Pepkor’s greedy wimps

Chutzpah is the only word to describe the provision of R500m for the directors of Star/Pepkor following their share option losses as a result of the Steinhoff debacle. The directors are not entitled to this sort of protection.

When the directors negotiated their pay packages they could have insisted on being paid their full salaries in cash and meeting their tax liabilities there and then. But they chose to accept part of their pay in share options which were exercisable in the future, to get more money and pay less tax. Now that things have gone wrong they want to go back to the first option and not take the consequences of their decision.

Is this different from a pensioner who handed his payout to an investment company to invest for him? Suddenly a large portion of his capital and income has vanished. The self-serving greed of the directors of Star/Pepkor is outrageous. The proposal to fund their losses should be opposed by all the company’s shareholders.

Investment companies which either invested directly or advised their clients to do so should make it clear that if any Star/Pepkor director gets into this unjustifiable lifeboat, it will result in the companies not investing, or withdrawing their investments in any company with which such a director is connected.

Blacklist these greedy wimps who want their cake with not a crumb left for those who suffered serious losses. They took a risk and must now carry their loss.

Trevor McGlashan Via e-mail