KWV chairman co-opted after losing election
2007-11-08
THE chairman of the KWV, Danie de Wet, was reappointed although he lost the election at the annual general meeting on Wednesday last week.
During the meeting on Wednesday morning, members were unexpectedly requested to vote on ballot papers instead of by hand as is the tradition.
The proposal was made by Chris Otto, head of PSG financial services group which holds an 18% share in KWV through the Zeder investment company and other nominees.
When the votes were counted, it was announced that de Wet had been re-elected, along with three other directors who had stood for election.
After the close of the meeting, Otto insisted on a recount by the external auditors.
Late that afternoon it became clear that there had been a miscount and that de Wet had in fact not been re-elected, as there were more votes against him than for him.
A large number of voters had also abstained, including KWV’s empowerment arm Phetogo, which holds 25,1% of the shares.
Proxy votes in favour of de Wet were also disqualified on technical grounds, according to one newspaper report.
At this stage, de Wet decided to leave the premises and return to his home in Bonnievale.
According to a report in a Sunday newspaper, Christo Wiese, another KWV director who is also a board member of PSG, followed de Wet to his car and convinced him to return.
De Wet waited in the chairman’s office, while the directors met. The directors decided to appoint de Wet as board member in line with the articles of association (with board member Jannie Mouton, chairman of PSG, abstaining).
Once de Wet was back on the board, he was unanimously elected as chairman.
In a statement this week, PSG indicated that the votes against de Wet were not against the person, but rooted in the poor performance by KWV over the past year, KWV reported an operating loss of R35 million before tax over the past year.
KWV is one of the most important investments of Zeder.
"It is in the interests of the wine industry and its shareholders that KWV should be a successful com-pany, focusing on its business."
According to industry insiders, de Wet is opposed to KWV selling its lucrative 29,3% share in Distell, while other KWV board members hope to up their shareholding of Distell should KWV decide to sell.
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