Matodzi Resources is once again our most empowered company in terms of ownership. The penny mining stock is one of the least-traded, least-known money companies around. It has little in the way of operating assets, and its only real asset is the Letseng diamond mine in Lesotho.
The was some low-level excitement in January when large diamonds, which the group estimates are worth R36m, were discovered.
Matodzi struggled to get the Letseng mine going because of a lack of funding. A cash injection from shareholder JCI and the Industrial Development Corp gave the mining company a lifeline. The group is also exploring opportunities in Anglola.
Matodzi is a small company, and it is more than 50%-owned by executive director Sello Rasethaba.
The other significant black shareholder is former Transnet MD Mafika Mkwanazi.
Whether the group would still be the most empowered by ownership under the new codes of good practice is unclear. The company has debt of R280m, which it owes to various parties, including R200m to JCI to repay preference shares issued to JCI.
Net profit was about R7m and the cash flow statement suggests Matodzi is not in a position that would allow its owners to repay its debt. The debt owed to JCI amounts to more than half of what the group is worth.
Afrox Healthcare and Kagiso Media are second and third respectively in terms of ownership.
Afrox Healthcare's equity is 75% black owned following a deal that involves Mvelaphanda Strategic Investments and Brimstone taking equal stakes in the group, with 10% being sold to management and staff.
The deal is one of the largest empowerment transactions and one of the few where black groups have taken a majority interest in a company. The other 25% will be held by Afrox's former holding company, African Oxygen.
Kagiso Media is one of the few JSE Securities Exchange-listed black companies that is truly owned by black shareholders. Kagiso Trust Investments (KTI), the investment arm of nongovernmental organisation Kagiso Trust, owns 45% of Kagiso Media.
Kagiso Trust is one of SA's most respected, nongovernmental development finance organisation. KTI's stake in Kagiso Media is completely unencumbered. The other major black shareholders are Videovision Entertainment, which owns 11% of Kagiso, and Tiso Capital Partners, which owns a further 12%. Videovision is the privately owned film and entertainment company led by Anant Singh. The relationship between the two parties goes back to 1996 when Kagiso Media and Videovision bid for SABC radio stations that were being privatised.
Tiso Capital Partners is a private equity division of the Tiso Group. The Tiso Group is an empowered investment company led by one of the founders of Kagiso Media, Fani Titi.
Tiso Group is a majority black-owned firm. Its principals are Titi, David Adomakoh and Nkululeko Sowazi. The three own 47% of Tiso, a foundation established by the group owns a further 20% and a staff trust owns a further 9%. The rest is held by Investec Bank, which provides seed capital to the group.
