JOHANNESBURG Dec 14 (Reuters) – South African miner
Exxaro said on Wednesday that thousands of its
lower-level employees were expected to benefit from a 1 billion
rand ($120 million) payout this month following the maturity of
its “empowerment” plan.
To right the wrongs of apartheid and give blacks a bigger
stake in the economy, South Africa requires companies including
miners to meet quotas on black ownership, employment and
procurement. In the local political and commercial jargon this
is known as “empowerment”.
The diversified miner set up an empowerment participation
scheme for its employees up to lower management level in 2006 to
widen the ownership base.
Critics say such deals often only enrich a politically
connected elite, sparking a push by unions and the government
for more “broad-based” schemes that benefit the rank and file.
Exxaro, which was itself formed as part of an empowerment
transaction, said the scheme had 9,694 beneficiaries and held
about 3 percent of its shares. The shares were sold on Dec. 8
after reaching maturity, generating about 1 billion rand.
The company said the amount each beneficiary would get would
depend on length of membership in the scheme; someone with five
years’ membership could expect about 135,000 rand before tax.
The company will launch a new share scheme next year, and
Chief Executive Officer Sipho Nkosi said the format of the new
plan would be announced later as negotiations with various
stakeholders were still ongoing.
South Africa’s Kumba Iron Ore recently also
announced a similar but bigger payout to its employees.
($1 = 8.2823 South African rand)
(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda, editing by Ed Stoddard and Will
Waterman)
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