Sishen ore deal row rages on
withdraw one of his biggest earners, the powerful analgesic Synap Forte, because of concerns about its possible side effects.
Tests showed the concerns were unfounded, but Adcock is still waiting for the Medicines Control Council to confirm its return.
Aspen, it might be argued, has been lucky. But luck without skill was not enough, said Mohamed.
“For the luck to work you need an Aspen-type management that goes out there aggressively, is entrepreneurial but makes it work. We haven’t seen that at Adcock.”
And for that, said Shapiro, “you need to blame the guy at the top. Who else?” KUMBA believes a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling in the battle over mining rights at its Sishen mine may make it more difficult for steelmaker ArcelorMittal to have its cheap iron ore supply contract reinstated.
Kumba has argued that the supply agreement, which entitled ArcelorMittal to an annual 6.25 million tons of iron ore at cost plus 3%, lapsed when the steelmaker failed to convert its 21.4% right in Sishen by April 30 2009.
ArcelorMittal has argued that it could not apply for conversion as a full 100% new-order right was awarded in 2008 to Kumba ’ s Sishen Iron Ore Company (SIOC).
Iron ore supplies have since been covered by an interim agreement. The latest deal, still at discounted rates but at significantly higher prices than cost plus 3%, was brokered after the intervention of Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies. Final arbitration over the supply contract can now proceed following the supreme court ruling on Thursday.
The court ruled that ArcelorMittal could have applied for a conversion of its stake, but that its failure to do so meant SIOC has been the exclusive holder of mining rights over the Sishen properties as of April 30 2009.
“As the court has held that Amsa [ArcelorMittal South Africa] could have converted its rights, but failed to do so, this ruling does favour SIOC ’ s argument that the contract lapsed,” a spokesman for Kumba said.
But ArcelorMittal interpreted the ruling differently, saying the court had agreed that SIOC applied for and was granted a 100% new-order mining right in 2008.
The supreme court upheld a December 2011 ruling by the North Gauteng High Court that set aside the granting of a 21.4% prospecting right over Sishen to politically connected Imperial Crown Trading (ICT). ICT ’ s owners included Gugu Mtshali, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe ’ s girlfriend.
Jagdish Parekh, a business partner of the Gupta family, and President Jacob Zuma ’ s son Duduzane bought a stake in ICT after the right was granted.
ICT and the Department of Mineral Resources will have to cover the legal costs of SIOC and Amsa. The department will study the ruling before deciding on “a way forward ”, spokeswoman Zingaphi Jakuja said.