Jardine appointed chief executive

in Zimbabwe and with the help of the EU, the company had created a successful and economically viable small-scale grower programme.

“While it is difficult to comment on the politics in Zimbabwe, these threats are not new and the Tongaat share price already reflects a significant discount for the Zimbabwe business as a result.”

Isaacs agreed, saying that it would not be the first time someone in the government in Zimbabwe had said something sensationalist in order to get some attention.

However, he believed that Tongaat Hulett would have to do something about the situation. He did not believe that there would a total collapse of operations and it might be less negative for the group than what people thought, but it was not positive. “There will be some negative repercussions from this.”

Tongaat Hulett shares fell 0.61 percent to close at R119.52 on the JSE yesterday. Top businessman Roger Jardine had been appointed the new group chief executive of Primedia, the company announced yesterday. Jardine will replace Kuben Pillay, who moves to the position of executive chairman for the group. The appointment will take effect next month. “Roger brings a wealth of experience with him, having run two listed entities including having been at the helm of a large and successful media company for almost a decade,” Pillay said in a statement. In 1999, Jardine joined Kagiso Media as chief executive and in 2006 he became the chief operations officer of Kagiso Trust Investments. Jardine is also the former boss of Aveng. He resigned from Aveng in August last year following an investigation by the Competition Commission. In June, 15 construction companies, including Aveng, agreed to pay fines that collectively totalled R1.46 billion for collusive tendering. – Sapa