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Ntsimbintle Holdings, the broad-based BEE mining investor chaired by Saki Macozoma, is preparing to hand shareholders a rare cash bonanza after Exxaro Resources’ acquisition of its manganese portfolio, a transaction priced at R11.67 billion before adjustments and potential add-ons.
The planned distribution follows a decision by Ntsimbintle to return the bulk of the proceeds rather than pursue a new round of acquisitions, according to reporting by Business Day. In practice, that means a major payday for Safika Resources, the investment vehicle within Macozoma’s Safika Holdings stable that holds 39.66% of Ntsimbintle.
Using the headline R11 billion “payout” figure cited in the Business Day report, Safika’s share comes out at about R4.36 billion before taxes, fees and any balance-sheet adjustments. If the eventual distributable amount tracks the unadjusted Exxaro consideration of R11.67 billion, the implied slice rises to roughly R4.63 billion. Either way, it is the kind of liquidity event that rarely arrives in South Africa’s empowerment landscape.
Ntsimbintle’s shareholder register was deliberately built to blend commercial heft with local benefit. The John Taolo Gaetsewe Developmental Trust, based in the Northern Cape where the flagship Tshipi Borwa mine sits, is the second-largest holder at 14.47%, and the remaining shareholders include community upliftment groups, women-empowerment entities and entrepreneurial investors rooted largely in the province.
Exxaro announced the manganese push in May 2025 as a “transformational” expansion beyond its coal core, buying shares and claims in a cluster of assets held by Ntsimbintle and Singapore-based OM Holdings. The package spans 74% of Ntsimbintle Mining, 19.99% of Australian-listed Jupiter Mines, 100% of Ntsimbintle Marketing and Trading, 51% of Mokala, and 9% of Hotazel Manganese Mines, with OM’s 26% in Ntsimbintle Mining lifting Exxaro to 100% ownership of that holding company.
Through those stakes, Exxaro gains effective exposure to four operating mines in the Kalahari Manganese Field, including an effective 60.1% ownership interest in the Tshipi Borwa mine and associated marketing rights, alongside interests tied to Mokala and the Hotazel operations that include Mamatwan and Wessels. The company said the purchase price was value, earnings and cashflow accretive “from day one,” while also flagging that the deal structure includes a lock-box mechanism dated 31 December 2024, with escalation and customary leakage adjustments until completion.
A key swing factor still sits in the small print. Exxaro has said the consideration could rise as high as R14.64 billion if Blue Falcon, which owns 49% of Mokala Mines, exercises tag-along rights, including escalations, though the miner stressed it would remain within available cash reserves and expects to continue paying dividends. The deal also lands as a fresh chapter in Macozoma’s long-running argument that empowerment should be measured in realised value, not just paper ownership. Business Day quoted him as saying the point is to put value “in the hands of owners,” who can then decide what to do with it, a line that echoes his years of critique of BEE structures that enrich deal engineers but leave communities waiting.
Macozoma’s path to this moment has been unusually broad for a South African boardroom figure. Safika’s corporate profile notes he spent five years imprisoned on Robben Island as a teenager, entered Parliament after 1994, then left politics in 1996 to become the first Black managing director of Transnet, later serving on Standard Bank’s board and rising to deputy chair. Safika itself, founded in 1995, has built a portfolio across sectors from financial services and mining to property, and has positioned its investment approach as an engine for broad-based participation.
Ntsimbintle, meanwhile, traces back to 2003, when nine Black South African groups formed a company to pursue manganese opportunities, eventually growing into the majority shareholder of Tshipi Borwa, described by the company as South Africa’s single largest manganese mine and ore exporter. That growth story has been a frequent citation point for proponents of BEE done over the long haul: patient capital, real assets, dividends, and local trusts with identifiable beneficiaries.
Deal advisers are already using the transaction to underline manganese’s new status as both old-economy backbone and energy-transition enabler. Investec, which acted as financial adviser and transaction sponsor to Exxaro, framed the buy as part of Exxaro’s shift toward “energy transition metals” while remaining anchored in coal cashflows.
Completion is expected in early 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions. If the distribution proceeds as planned, it will deliver one of the more significant recent cash realisations in South Africa’s empowerment mining universe, with Safika, the development trust, and a network of Northern Cape-linked shareholders poised to decide what comes next.
