The symbolism was inescapable. Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of Anglo American Corporation, a company that stood for white capitalist exploitation of black South Africans for many years, was flanked on the panel entirely by black men and women.
In the past the entire panel would have comprised white men. But the new-look Anglo was very much on display at the announcement last week of one of two of the biggest black economic empowerment (BEE) deals in South African mining — and a real advance for black ownership of platinum reserves.
It is a deal that has all the politically desirable elements of beneÂÂfiting women, employees and the communities where the mines are based.
Stripped down to its bare essentials, Anglo Platinum is selling — at a substantial discount of 30% — R7,6-billion-worth of mining assets to two black-controlled mining companies. At a stroke it is creating two fairly large, independent BEE operational platinum mining companies with assets in the ground and cash flow from existing operations.
They are Anooraq Resources, an exploration company with ambitions of becoming a platinum group metals producer, and the better-known Mvela Resources, a mining exploration and investment holding company.
Carroll reminded those present of Anglo’s role in empowerment. She could boast that Anglo has led R50-billion-worth of BEE deals to date.
In one sense — dating from the creation of Real Africa Investment Holdings in 1993 through the sale of a stake by Anglo-controlled Southern Life of a 51% stake in African Life to Don Ncube’s Real Africa Holdings to this week’s multibillion-rand transaction — the history of BEE is in part the history of Anglo’s restructuring.
In 1996, in what was then the biggest BEE deal yet, Anglo sold JCI Gold and Johnnic to two BEE consortiums.
To do this the historic mining house Johannesburg Consolidated Investments had to be unbundled by Anglo into three entities: Anglo Platinum, JCI Gold and Johnnic. The criticism then was that Anglo held on to Anglo Platinum while selling the other two companies, which housed the gold and industrial assets.
Now Anglo Platinum, to have its mining rights converted into mining licences, has framed a transaction that will add to diversity in platinum mining, as well as transfer ownership of assets to a multitude of black people.
To see why this is easier than arranging to sell 26% of Anglo Platinum, which is the ownership target in the Mining Charter, consider the Employee Share Ownership Plan announced at the same time.
Anglo Platinum also plans to make 1,5% of the company available to 43 000 employees. This stake is worth R3,3-billion at current prices. To get 26% of Anglo Platinum’s shares, a BEE group would have to come up with about R57-billion as opposed to less than R8-billion.
Instead Anglo has created new competitors in the mining industry in a deal that harks back to Anglo standing aside to let Federale Mynbou buy General Mining in 1965, a seminal contribution to Afrikaner empowerment.
The Anglo Platinum transactions put into black control the third- and fifth-largest platinum resources in South Africa. Much of the platinum is still in the ground, but the new companies will have cash flow from existing operations, which is important for BEE companies. In return for the discount they will have to manage thousands of beneficiaries, but that is the price of broad-based BEE ownership.