Safika Holdings (Pty) Ltd is a private South African

investment Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

. Led by Moss Ngoasheng and Saki Macozoma, the company is known for its involvement in lucrative

black economic empowerment Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities cr ...

deals and for its close relationship and reciprocal shareholdings with

Standard Bank Standard Bank (officially Standard Bank Group Limited) is the largest bank in Africa, as well as the continent's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is located in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The ...

. It holds international investments in a variety of sectors, including mining and financial services. Based in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, Safika Holdings was founded in 1995 by Ngoasheng and Vuli Cuba. Macozoma joined the company in 2001 and became an equal participant in 2003.

History

Safika Holdings was founded in 1995 by Moss Ngoasheng and Vuli Cuba. Prominent anti-apartheid activist Saki Macozoma joined the company in 2001 when he purchased a 10 per cent stake in Safika. He doubled his stake in 2003, becoming an equal participant – with Cuba and Ngoasheng – in the consortium that held a controlling 60 per cent of the company. During its first decade, Safika acquired a reputation as a major player in

(BEE) deals. In the mid-2000s, Safika established reciprocal shareholdings with

, which identified Safika as a preferred BEE partner on the basis of its "management capabilities". In June 2003, Standard Bank and the Liberty Group sold a 25.2 per cent stake in Stanlib to a BEE consortium led by Safika. The following year, Safika and

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...

's Millennium Consolidated Investments launched the Tutuwa Consortium, which in July 2004 concluded agreements to acquire an effective 10 per cent of Standard Bank and 10 per cent of Liberty Life. Safika had a 20 per cent stake in Tutuwa, and the deal was worth an estimated R4.3 billion. Finally, in 2005, the

Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

approved the sale to Standard Bank of a 20 per cent stake in Safika. Upon the conclusion of the 2005 deal, Safika's shareholders were Standard Bank (20 per cent), Ngoasheng (20 per cent), Cuba (20 per cent), Macozoma (20 per cent), Marc Ber (10 per cent), Soto Ndukwana (5 per cent), and Richard Chauke (5 per cent); this shareholding structure prevailed until Cuba announced his resignation from the company in 2008. Over the next decade, Safika maintained what it called its "close working relationship" with Standard Bank.

Holdings

Through its subsidiaries, Safika has interests in financial services, agriculture, transport, gaming, aerospace, property, and telecommunications. In 2011, it expanded to Australia by launching

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm Winsaf as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with the Australian Wingate Group. Safika also has substantial interests in South African mining through subsidiary Safika Resources, in which it has an 85 per cent interest. Safika Resources's flagship investment is a 39 per cent stake in Ntsimbintle Mining, which in turn holds various

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

assets, notably including a 50.1 per cent of Tshipi é Ntle Manganese Mining and its lucrative Tshipi Borwa mine in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

. In 2019, Safika Resources also acquired a substantial 44.72 per cent stake in Orion Minerals's Prieska Resources, a

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

-and-

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

-oriented venture.

References

{{Reflist Investment management companies of South Africa Holding companies of South Africa 1995 establishments in South Africa Companies based in Johannesburg