It turns out that Shoprite’s AGM bash in Brackenfell was a much jollier affair than Woolworths’ in the Cape Town CBD 10 days later. It was also much less tense.
Like Shoprite, Woolworths had not had an in-person AGM since 2019, but unlike Shoprite, Woolworths seemed to have forgotten how to run one.
There was a lot of the sort of kettling you might expect at a protest, and the auditorium had been reconfigured to allow a ridiculously large TV screen to dominate vast amounts of seating space. The few hardy individuals who pitched up were squeezed into the side aisles and three lonesome shareholders were forced to rattle around in an overflow room next door.
While the TV-dominated auditorium was inappropriate, it turns out, very sadly, that the tension and security were probably appropriate. Woolworths had inadvertently got itself caught up in the Israel-Hamas war.
A few days before the AGM the company had issued a statement entitled “Setting the record straight” in which it referred to media reports claiming that Woolworths supported an Israeli boycott. It described the articles as inaccurate. The boycott claims were made in the wake of Woolworths’ decision to suspend the sale of one food item imported from Israel after receiving “significant and credible threats” from an unnamed source.
The “inaccurate articles” were apparently prompted by a statement issued by NGO Africa4Palestine (formerly Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions, or BDS), which had welcomed Woolworths’ decision not to stock Israeli products.
“Woolworths would like to explicitly affirm that we neither support nor boycott anyone. Woolworths has no political affiliations and does not support any political party, organisation or country,” said the company.
The retailer said it did not want to add to the division and divisiveness in an already polarised world where misinformation, misunderstanding and suffering are fuelling heightened emotion. “Many of us have been deeply affected in various ways by the atrocities and death of innocent people we are witnessing on our screens. Intolerance is on the rise and we as an organisation cannot and will not add fuel to the fire and will always seek ways to bring people together.” One individual attending the AGM described the threats as chilling.
At the 2023 AGM the only issue shareholders appeared to have was with the company’s remuneration, with 53% voting against the remuneration policy
So, in the interest of the safety and wellbeing of its employees and customers, Woolworths decided to suspend the sale of the one product it imports from Israel, pearl couscous. That’s one of more than 10,000 food items it carries.
While Africa4Palestine welcomed the move, many in the South African Jewish community were angry and immediately talked of boycotting Woolworths.
CEO Roy Bagattini told the FM at the AGM that he accepts full responsibility for the decision. Since taking it he has spent a considerable amount of time engaging with members of the community in an attempt to persuade them he had little choice in the matter. The prospect of innocent employees and customers getting caught up in violent protest was not unimaginable.
Many who recall BDS’s #BoycottWoolworths campaign of 2014 will probably agree with Bagattini.
Though BDS told the media at the time that the boycott was not malicious or punitive, it was noisy and at times intimidating. A flash protest at Woolworths in Killarney Mall in Joburg prompted the company to apply for an interdict against BDS. “Woolworths has filed a court application to protect our employees and customers from the increasing unlawful protests inside our stores,” said a company spokesperson in November 2014.
Back then the company did not give in to demands that it halt fruit imports from Israel and though the boycott campaign, which petered out in 2015, had no effect on sales, it did garner a lot of attention for BDS.
Ironically Woolworths was singled out by BDS because of its support for “human rights and good human values”, a BDS spokesperson said at the time, adding, “Surely a part of your [good] business journey should include the rights of Palestinians.”
This time, Shoprite, Pick n Pay and Spar have again been left untouched.
Meanwhile, at the 2023 AGM the only issue shareholders appeared to have was with the company’s remuneration, with 53% voting against the remuneration policy and 26% against the remuneration implementation report. This was fairly modest opposition given the R122m Bagattini was awarded for 2023. A large chunk of that was thanks to a portion of the share awards used to lure him to the company in February 2020. The next three years could bring even more generous payouts.
Without passing judgment on the size of the award, Sasfin’s Alec Abraham tells the FM that notwithstanding the recent disappointing trading update, the group has made significant progress in the past three years under Bagattini’s watch. “Just look at the operating profit margin on clothing — it had hit a low of 7.6% in financial 2020 but has recovered steadily since then to 13.3% in financial 2023.”
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