Following weeks of rumour, Spar today announced that Mike Bosman has resigned with immediate effect as chairman of the board. Gone, too, is Shirley Zinn, the group’s deputy chairman.
The retailer has given no reason for the dramatic development and merely stated, “While Mr Bosman and Dr Zinn continue to have the full support of the Board, taking into consideration the context of the period that both these directors and the Board have recently experienced, Mr Bosman and Dr Zinn have separately concluded that stepping down and resigning from the Board is the right decision for them and in the best interest of the Company.”
Lwazi Koyana, an independent non executive director, has been named chair.
Bosman was first appointed chairman of the board in December 2022, replacing Graham O’ Connor who was forced to resign due to a governance scandal. Zinn joined the board shortly after in February 2023 and was appointed deputy chairman in June 2023.
In a joint announcement issued shortly after the SENS, Bosman and Zinn said they had reluctantly concluded the time had come to step away from Spar. It referred to capricious behaviour they had experienced from “certain current and former Spar retailers and former employees”. They had been subjected to sustained personal attacks, hostility and, at times, threats, but did not mention any names.
This is the latest and possibly the most serious of a series of resignations that have dogged the group since December 2022, resulting in a slew of top executives leaving the company. Management turmoil has been mirrored in Spar’s share price, which has sunk from R127 a share, when Bosman was appointed, to its current R45.44.
Board turmoil
In January 2023, just weeks after O’Connor’s departure, the then-CEO Brett Botten resigned. Despite governance-related criticisms Bosman stepped into the role and remained executive chairman until October 2023 when Angelo Swartz was appointed CEO. Swartz quit last February and was replaced by the then-chief financial officer Reeza Isaacs.
The SENS announcement thanked both Bosman and Zinn for “their dedication, professionalism and the meaningful legacy of their service”.
But it made no reference to a petition issued by the National Council of the Spar Guild in May calling for Bosman’s resignation. The Council represents the independent retailers who own and run the Spar outlets across the country. The petition said that whether fairly or unfairly, Bosman has become closely associated with the period of decline, reputational damage, strategic uncertainty, shareholder value destruction and breakdown in trust between the group and the retailer network. “His continued presence as chairman now stands as an obstacle to renewal, confidence-building, and the restoration of constructive relations across the Spar system,” it said.
The Spar board promptly responded to the call with Zinn stating Bosman had the full confidence of the board. An independent board committee was established to discuss the issue.
The was also no mention in the latest SENS of a rumoured investigation into potential conflicts of interest arising from Zinn’s directorship of a number of companies including Tuesday Consulting.
Spar has never disclosed that it is a client of Tuesday Consulting or that Zinn is a director there.
The latest shock is expected to rattle shareholders and see further weakness in the share price. During this time the board has had to take some severe action to deal with legacy issues such as the ill-considered international acquisition which cost the group tens of billions of Rands.
