Kabili shares. She said she had a bad experience at the AGM.
“I could not participate, and it’s not that I did not know what to do. On the contrary, I believe I am tech savvy as I attend meetings and training on MS Teams and Zoom,” the second shareholder told Sunday World.
This shareholder wanted to know why SAB Zenzele Kabili is not paying out dividends twice a year as promised.
SAB Zenzele Kabili chairman Moss Ngoasheng said during the AGM all shareholders should have received a link to the AGM voting platform to their phone number or email address. However, a SAB Zenzele Kabili shareholder with about 900 shares told Sunday World she had not received such a link.
A SAB Zenzele Kabili official confirmed AGM quorated.
Another SAB Zenzele Kabili official noted that SAB Zenzele Kabili’s expenses were higher in the BEE vehicle’s 2022 financial year than its 2021 financial year because SAB Zenzele Kabili was only operational for about seven months in 2021 but operated for the entire year in 2022.
SAB Zenzele Kabili shares this week fell to an all-time low of R34. Over the past year, the share price has fallen by 35% from above R52 in May 2022.
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