The ink was hardly dry on the Stock Exchange News Service (Sens) notice that Carroll would take over from Fred Phaswana on September 1 than share- holder rights activist Theo Botha called on her to withdraw. Cadiz equity head Simon Hudson-Peacock said there had been universal analyst criticism of the appointment, which was seen as a breach of corporate governance and an analyst who asked to remain anonymous said minority Anglo Platinum shareholders would have to be intensely vigilant to ensure that their interests were taken into proper account.

The JSE-listed Anglo American owns 80% of the shares of the JSE-listed Anglo Platinum.

“I think the appointment is very wrong,” Botha told Mining Weekly. “It’s a bit like Jacko Maree, the CEO of Standard Bank, becoming the chairperson of Liberty Group. It defies all logic,” Botha added.

He hoped that Carroll, as a full-time Anglo American employee, would withdraw, or face the consequence of being conflicted at every turn.

Hudson-Peacock said he considered the appointment as a breach of corporate governance.

The platinum analyst, who asked to remain anonymous, added: “This flies in the face of what corporate governance is trying to do.”

Botha condemned the Anglo Platinum Sens announcement for failing to state that the company was not adhering to King 3.

“King 3 is simple. If you don’t apply the principle, you explain why,” he said.

But Anglo Platinum made no mention of its nonadherence to the King 3 principle 2.16, which states that the board should elect a chairperson who is an independent nonexecutive director.

The Sens announcement did say that Anglo Platinum had also appointed former Cabinet Minister and former Eskom chairperson Valli Moosa as lead independent nonexecutive director, deputy chairperson and chairperson of the company’s governance committee.

It also said that Moosa would be replacing Tom Wixley, who had served in the role that Moosa would be assuming for nine years, while Wixley would continue as an independent nonexecutive director and chairperson of the remuneration committee.

Phaswana said he was sure that Carroll would continue to work highly effectively with the rest of the board and that she would provide continuity of leadership for Anglo Platinum.
Anglo Platinum CEO Neville Nicolau was also positive about the appointment of both Carroll and Moosa.

But Hudson-Peacock said that the emails and comments he was receiving from analysts were overwhelmingly condemnatory of Carroll’s appointment.

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