New boss hits out in blunt Bristow style

THE unusually hard-hitting comments about the state in which Rockwell Diamonds finds itself, and that are attributed to new executive Tjaart Willemse, have an uncanny ring of Mark Bristow about them.

Bristow, the tough CEO of Randgold Resources, is the chairman of the struggling alluvial diamond miner and is not known for being gentle and compassionate with management who cannot make a company work.

The fact that James Campbell lasted as Rockwell’s CEO for so long with Bristow at the helm of the company is remarkable in itself.

At a lunch this week, Bristow outlined how he had overseen the very quick exit of three senior managers at the Kibali gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a tough quarter.

“If you don’t do the job, then this is no place for you,” he said.

But the assessment of the company by Campbell’s replacement, Tjaart Willemse, gives a damning indictment of his management of Rockwell. It is seldom that investors are treated to such a blunt and public view expressed when a CEO leaves.

“There has been a general breakdown in controls over a considerable period of time, nonadherence to the procurement policy, among others, being very prevalent,” Willemse said.

“This, coupled with inadequate work planning and the lack of project front-end loading, has led to a series of financial management concerns and business risks,” he said.

The comments have Bristow written all over them.

Willemse has to report to the board weekly on progress in the company and it’s a safe bet that Bristow will hold the reins a lot tighter than he did when Campbell was in the hot seat.

THE charity FoodBank SA will soon be known as FoodForward SA after the Reserve Bank would not allow it to use the word bank in its name.

FoodBank SA collects edible surplus food from manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, and redistributes it to nonprofit organisations, which collectively feed thousands of people daily.

MD Andy du Plessis says it all began innocently in 2009, when the charity was incorrectly advised that it could use the word bank as long as it was not split from the word food. But this year, a possible change to the artwork of the wording prompted an approach to the central bank. “Our attorneys told us splitting the words would be a problem. According to the Bank Act, bank is reserved for commercial banks.”

When approached, the Reserve Bank refused permission and said no variation of the word in the name could be used at all. “We got away with it since 2009, but it doesn’t change the materiality of the law. The Bank is reactive and not proactive. The moment we approached them, they had to say no.” Neels Blom edits Company Comment (blomn@bdlive.co.za)

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