Zunaid Moti on Mantengu CEO Miller: “Game ranger turned corporate poacher is another Markus Jooste.”

In a fiery right of reply, businessman Zunaid Moti hits back at Mantengu Mining CEO Mike Miller, calling him “a game ranger turned corporate poacher” and likening him to “another Markus Jooste.” Moti dismantles Miller’s fraud allegations, accusing him instead of misrepresentation, insider dealing, and “running a penny-stock circus.” From chrome mines to the JSE, this interview pulls back the curtain on a corporate war laced with accusations of deceit, inflated valuations, and high-stakes revenge..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Watch here.Listen here.BizNews Reporter.Businessman Zunaid Moti has come out swinging against Mantengu Mining CEO Mike Miller, accusing him of “corporate fraud, misrepresentation, and spin.” In a heated interview with BizNews editor Alec Hogg, Moti dismissed Miller’s claims that he runs a “criminal enterprise” as “a desperate distraction by a man trying to hide his own wrongdoing.”“This guy’s a game ranger turned corporate poacher,” Moti said. “He uses his CA title to mislead people, manipulates valuations, and lies to the public. He’s not Markus Jooste yet, but he’s trying very hard to be.”Moti’s right of reply follows Miller’s earlier interview on BizNews, where the Mantengu CEO accused Moti and forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan of manipulating Mantengu shares and being part of a “criminal network.” Moti says the claims are absurd.“I don’t own a single Mantengu share. Never have, never will,” he told Hogg. “The idea that I’m behind some grand manipulation of a fifty-cent penny stock is laughable. Miller’s using me as a scapegoat to explain why his company is falling apart.”A billion-rand valuation built on sandMoti accuses Miller of inflating the value of Mantengu’s core asset, Langpan Chrome Mine, from a fair value of R27.5 million to a headline-grabbing R550 million when it was reverse-listed in 2022.“He took a 27-million-rand asset and called it 550 million. That’s twenty times its actual value,” Moti said. “Any banker can see that’s fraud. No big institutions would touch it. No banks are lending. No one serious is buying in.”zunaid-alecHe explained that Miller’s “competent person’s report” included platinum reserves that were never mined and remain untested. “He claimed hundreds of millions in platinum value but hasn’t produced one gram of PGMs. It’s all on paper,” Moti said.According to him, the company’s reversal into Mantengu created “a false image of growth” that propped up the share price temporarily. “It opened at R4, then collapsed to 90 cents in a week. That’s the market exposing a lie,” he said.‘Operating profit four million, legal fees four million’Moti also accused Mantengu of painting a false financial picture. “He told you on your show he made R350 million profit. That’s nonsense,” he said. “His actual operating profit before tax and interest was R4 million. His legal fees for the year were also R4 million. He spent every cent fighting people in court.”He pointed to Mantengu’s ballooning debt of around R600 million, against cash reserves of just R30 million. “That’s five percent cash to debt. It’s a liquidity crisis,” Moti said. “You can’t run a company like that unless your plan is to sink it.”zunaid-alecMoti says the numbers simply don’t add up. “You’re telling investors you turned over R317 million and made R350 million profit? What kind of accounting is that? Chinese arithmetic? It’s fiction.”The ‘bargain transaction’ that wasn’tOne of Moti’s sharpest criticisms focused on what Miller called a “bargain transaction” — an acquisition Mantengu claimed to have received for free.“He said Texans gave him a R350 million business for zero rand. Really? That’s not a bargain. That’s a bedtime story,” Moti said. “Even if it were true, there’s donation tax of 25 percent — around R70 million — which they didn’t even account for.”According to Moti, this was a “paper profit” used to inflate Mantengu’s books. “He calls it a bargain. I call it deception. It’s designed to trick retail investors into thinking the company’s growing when it’s just cooking numbers.”A pattern of behaviourMoti says Miller follows the same playbook in every deal. “He becomes a director in a company before the transaction goes through, gets insider info, then uses it to benefit himself. He did it in Memo Mining, he did it in Mantengu, and every time it ends in business rescue,” Moti said.“He’s been in business since 2017 and already leaves a trail of wreckage. He knows how to play the system — not to build companies, but to strip them.”He alleges that Miller’s network includes attorneys, trusts, and shell companies that keep control of Mantengu’s shares and narrative. “Eighty-six percent of the stock is still controlled by forty-odd shareholders, all connected. No banks, no institutions, no serious investors. Just the same circle keeping this circus alive,” Moti said.The scapegoat theoryWhen asked why Miller would target him, Moti said it was “classic scapegoating.”“He needs someone to blame for his company’s failure. The share price tanks, investors lose faith, and instead of facing facts, he screams ‘Zunaid Moti did it.’ It’s lazy, but it gets headlines.”Moti also rejected the idea that his ally Paul O’Sullivan was involved in any manipulation. “Paul’s an independent guy. We’ve worked together before, yes, but he runs his own ship. This narrative that he’s my partner in some criminal outfit is fantasy.”“He’s no strategist — just reckless”When Alec Hogg asked why Moti hasn’t sued Miller for defamation, Moti shrugged. “What would I get out of it? The guy’s worth maybe fifteen million rand. You can’t squeeze blood from a stone,” he said.He says instead he’s filed a criminal injuria case against Miller and is waiting to see if law enforcement takes action. “Maybe the Hawks or Mr. Mkhwanazi can help me,” he joked.“Miller’s not a strategist. He’s reckless. When a guy goes from earning twenty grand a month as a game ranger to five million as a CEO, he starts believing his own stories. But numbers don’t lie,” Moti said.Closing salvoAs the interview drew to a close, Moti warned investors and banks to tread carefully.“This reminds me of Markus Jooste,” he said. “Another CA who used his qualifications to deceive people. Billions were lost because no one spoke up. I’m speaking up now. Mantengu is a ticking time bomb - and Mike Miller is lighting the fuse.”

Zunaid Moti on Mantengu CEO Miller: “Game ranger turned corporate poacher is another Markus Jooste.”

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