While the country is gearing up to hunt for Easter eggs, executives have been stuffing their baskets with money and shares. If you want to know what the C-suite really think about their companies’ prospects ahead of the long weekend, follow their money.
Zoey Enterprises, an associate of Optasia founder Bassim Haidar, executed a huge bilateral block-trade with FirstRand. FirstRand scooped up more than 74-million shares at R20 a share, reaching a total value of R1.4bn. FirstRand has been increasing its stake in the AI-powered fintech company since last year, and now holds 26.1% of the total issued shares in Optasia.
Questions are mounting regarding the Saltzman family’s long-term role in their pharmaceutical empire. Dan and Mark, the sons of Dis-Chem founder Ivan Saltzman, offloaded more than 17.6-million shares worth R642m. Ivan gifted his sons a 25% stake last year.
With the patriarch having stepped down as CEO in 2023 and being set to exit his executive director role later in 2026, the founding family’s operational ties are fading. Since neither Dan nor Mark is involved in the day-to-day running of the business, a liquidation of this magnitude looks less like simple portfolio diversification and more like the final chapters of a corporate exit.
Sibanye-Stillwater’s long-serving CFO, Charl Keyter, spent nearly R9m on his company’s stock. He wasn’t alone: director Richard Menell purchased $28,150 worth of American depositary receipts, and chair Vincent Maphai bought R667,828 worth of Sibanye shares. Maphai was clearly in a buying mood, purchasing R197,600 worth of shares in Stadio, where he is also chair.
A liquidation of this magnitude looks less like simple portfolio diversification and more like the final chapters of a corporate exit
Further down the market cap, we also saw some steady insider accumulation. At Marshall Monteagle, CEO Warwick Marshall has been aggressively buying his own stock. Across three days in March, he acquired over R2.5m worth of shares. A fitting decision, considering the company’s share price has gone up by 24.7% so far this year, and its headline earnings tripled in the six months ended September 2025.
Libstar recently reported its strongest performance since its strategic reset. CEO Charl de Villiers and CFO Terri Ladbrooke purchased a combined total of 47,799 shares worth R207,925.
At KAL Group (formerly Kaap Agri), newly appointed CEO Johann le Roux, via his associate Bakenskraal Investments, scooped up nearly R500,000 worth of shares, accompanied by purchases from directors Graeme Sim and Chris Otto. KAL’s September results highlighted its lowest debt-to-equity ratio in 15 years.
In the life insurance sector, Momentum FD Risto Ketola purchased a modest R355,000 worth of shares, while Dumo Mbethe, CEO of Momentum Corporate, also added to his portfolio.
The institutional desks have also seen some interesting plays. Over at Quilter, the UK-focused wealth manager, Coronation Fund Managers has been highly active. Coronation pushed its holding up to 16.59% before slightly trimming it back to 15.95%. The asset manager has been vocal about Quilter’s attractive valuation, its successful platform modernisation and its positioning as a potential acquisition target in the rapidly consolidating UK wealth space.
Meanwhile, Metair Investments appeared on Peresec Prime Brokers’ radar. Peresec acquired a 5.01% beneficial interest in the automotive component and energy storage manufacturer. Metair has been navigating a tricky transitional phase as it pivots towards future mobility and energy storage solutions, and a 5% institutional stake suggests the smart money sees deep value or a turnaround play in the making.
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