This week, the JSE witnessed major shifts in capital allocation, ranging from a multibillion-dollar East African wager to determined consolidation by some of South Africa’s savviest founders.
The headline act is Vodacom’s unambiguous doubling down on Kenya. In a deal valued at a staggering $2.1bn, Vodacom has agreed to acquire an effective 20% interest in Safaricom. By snapping up stakes from both Vodafone and the Kenyan government, CEO Shameel Joosub is cementing Vodacom’s destiny to the M-Pesa engine room.
The acquisition of dividend rights from the Kenyan government for R5.3bn is particularly clever financial engineering, securing cash flows immediately. With the deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, Vodacom is effectively declaring that its growth is now linked to the Silicon Savannah.
While Vodacom looks north, two local founder-led dynasties are making significant internal moves, signalling value in their own backyards.
The most telling activity comes from Nutun (formerly Transaction Capital). The “triumvirate” — founders Jonathan Jawno, Michael Mendelowitz and Roberto Rossi — are actively consolidating their grip. Through their investment vehicle, Pilatucom Holdings, they executed a massive restructuring of their interests. While the off-market disposals from their respective family trusts (Rigicom, Neuheim and Neranga) might spook a novice observer, this was simply a consolidation into Pilatucom.
The real signal came when Pilatucom bought a further 37.2-million shares on-market for R33.5m. When the people who built the business are sweeping up stock at 90c, the market should pay attention. They are clearly betting that the market has oversold the post-WeBuyCars unbundling.
The PIC clearly sees the Waterfall precinct as a defensive fortress in a sometimes fickle property market
Similarly, over at Blu Label Unlimited (formerly Blue Label Telecoms), the Levy brothers are putting serious skin in the game. An associate of both Brett and Mark Levy (BSC Technologies) scooped up R78.4m worth of shares in late November. This massive vote of confidence from the co-CEOs comes at a critical juncture as the company navigates its rebranding and the ongoing stabilisation of Cell C.
The Public Investment Corp (PIC) has been fine-tuning its property portfolio. It has crossed a significant threshold at Attacq, now holding over 20% of the Waterfall City landlord. The PIC clearly sees the Waterfall precinct as a defensive fortress in a sometimes fickle property market. Conversely, the state asset manager appears to be taking some chips off the table at Bytes Technology, diluting its voting rights slightly below 5%.
Allan Gray, the contrarian heavyweight, is arguably the busiest desk in the V&A Waterfront. It has increased stakes in Dis-Chem Pharmacies (now holding over 10%) and Cell C (crossing 15%). The Cell C bet is particularly bold, aligning it with the Levy brothers’ bullishness. The company also upped its exposure to the speculative Kore Potash (now 6.47%), suggesting a belief that the Kola project in the Republic of Congo is finally nearing fruition. However, it trimmed its sails at Ninety One, dropping below 5% voting rights, perhaps signalling a rotation out of pure asset management plays.
In the resources sector, the trend was decidedly towards selling. At AngloGold Ashanti, executives Marcelo Godoy and Lizelle Marwick sold a combined $3.7m (about R66m) in shares. With gold prices having enjoyed a stellar run, this looks like classic profit-taking rather than a loss of faith.
More concerning, perhaps, is the selling at Impala Platinum, where CFO Meroonisha Kerber disposed of R11.8m in stock. Given the platinum group metals sector’s well-documented struggles with basket prices, insider selling here does little to inspire confidence in a sustained recovery. Thungela Resources also saw minor insider selling from prescribed officer Nompumelelo Sithole, alongside the forfeiture of shares from their share plan.
On A2X
On A2X this fortnight, banking and tech heavyweights continued to dominate trading activity. Investec Plc led the value board with R178.3m exchanged, representing 27.57% of its total volume on the exchange. Prosus followed with R703.9m in trades (20.01%). Investec Ltd saw R64.4m traded (15.24%), while Standard Bank registered R322m (14.45%). Nedbank rounded out the top five with R209.1m traded (12.67%).
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