Africa-Press – South-Africa. Mike Miller, CEO of the JSE-listed Mantengu, claims that his opponents have put out a hit on him and his CFO, drones are flying over their office building, and suspicious people with AK-47 rifles are following them.
Miller shared this information during an interview on Biznews where he discussed the ongoing battle regarding alleged Mantengu share price manipulation.
Mantengu Mining (MTU) is a resource investment company focused on unlocking new value in the mining, mining services, and energy sectors.
On Friday, 9 May 2025, it said it filed a criminal complaint with the Hawks in connection with alleged share price manipulation aimed at depressing Mantengu’s share price.
“The filing of the criminal complaint is the culmination of approximately 18 months of investigative work by the company and its various advisors,” it said.
It had also alerted the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) of its concerns about share price manipulation.
The JSE allegedly ignored the company’s concerns and instead investigated Mantengu for alleged breaches of specific listing requirements.
“The JSE also blocked MTU from releasing a SENS announcement intended to warn shareholders of share manipulation in early 2024,” it claimed.
The company also claims to have evidence suggesting that the JSE covered up a naked short sale on the company’s shares by borrowing shares from MTU’s largest shareholder.
Mantengu believes it is being targeted by a syndicate using front companies such as Sable Exploration and Mining (SEAM) and Liberty Coal.
“One of the objectives in using these fronting companies was to conceal the ultimate beneficial owners of them,” Mantengu claimed.
“The company’s investigations have revealed that these fronting companies have shared directors, lawyers and auditors.”
The JSE denied being a party to or “complicit” in any form of illegal or unlawful activity. It stated that Mantengu’s allegations in this respect are false and rejected.
The JSE added that Mantengu’s allegations, which are directed at the JSE and its employees, officers, and executives, are false and without merit.
The exchange ordered the company to retract its “serious and defamatory allegations” through a cease and desist letter warning of legal action.
Liberty Coal has also dismissed the allegations, calling Miller a “delusional fantasist who suffers from some form of unhinged narcissism”.
It said Miller allowed his personal failings to lead him down a rabbit hole of baseless allegations concerning Mantengu’s poor share performance.
Liberty Coal said these allegations can cause severe financial and reputational harm to those Miller has targeted.
“Liberty Coal, and no doubt others, will be seeking full redress in law from both him personally and Mantengu for such harm,” the company said.
Serious allegations by Mantengu CEO Mike Miller
Mantengu Board of Directors – Vincent Madlela, Michael Miller, Alistair Collins, Magen Naidoo, and Jonas Tshikundamalema
Miller told Biznews that in June 2024, they obtained an Anton Pillar order and an interdict against Liberty Coal’s Ulrich Bester.
“When the raid was happening, Zunaid Moti phoned one of our executives and asked for a meeting to resolve this issue as gentlemen,” he said.
The Mantengu board agreed to the meeting. “We did not know what we were dealing with,” Miller told Biznews.
He said they met at Moti’s offices. “During the meeting, it became clear that Mr Moti knew far too much about our share price,” he said.
“He made a joke that he will short us to 10c per share. I responded, saying he should short us to 1c. When we issue our first earnings and dividend, the market will outmuscle this.”
This was the end of the meeting. “At that point, we could see something was amiss,” Miller said in the interview.
“That is not us shaking the tree or taking on Mr Moti. He is a serious business player and above our league. However, he called us. We did not call him,” he said.
Miller added that over the last year, they had to deal with numerous criminal issues, including threats on their lives.
“We had drones flying over our office. We have had hits put out on me on the Mantengu CFO, and our senior engineer was hijacked with a mock assassination,” he said.
“Today, coming into this meeting, we had two suspicious vehicles with people with AK-47 rifles at our Zeerust operations.”
Mantengu Mining statement – 9 May 2025
The board of directors of Mantengu Mining wishes to inform shareholders of the following:
The Company filed a criminal complaint with the Hawks against several JSE executives and others in connection with alleged share price manipulation aimed at depressing the share price. The filing of the criminal complaint is the culmination of approximately 18 months of investigative work by the Company and its various advisors.
The Company had alerted the JSE in respect of its concerns of share price manipulation. The JSE ignored the Company’s concerns and chose to instead investigate MTU for alleged breaches of certain Listings Requirements. The JSE also blocked MTU from releasing a SENS announcement intended to warn shareholders of share manipulation in early 2024.
Evidence also suggests that the JSE covered up a naked short on the Company’s shares by borrowing shares from MTU’s largest shareholder, to ensure that a trade (a short on MTU shares without any scrip lending arrangement in place) was executed, and then replaced the borrowed shares shortly thereafter. When MTU queried this with the JSE, the JSE chose to threaten MTU in its response.
The Company believes that it is being targeted by a syndicate using front companies such as Sable Exploration and Mining Limited (“SEAM”) and Liberty Coal (Pty) Ltd (“Liberty”). One of the objectives in using these fronting companies was to conceal the ultimate beneficial owners (“UBO’s”) of them. The Company’s investigations have revealed that these fronting companies have shared directors, lawyers and auditors. MTU reported its fronting concerns to the JSE but, again, received no support from the JSE.
MTU’s trading statement, released on SENS on 6 May 2025, indicated that it expects to report earnings that are significantly more than its market capitalisation at the time of the trading update. The Company believes that this disconnect stems largely from alleged share price manipulation.
The Company wants to make the point that the JSE has at no stage provided any tangible support to support MTU’s legitimate concerns.
The Company does not wish to make its legal case in this SENS announcement, but rather to inform its shareholders of the significant work that the Board, supported by its various advisors and experts, has done. As previously communicated, the Company will pursue all legal avenues to restore fair valuation and will keep shareholders updated with developments.
Mantengu is aware of the possible negative perceptions that may result following this announcement. However, it believes that financial markets and the investing public should view its decision to make an announcement of this nature as testament to its unwavering commitment to transparency, integrity, compliance, and all-round good corporate governance.
Mantengu’s Board is also of the view that any delay in making this announcement would result in the Company and its stakeholders being put into a significantly prejudicial position and the Company’s directors at personal security risk.
Liberty Coal Press Statement – 9 May 2025
Liberty Coal has been provided with a copy of a media release dated 8 May 2025 titled “Mantengu files criminal complaint against JSE executives, Moti and Gupta associates: subpoenas FSCA over alleged share manipulation concerns” and a 19-page pdf document titled “Summary of Criminal Complaint”. This information was communicated to Liberty Coal’s legal advisors by a journalist around 8pm on 8 May 2025.
Liberty Coal has since had several requests by various journalists for comments on the contents of these documents. In the limited time available, and having read the various allegations made by Mr Miller, Liberty Coal’s position, simply and briefly, is that Mr Miller, the CEO of Mantengu, is a delusional fantasist who has, for what can at its kindest only be ascribed to some form of unhinged narcissism, allowed his personal failings in that position to lead him down a rabbit-hole of baseless allegations concerning Mantengu’s parlous share performance. Perhaps he needs to seek appropriate medical advice, support or supervision for his condition.
Mr Miller, on behalf of Mantengu, seemingly solely based on inferences he has chosen to draw without a shred of factual evidence, has however chosen to make far-reaching and defamatory allegations not merely of untoward but criminal conduct by various parties, including Liberty Coal, which can cause serious financial and reputational harm to those he has targeted. Liberty Coal, and no doubt others, will be seeking full redress in law from both him personally and Mantengu for such harm. Regrettably, it will ultimately also be the shareholders in Mantengu that suffer when Mr Miller’s delusional fantasies are proven to be just that.
Mr Miller and/or Mantengu furthermore claim to have lodged a formal criminal complaint against what is said to be a syndicate “fronted” by, among others, Liberty Coal but has provided no further details in that regard. By leaking his alleged criminal complaint to the media, he attempts to both bypass and pre-empt legal due process, seemingly without proper or any care for the consequences of his conduct.
Simply put, Liberty Coal, as the owner of the Optimum Colliery coal mining complex, neither trades in nor mines chrome, has no interest in Mantengu, its business or Mr Miller, and before Mr Miller during 2024 chose to develop his current fiction to explain the poor performance of Mantengu’s share price, was not even aware of its existence. Certainly, either then or now, it has had no interest in its shares, share price or business activities.
It is apparent to Liberty Coal that Mr Miller is perfectly capable on his own, without any involvement of Liberty Coal, to ruin Mantengu’s business, and to destroy any remaining shareholder value if simply left to his own devices.
Mr Miller’s delusional fantasies boil down to the fact that he believes that Mantengu’s announcement of its intended acquisition of Blue Ridge should have been viewed positively by the market, resulting in its share price – then c.R140/share – increasing. He is now left clutching at straws and blaming the world, as since Mantengu acquired Blue Ridge its share price has steadily declined to a recent low of c.0.45 cents.
It is clear from a cursory look at Mantengu’s historic share price and traded volumes that the market has no similar belief in either Mantengu’s management, its business strategy or both.
Much is made by Mantengu of Mr Bester’s and/or Liberty Coal’s apparent desire to acquire Blue Ridge, a failed platinum and PGM mine previously owned by Ridge Mining and which ultimately ended up in Sibanye’s hands. A simple check with Sibanye would have confirmed to him that Liberty Coal, having initially expressed interest in Blue Ridge as a potential acquisition by SEAM to bolster its working asset portfolio, formed the view in May 2023 that it was not financially viable. As such Liberty Coal has had no interest in the Blue Ridge project, directly or indirectly, ever since.
Liberty Coal will afford Mr Miller and Mantengu the opportunity until close of business on Monday 12 May 2025 to formally and publicly retract its allegations and tender an apology to Liberty Coal. The allegations against Mr Bester are being defended by him in his personal capacity. As indicated above, Liberty Coal intends shortly instituting such further legal actions against Mr Miller and Mantengu for defamation, including appropriate damages, an urgent interdict to stop further defamatory comments being made and crimen injuria, as it has been advised.
JSE response – 9 May 2025
The JSE, as licensed exchange, is bound by and must adhere to the provisions of the Financial Markets Act. An important provision of the Financial Markets Act is section 73 which prohibits the JSE from disclosing confidential information to third parties. Our response is therefore limited to information that we may lawfully share with you, and we hope that it will be of assistance.
At the outset the JSE denies that it was a party to, or “complicit” in, any form of illegal or unlawful activity. The allegations made by Mantengu in this respect are false and rejected.
The JSE upholds the highest standards of market integrity, transparency, and investor protection by enforcing rigorous listing requirements and exchange rules, monitoring trading activities, and ensuring fair and orderly markets. The JSE works closely with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and other regulatory bodies to detect and deter market abuse, support corporate governance, and maintain public confidence in the financial markets.
The criminal complaint
The JSE has considered the allegations made by Mantengu in its “Summary of Criminal Complaint”.
The allegations in the summary which are directed at the JSE, and its employees, officers and executives are false and without any merit. Notably there are no direct facts alleged, or supporting documents attached, which relate to the alleged unlawful conduct of the JSE, its executives, officers and/or employees. The JSE acted lawfully, correctly and strictly in accordance with its regulatory responsibilities and its executives, officers and/or employees were not involved or complicit in any criminal activity.
Further, false allegations and statements made by Mantengu do not form the basis for an investigation by the authorities nor will, or could it ever result in criminal charges being proffered against any of the JSE executives, officers and/or employees. Even a cursory examination of the relevant facts will clearly indicate that the contents of the “criminal complaint” insofar as it relates to the JSE’s involvement are vexatious and without any merit.
The JSE will provide the prosecuting authorities with its assistance and any information that it may require to deal with the criminal complaint. The JSE has full confidence in the safeguards enshrined in the Constitution that protect innocent individuals against false accusations and malicious and unfounded criminal complaints.
Mantengu has previously complained to the JSE about alleged share price manipulation. These allegations were carefully considered by the JSE through the review of the trading activity in Mantengu shares. Either no evidence of possible price manipulation warranting a referral to the FSCA by the JSE was identified through these reviews, and the finding was conveyed to Mantengu, or the relevant trading activity is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the FSCA.
The JSE also informed Mantengu that if believed that there had been manipulation of its share price it could approach the FSCA directly, as the appropriate body, to investigate its complaint, which Mantengu did.
At the instance of Mantengu, the FSCA is investigating certain allegations of share price manipulation and the JSE has co-operated fully with the FSCA in its investigation. The JSE has provided the FSCA with all of the necessary information in respect of the share trades which Mantengu suggests constitute a manipulation of its share price.
The JSE will await the outcome of the FSCA investigation.
The JSE’s obligation to ensure a fair and efficient market in the securities listed and traded on its exchange
It is of critical importance for the proper functioning of the JSE’s market that settlement of all transactions concluded on its exchange is effected in terms of the rules. The JSE rules contain extensive provisions dealing with the mechanisms and actions that the JSE may (and must) take to ensure settlement. Failed trades are detrimental to a proper functioning market and negatively impact the confidence of investors in the South African financial markets.
There is nothing unusual or unlawful in the JSE’s concluding securities lending and borrowing arrangements with market participants to ensure that settlement takes place. Although the JSE is prohibited by statute from sharing the specific information with you in respect of transactions in securities traded on the JSE’s market and the JSE’s actions to ensure settlement, we reiterate and confirm that the JSE acted lawfully and strictly in accordance with the provisions of its rules and its regulatory responsibilities.
The JSE’s lawful actions to ensure settlement of transactions on its exchange were necessary for the proper and efficient functioning of its market and did not facilitate an “unmatched illegal naked short”, or another type of unlawful transaction.
Without commenting on any specific transactions, it is also important to note that when the JSE concludes securities lending and borrowing transactions with market participants, these transactions do not in themselves imply that the market participant who is borrowing securities through the JSE was executing a short sale of the relevant shares. There are instances where market participants own the securities that they are selling but they experience administrative challenges in ensuring that the securities are available to be delivered on the settlement date.
In these instances, the seller may need to borrow the securities through the JSE to facilitate the settlement of the sale. It is therefore speculative and irresponsible to assume that a seller has executed a short sale merely because securities needed to be borrowed to settle the sale transaction, and that a securities lending and borrowing arrangement through the JSE implies that the relevant sale was either an “illegal naked short” sale or an “extremely peculiar” short sale.
Mantengu’s SENS Announcement
The JSE does not approve SENS announcements, nor does it verify that the contents of SENS announcements are correct and accurate prior to their publication by an issuer.
It is the responsibility of the issuer and its sponsor/designated adviser to ensure that SENS announcements comply with the applicable listings requirements prior to release and are correct and accurate.
The listings requirements impose obligations on issuers and their sponsors/designated advisers to ensure that they only publish announcements on SENS that contain relevant company information, being price sensitive information and announcements that are specifically required in terms of the listings requirements.
In cases where there is doubt, sponsors/designated advisers may approach the JSE in advance of the release of an announcement for guidance on the contents of a SENS announcement. In such a case the JSE will advise on the necessity of the publication of the information but not on the accuracy of the information.
Mantengu’s advisors approached the JSE in connection with a proposed SENS announcement during February 2024 which contained allegations of share price manipulation. The JSE advised Mantengu’s advisors that the proposed announcement did not comply with the terms of the Listing Requirements and therefore could not be released on SENS.
The JSE was not approached by Mantengu’s designated advisor in respect of the most recent SENS announcement that has been published. The JSE is considering the contents and publication of that announcement and will engage with the Company and its designated adviser to consider and assess whether the contents and publication of the announcement comply with the listings requirements.
We trust that what is set out above is of assistance to you and explains the JSE’s position.
We repeat that the JSE is unable to respond to the detail of all the allegations because of the confidentiality provisions that bind it. It follows that where the JSE has not specifically dealt with allegations that does not mean the JSE agrees with those allegations.
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