The Editor’s Diary: Out and About with Mutumwa Mawere

Its 12 O’clock in the afternoon on a Monday in Sandton, the heart of South Africa’s executive heartbeat where I was attending a Connections2Communities (C2C) meeting at The Royal India Restaurant, a prime food and entertainment hotspot opposite the Nelson Mandela Square.

In these meetings various issues are discussed with the main idea being literacy on corporate and civic issues towards building community power in solving problems that people may find difficult to solve if there is no shared understanding on matters of interest and concern.

The previous day I have had the following chat with Mutumwa Mawere where we discussed dynamics behind company ownership and the accountability of directors in a business setup and I was going to bring that up on this meeting for further clarity so that I would share the insights thereof with you our beloved readers.

[11/8, 22:07] General Emeritus: I think when the only shareholder there is for a company sees a transactional anomaly in the activities of the company they hold shares in, they should summon the company directors to account and where a problem is a ascertained, the set right approach must be applied as compared to the unilateral approach that was used by the Mayor in the Setheo case

[11/8, 22:13] Mr Mawere: What rights do shareholders have in relation to a company? Do they have the right to summon directors to account for their decisions and actions? If so, what is the legal authority to make directors accountable to shareholders?

[11/8, 22:15] General Emeritus: I am sure they can call for an EGM if there is something urgent to discuss

[11/8, 22:18] Mr Mawere: Does an EGM provide a forum to shareholders to exercise any oversight in relation to a company or a company is a juristic entity whose control and direction is vested in directors.

[11/8, 22:22] General Emeritus: I believe the directors do account to shareholders and these meetings are a platform for updates, feedback and reports

[11/8, 22:23] Mr Mawere: Under which provision in the Companies Act? Does it mean directors owe a duty tto shareholders?

[11/8, 22:26] General Emeritus: I will seek more information on this matter

[11/8, 22:32] Mr Mawere: Ok thanks

When I got to the restaurant, I saw that the other gentlemen had already arrived since I saw their cars outside and so, I quickly moved in.

As I entered, The Royal India Restaurant, I was met with friendly staff who quickly wanted to know how best they could be of service to me but my eyes were still busy scanning the establishment looking for the other gentlemen that I was supposed to meet including Mutumwa Mawere who is also a member of C2C.

I was then asked to wait for them as the staff checked on the whereabouts of the gentlemen.

I took the same opportunity to also call Mutumwa who then indicated that we must come to the sixteenth floor, the VR Attorneys offices to meet some of the finest lawyers in South Africa.

At VR, just like at Royal India, the welcome was top notch with warm smiles further brightening the day. Their office set up is elegant just like their approach to engagement with visitors and clients alike.

I went up there together with a fellow member of the C2C community Tinashe Mangwana, and a number of issues were discussed with the main one being the need for literacy on legal matters especially when it comes to corporate issues.

The main interest on corporate literacy was a result of the fact that many contractual obligations are being violated left, right and centre because of the ignorance that is rampant among many people including professionals and business people as evidenced in some of the articles that we have written on the same subject.

This discussion was in line with the matter that I had talked with Mutumwa before as shown in the WhatsApp chat above.

The partners at VR, Mr Werner Janse Van Rensburg and Mr Jonathan Raphunga expressed amazing knowledge on the matters of my interest.

They also showed willingness to help where possible on matters that would need clarity so that when legal content is written in the mainstream media for our audience in their diversity, they can quickly understand what is being talked about.

The meeting with the lawyers ended with Mr Van Rensburg narrating a story of President Mandela’s photographer who was given an important advice by the political icon and the advice was simply: To Serve.

Once back at the restaurant, we briefly talked about other matters and Mr Mangwana excused himself for another meeting with his lawyer and remained behind for a short time then later own followed Mr Mangwana but unfortunately we didn’t see him at the lawyers’ place and we left.

On our way home, we discussed many other issues including the death of Ginimbi and the money owed by the deceased to Mutumwa Mawere as well as the current legal status of SMM Holdings whose corporate identity was a matter of interest.

Mutumwa who had asked for his money from Ginimbi on Twitter later on indicated that if Genius could not pay when he was alive then there was no more a need to worry about that money after he is dead.

On the issue of SMM, the matter of interest was on whether as a company under reconstruction, SMM could offer shares and if it does, will it still be governed by the Reconstruction Act or the Companies Act since it will not be possible for it to be under both.

Much was learnt on this day and such knowledge should always end being for the benefit of our readers across the world so that they get better informed to work as communities in solving problems that they encounter from time to time.

Another day will come and with it another diary will be written.

Keep inspired and learning.