Zimpapers Logo

JOHANNESBURG. – Sibanye-Stillwater has defended its chief executive’ s massive pay-out amid wage disputes at the company’s gold operations.

According to the company’s books, CEO Neal Froneman walked away with R300 million in his pocket in the 2021 financial year.

This includes a basic salary of R12,4 million in 2021, a R7.8 million bonus, and a R264 million pay-out from conditional share proceeds.

This while talks between Sibanye and its employees have been deadlocked since March, with unions calling for a R1100 wage increase. The company is not willing to negotiate beyond R850.

The mining giant has since been the subject of public scrutiny as it enters the seventh week of the strike.

“The bulk of the additional remuneration was linked to share price appreciation. We, as management, are incentivised on a variable basis through shares that are awarded periodically and ten if certain profitability and other measures are met,” said Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted.

“Over the period in 2018 to 2021, our share price went up from R11.44 to R72, so effectively 560 percent and that means our market cap grew from R13 billion to R180 billion and that significant value that has been created has accrued to shareholders through our expansion and growth,” Wellsted explained.

Wellsted said  the pay-out to Froneman was once-off.

“It’s highly unlikely that we’ll repeat this 560 percent share price appreciation again in the short-term and as result, this is not fixed in our cost base.

“We have offered similar profit-sharing arrangements to the unions in previous rounds of negotiations but these have been rejected out of hand by the unions. It is short-sighted, our employees could have benefited more.” – Jacarandafm.com