Sibanye-Stillwater CEO

The huge remuneration for Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman comes as the company has profited from smart decisions and soaring metal prices.

Froneman's big payday comes as the company remains the subject of a wage strike at its struggling South African gold mines, which has continued for over six weeks as the Sibanye and the gold miners fail to come to an agreement. Also, at 1.1% of the R26.2 billion wages and salaries paid by Sibanye [last year], it is not a big number," he said. Du Plessis, however points out Froneman and other executives are remunerated at a group level – benefitting from the fortunes of all business units at all times. "Management does benefit in boom times, but if the share price drops, it's going be a very different scenario." The board and the remuneration committee need to own up on how they can support him in his stance regarding salaries for workers compared to his obscene salary," he said. A report on executive compensation in the mining industry, published by a Toronto-based executive search and talent management firm, found CEO total compensation ranged from $452 500 (R7.14 million) for companies with assets under $100 million to $9 947 031 (R157 million) for miners with assets over $20 billion. While Anglo American Platinum CEO, Natascha Viljoen, who has been in the job for two years, was paid R28.9 million. You just have to look at what Mark Bristow has achieved. Sibanye-Stillwater spokesperson James Wellsted said the basic salary increase for Froneman and management was inflation-linked at 5% or less. The group has enjoyed record profits as a result, while shareholders have enjoyed record dividends. The company share price has increased 300% in the past three years, rising from R14 a share in April 2019 to R55 a share currently. Rene Hochreiter, an analyst at Noah Capital, said the R300 million equates to roughly $20 million and is not unusual for a company the size of Sibanye-Stillwater, not to mention the unenviable job of running the company.