Blaming the rain won’t fix the storm of issues inside Mantengu

By Zunaid Moti, entrepreneur and investor

If Mantengu and its flailing CEO, Mike Miller, hadn’t spent the past year torching their own credibility with baseless conspiracy claims, its latest trading statement and financial results would likely have slipped by unnoticed. But after months of blaming imaginary market syndicates and attacking the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the market has learned to distrust every word Mantengu puts out. 

That scepticism now appears well-deserved. The trading statement was worrying enough, but the interim financials have blown apart any pretence that Mantengu is struggling because of external rivals. Last year’s 2 cents per share in earnings has become a loss of 27 cents – a collapse of more than 1,400% in a single reporting cycle. 

The trading statement’s claim that earnings fell “more than 100%” was absurd. The full results are catastrophic, with an R81.8-million loss and only R5.2 million left in cash. These are the figures of a company mismanaged from within, confirming what many already warned for months – that Mantengu’s crisis is self-inflicted. 

A credibility crisis the weather can’t explain

Mantengu insists that weather disruptions are largely responsible for its troubles, blaming flooding for disrupted production in its mining pits earlier in the year. But while weather may have played a role, it cannot account for the chaos in the company’s conduct.

Rain didn’t make their CEO accuse the JSE of running a criminal syndicate – a claim the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) investigated and dismissed. Nor did the weather cause Miller to repeat those allegations until the JSE was forced to take legal action. That episode ended with the Johannesburg High Court gagging Mantengu and its CEO from publishing further defamatory allegations, which is not even the company’s first legal defeat against the exchange this year. 

In other words, every time Miller’s conspiracy theories have collided with a regulator or a judge, they’ve come back with a legal slap in the face. When regulators and the courts tell you to sit down, it’s time to stop shouting “syndicate” and start looking in the mirror. And if Miller was honest with himself, he would acknowledge that the picture staring back is not that of a victim, but of a leader completely out of his depth.

1 Mantengu Reviewed Interim Financial Statements, 31 Aug 2025, p. 19, “Headline (loss) earnings and diluted headline (loss) earnings per share (cents): (27)”.

2 Mantengu Limited – Trading Statement, SENS, 25 November 2025, para. 3: “Diluted basic earnings… decline of more than 100%.”

3 Mantengu Reviewed Interim Financial Statements, p. 9, “(Loss) profit for the period: (81 831 000)”.

4 Mantengu Reviewed Interim Financial Statements, p. 11, “Total cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period: 5 197 000”.

5 Mantengu Trading Statement, SENS, 25 November 2025, para. 6: references to flooding impacting production.

Operational failures and financial strain

The trading statement further reveals that chrome production dropped in August because they couldn’t get drilling and blasting right. Sublime Technologies, acquired as a strategic asset, saw silicon carbide production plummet to zero after being shut it down for “much needed maintenance”. It also had to avoid higher winter electricity tariffs, a clear sign of strain. 

These problems lead directly to Mantengu’s deteriorating financial position. The group’s interim results show only R379.8 million in current assets against R556.8 million in current liabilities, leaving a severe R177-million shortfall. 

To plug these types of shortfalls, Mantengu has been leaning on a share-subscription facilitation agreement with GEM Global Yield, allowing it to request that GEM subscribe for new Mantengu shares up to a nominal R500 million. It’s not a banking facility or a loan, which is why GEM never shows up as a creditor. 

Crucially, Mantengu cannot access anything close to R500 million. GEM is legally capped at subscribing for no more than 35% of the company’s market cap. Mantengu would need a valuation of at least R1.5 billion to tap the full amount. It isn’t. With its current market cap, GEM is limited to roughly R50 million to R70 million – nowhere near enough to cover its creditors and liabilities.

What’s even more interesting is that GEM never appears as a shareholder either, despite repeatedly receiving large batches of newly issued Mantengu shares. The logical inference is that GEM takes the shares, and when they hit a certain level, they dump them into the market and move on. In other words, they’re speculators, not support.

Yet SENS filings show multiple tap-outs in 2024 and 2025, with repeated issues of new shares for cash, and repeated dilution of existing shares – the behaviour of a company desperately patching holes and hoping no one notices. Investors, however, have not been fooled, as Mantengu’s share price has continued to weaken.

Deflection won’t save Mantengu from decline 

6. Mantengu Trading Statement, SENS, 25 November 2025, para. 6: “Decrease in production… due to drilling and blasting challenges”.

7. Mantengu Trading Statement, SENS, 25 November 2025, para. 8: “Shut down in June and perform much needed maintenance”.

8. Mantengu Trading Statement, SENS, 25 November 2025, para. 8: shutdown “to avoid the significantly higher Eskom winter tariffs”.

9. Mantengu Reviewed Interim Financial Statements, p. 8: “Total current assets: 379 737 000” / “Total current liabilities: 556 834 000”.

10. Mantengu SENS – R500 million share subscription facility agreement, 26 October 2023, para. 1–3.

11. Mantengu SENS – General Issue of Shares for Cash, multiple notices published in 2024 & 2025 (e.g., 03 March 2024, 18 April 2024, 05 December 2024, 24 February 2025, 26 June 2025).

12. JSE Equity Market Data – Mantengu Limited (MTU): 12-month price chart showing trading in lower quartile (accessed via JSE.co.za).

Miller’s pet conspiracy theory is a distraction from the truth. The interim financials leave no doubt that the company is not being targeted by a cabal of traders, police officers, or JSE officials. Miller is simply running a badly managed company and looking for a scapegoat.

And while shareholders absorb the losses, Miller and his executives are enriching themselves. Miller alone pocketed R6.53 million in just six months, which is inexcusable given the company’s performance. 

Ultimately, Mantengu’s problems have not fallen from the sky.  Rebuilding its credibility will require a change of leadership and acknowledging the red flags everyone else can clearly see spelled out in its financial statements.

13. Mantengu Reviewed Interim Financial Statements, p. 20, “Directors’ emoluments – MJ Miller: Total 6 530 000”.