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Royal Bafokeng Platinum has hit back at allegations of unethical conduct by its directors.
The platinum miner on Thursday issued a notice to shareholders, shortly after markets closed, in response to a report by The Star that the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) is investigating six of Royal Bafokeng Platinum's (RBPlat) board members for allegedly trying to defraud a firm – Ithemba Consulting.
RBPlat said the allegations made by Ithemba Consulting are "unfounded" and "highly defamatory".
"There is no merit whatsoever to the allegations and RBPlat denies them in the strongest possible terms," the notice read.
According to RBPlat, the allegations have to do with its contract with a local construction firm dating back to July 2017. RBPlat says all monies due to the firm were paid in terms of the contract and no other obligations were outstanding on its part. That was until Ithemba came to the fore in December 2017, claiming it concluded a financing arrangement with the construction firm.
"RBPlat was not a party to this arrangement and did not consent to any such arrangement. As there was never any business or contractual relationship between RBPlat and Ithemba, we made it clear that RBPlat owed no obligations or payment to Ithemba," the notice read.
The mining company said that it has not been made aware of the investigation by Saica, but would be willing to cooperate with the body when required.
Saica has confirmed to Fin24 that it received a formal complaint against certain members in relation to RBPlat. "We are not in a position to comment further at this time due to an investigation that will be initiated and therefore any further comment will be premature and could obstruct the administration of justice," a spokesperson said via email.
*UPDATE: This article was updated at 15:15 on Friday, July 5, 2019 to include comment from Saica.
