Media workers want 25% stake - report

Johannesburg - Media workers at Independent News & Media SA (INMSA) want a stake in the company, Business Day reported on Tuesday.

Media Workers' Association of SA (Mwasa) secretary-general Tuwani Gumani said: "We would like to ultimately have a 25% stake as this is an intellectual property company and it means that its human capital has to be incentivised."

"However, we have not received sufficient information to make any decision on what size stake we should negotiate for."

Business Day reported that limited information supplied by potential new owners, Sekunjalo Independent Media, prevented Mwasa from making a definite decision.

Gumani said the union had met representatives from Sekunjalo informally, but no substantive information had been exchanged.

"All that we agreed on is that we welcomed the fact that Independent News & Media SA will be returned to South African ownership," he said.

Sekunjalo was leading a R2bn buyout of INMSA, which owned print titles such as The Star, The Cape Times and Isolezwe.

It emerged last week that the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) would be funding part of it to the tune of R500m.

The GEPF had a 19.5% stake in Times Media Group (TMG).

According to Business Day, former president Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla and prominent businessman Sandile Zungu were shareholders in Sekunjalo.