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Cape Town - Sekunjalo's CEO Iqbal Surve selflessly waived R3.7m of his salary and bonus for the greater good of the company and to save at least 80 jobs, according to the investment company's latest annual report.
In the report, Sekunjalo's chairperson Wallace Mgoqi pays tribute to Surve's "indominatable spirit and leadership".
Mgoqi notes that Surve has declined a substantial portion of his bonus and salary - waiving a not insubstantial R3.7m "until such time as he is satisfied that the profits made in all divisions are such that his salary will be insignificant to the total".
He adds that Surve - who is the biggest single shareholder in Sekunjalo - waived his salary in order to assist the funding of employment in operations underperforming due to external factors such as a stronger rand and cheap imports.
"...Surve's decision prevented the closure of a manufacturing operation in Gauteng, resulting in the continued employment of at least 80 people who would otherwise have been retrenched."
Mqoqi reckons Surve is the first CEO of a major SA listed company to voluntary waive part of his salary and bonus. "This is an outstanding example of good financial, social and corporate governance..."
Surve has beaten what many believed were insurmountable odds in sustaining Sekunjalo after the collapse of its core investment, LeisureNet, in late 2000.
It was not only LeisureNet that left a gaping hole on Sekunjalo's balance sheet, but at roughly the same time the group saw its investment in Prospur Packaging also go up in smoke.
After the setbacks, Surve knuckled down, and used largely the operational momentum at Premier Fishing to put Sekunjalo back on an even keel. Somehow Surve also fobbed off "rescue takeover" attempts - purportedly by the late Brett Kebble and Mvelaphanda.
There have over the years been snide comments that Surve (formerly a sports medicine specialist) should have stuck to medicine rather than dabbling in corporate affairs.
The truth is that Surve has nursed a once terminal Sekunjalo back on its feet, and - while the market still remains wary - the group is starting to take the shape of a meaningful empowerment contender again.