This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
BL Premium reports that MultiChoice paid former chair Imtiaz Patel a bonus of about R22.75m for overseeing a partnership between its streaming service Showmax and US content group Comcast, a move that has raised some eyebrows.
In its annual report released on Friday, Africa’s largest pay-TV operator said Patel was awarded the bonus because he “played a leading role in the successful completion” of the deal in financial 2024. He started developing the deal over the Covid period, while executive chairman, when discussions commenced for a strategic partner. The report indicates: “On the recommendation of the remuneration committee at the time, a bonus of $1.25m [about R22.75m at Friday’s close], was approved, and payable on the completion of two key deliverables within the prescribed period. These deliverables included: 50% payable on the signing of all required agreements by April 2023, and the remainder was payable following the delivery of the commercial launch by early 2024.” The bonus was slightly more than Patel’s annual salary. The Showmax/Comcast bonus was in addition to his annual remuneration of just over $1.1m. The deal with Comcast has been criticised by MultiChoice’s biggest shareholder, Canal+. The report said the chair of the remuneration committee, Jim Volkwyn, who presided over the meeting at which Patel’s R22.75m bonus was rubber-stamped, saw his board fees rise 25% to R6.4m. The decision to award him an increase five times that of new chairman Elias Masilela, was made at a meeting that, coincidentally, was chaired by Patel. All of the arrangements concerned were considered and approved by the remuneration committee and then by the full board. Other board members received fee increases ranging from 7% to 13%.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thabiso Mochiko at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page