Skollie’s writing on the wall:
Lady Skollie’s exhibition, Groot Gat, looks at the complexities of culture, belonging, and taking a leap into things that concern who you are.
“Groot Gat was inspired by the fact that if you are brown in South Africa you kind of have to deal with a big hole, a void, a gap of forgetting within your own culture and within your own remembering,” she says.
Her exhibition consists of paintings and a video installation of her paintings, which gives the impression that those who came before are whispering history through the brick wall that depicts elevated cave drawings, adding depth to the story Lady Skollie (aka Laura Windvogel-Molefi) is telling.
In her paintings, she imagines a place where her culture had a platform to thrive. Her cave drawings are big and bold.
“You are defined by a hole within your own history that you have to fill up with either stories, or traditions or making your own new traditions. But as an artist, I have kind of figured out that my paintings are what I use to fill this giant gap left by history, oppression and colonialism,” she says.
Lady Skollie tells the story of Boesmansgat in the Northern Cape, a natural sinkhole filled with water that is the sixth deepest cave in the world, which professional divers have explored, some dying in the attempt. Lady Skollie imagines that the cave is guarded by a giant cave drawing deity based on Dada (Coex?ae Qgam), an artist and storyteller from Botswana.
“Dada knows what she is doing. She is just filling up the cave with paintings, trying to lure the next victim to jump in and see what is on the other side of that long dark void.”
The souls of those who never make it back are collected by a watermeid, a mermaid in Karoo folklore, who gets strength from these souls. All this is told through a blue and clay-red painting that shows the mermaid carrying these souls over her head like the sun.
In true Skollie fashion, her art goes far beyond canvases on festival walls. She has a knack for storytelling and encouraging conversations about culture, its importance and its preservation.
The richness of the art is remarkable. The colours transport the viewer through Lady Skollie’s ideas and thoughts. She challenges us to take a leap to find and claim parts of ourselves we have forgotten or that society has shelved because they’re unimportant or dangerous.
As a child I would ask my elders about where we come from and how we came to be and I would be sent from one elder to another, each saying they can’t remember. From those conversations, I would pick up pain in their voices.
With this exhibition, I understand why it may be difficult to go back, but I also see the importance of why we need to go back. That may mean taking a leap into a void and hope that the spirit of the watermeid does not hold you captive.
Lady Skollie says: “At the end of my Groot Gat is a surprise because it is not a dark evil place. It is actually a place where the fantasy is real, a place where being brown is not a culture that’s nipped in the bud. A place where everything has extended and evolved to a point where cave drawings are large, our identities are intact and we know where we are coming from and where we are going.”
The Groot Gat exhibition is on at the Gallery in the Round, Monument Building, Makhanda, until 2 July.
ANCYL withdraws Gigaba conference invite, only to invite him again:
The ANCYL conference organising committee has reinstated an invitation to its former president — and key state capture enabler — Malusi Gigaga to attend this week’s elective event, days after rescinding it due to a lack of funds.
The ANCYL last held a national conference in 2015 and has been run by a succession of task teams since its national leadership was disbanded in 2018 over a failure to elect a new national executive committee (NEC). It was also liquidated over unpaid debts, but has since had this set aside by the courts.
Gigaba — who served as ANCYL president between 1996 and 2004 — was among the former presidents and secretaries general of the governing party’s youth wing who had originally been invited to attend its 26th national congress, which is set to begin on Friday.
However, on 25 June, Nomasonto Motaung, the national youth task team national coordinator, wrote to Gigaba — who served in several ministerial capacities during the state capture era — telling him that the invitation had been rescinded.
“This communiqué serves to inform you that due to financial constraints, the ANC has advised us to reduce the number of days and guests for the 26th national congress,” Motaung said in the letter.
“We therefore have to withdraw the invite sent to you as we are in the process of reviewing all invitations. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused,” the letter said.
However, on Tuesday, the rescission of the invitation to Gigaba, who resigned as an ANC MP in 2018, was itself rescinded, and he was contacted by the organising committee to confirm that he was again invited to attend.
It is not clear whether other former top officials, including presidents Lulu Johnson and Collen Maine and secretaries general Nathi Mthethwa and Sihle Zikalala, had been uninvited — and re-invited — in the same manner as Gigaba.
Gigaba, one of the ANC’s rising stars, gained notoriety during the Zondo Commission during which witness testimony implicated him in the capture of state-owned entities by companies linked to the Gupta family.
Gigaba denied the allegations against him at the commission, which recommended that he be investigated over his role in the capture of Transnet, along with former chief executive officer Brian Molefe and others.
On Wednesday, he declined to comment on the rescission and reinstatement of his invitation.
ANCYL task team convener Xola Nqola had not responded to a request for comment from the Mail & Guardian at the time of writing.
Prosus delivers against strategic objectives, on track to achieve profitability target:
The cross-holding between Prosus and Naspers has been removed, allowing open-ended buyback to continue
Please note: Group results are shown on a consolidated basis from continuing operations excluding OLX Autos unless stated otherwise. These numbers differ from IFRS disclosures where certain OLX Autos business units are still included in continuing operations as their exit has yet to be finalised. All growth percentages shown here are in local currency terms, adjusted for acquisitions and disposals unless otherwise stated.
In the second half of the year the Group made significant progress delivering on its strategic priorities, positioning it well for long-term value creation. The ongoing open-ended repurchase programme is creating significant value for shareholders and actions taken in H2 to streamline operations have improved profitability. The group has increased confidence in achieving its H1 2025 profit ambition, while continuing to deliver high growth.
Headlines
• Announcement of proposed transaction to simplify the Group ownership structure through the removal of the cross-holding between Prosus and Naspers, allowing open-ended buyback to continue.
• Sustained revenue growth across core segments, well ahead of sector peers
- Strong revenue growth of 36% across four core segments of Food Delivery, Classifieds, Payments and Fintech, and Edtech (excluding e-tail)
- Overall, growth in consolidated Ecommerce revenue was 16%, with stron growth in the core segments partially offset by a decline in the Group’s consolidated e-tail business
• On track towards H1 FY25 profitability target
- Significant steps taken to drive profitability include streamlining operations, cost and headcount reductions and the exit of OLX Autos
- Margin improvement of 6% in H2
- Continued targeted investment in high-growth opportunities
• Core headline earnings reduced by 9%, mainly due to lower contribution from associates
• Open-ended buyback programme unlocked US$ 29bn in shareholder value from launch to 31 March 2023
- Buyback delivered 5% NAV per share growth
- US$ 10.5 billion of shares in Naspers and Prosus repurchased
• Strengthened and flexible balance sheet provides strategic advantage
- Central cash of US$ 14.9bn
- Bolstered by US$ 4.7bn Meituan share distribution
Bob van Dijk, Group CEO, Prosus and Naspers, commented: “During the last 12 months we have made good progress across all of our strategic objectives. Against a challenging backdrop, the Ecommerce portfolio has performed well and the open-ended buyback programme is driving improved NAV per share. Today we announced plans to simplify our ownership structure by removing the cross-holding between Naspers and Prosus, which allows the continuation of the share repurchase programme. There is much more to do, but we are on a good trajectory, we have strong momentum and remain confident in our commitment to achieve profitability in our Ecommerce portfolio during the first half of 2025.”
Simplification of ownership structure
The removal of the cross-holding simplifies the Group and enables the continuation of the share repurchase programme at the Naspers level.
The transaction will be effected by both Naspers and Prosus issuing shares to their existing shareholders. Naspers and Prosus will waive their rights to participate in the respective capitalisation issue of new Prosus or Naspers shares. This will result in:
- Naspers’s direct ownership in Prosus aligning to its current economic ownership of 43%
- The remaining 57% ownership of Prosus being held by the Prosus free float, consistent with their current economic ownership of Prosus
- No change in Naspers voting interest in Prosus of 72%
- Prosus remains a subsidiary of Naspers
Naspers will remain JSE listed and a South African domiciled and tax resident company. Prosus will remain a controlled foreign company of Naspers for South African tax purposes and retain its listing in the Netherlands.
For full details on the Proposed Transaction please visit our website.
Group performance
Basil Sgourdos, Group CFO, Prosus and Naspers, commented: “Prosus is on a firm footing to deliver continued value for shareholders. Our Ecommerce businesses are scaling at pace, with sustained revenue growth well ahead of our peers. During the year, we’ve streamlined our operations and reduced costs. These actions have taken hold, and we’ve reached a turning point in profitability, with iFood’s restaurant business, ourIndian payments business and core classifieds all profitable. Our strengthened balance sheet, liquidity and improving free cash flow enable us to continue investing in high growth opportunities and are an advantage in the current environment.”
Robust growth and strong execution across Ecommerce portfolio
Consolidated Ecommerce revenue from our four core segments was strong at 36%, partly offset by a tougher trading environment in our etail business to deliver consolidated Group revenue growth of 16% to US$ 4.9bn. Trading losses in H2 decreased by 43% from H1. The established businesses are all profitable and these losses are a result of targeted investment in high-growth earlier stage initiatives such as quick commerce and grocery delivery, credit and innovation in our Edtech segment.
Classifieds – OLX Group: sustained growth and improved profitability in core classifieds (in May 2022, the Group announced an intention to exit Avito. The disposal of Avito was concluded in October 2022. Avito is now treated as a discontinued operation in the financial results).
- Core classifieds consolidated revenue grew 15% despite the impact of the Ukraine conflict. Excluding Ukraine revenues grew 20%.
- Trading profit margin, excluding Ukraine, was 19%, a 6 percentage point improvement on the prior year.
- In March 2023, a decision was taken to exit the OLX Autos business, with completion expected during FY24.
Food Delivery: Market-leading revenue growth with meaningful improvement in profitability
- iFood’s core restaurant businesses grew Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) by 14% and revenue 24%, leading to a trading profit of US$ 94m, with an 8% trading margin.
- Targeted investment in grocery and quick commerce drove a 64% increase in GMV from all new initiatives, with revenue up 475%.
- Delivery Hero grew GMV by 18% to €44.6bn on a pro-forma basis and improved adjusted EBITDA margin (as percentage of GMV) by -1.4% (prior period: -2.9%).
- Swiggy grew GMV by 58%, with the business announcing that its core restaurant business turned profitable in March 2023.
Payments & Fintech – PayU: Strong overall performance, with Indian Payments Service Provider (PSP) business profitable and significant growth in Indian credit business
- Consolidated revenue increased 52% to US$ 903m as Total Payment Volume (TPV) in the core PSP business grew 39%.
- Indian PSP business profitable, with TPV up 44%.
- Indian credit business grew its loan book by 112% with revenue up 221%.
- Consolidated trading losses of US$ 83m impacted by a one-off provision of US$ 23m at Global Payments Organisation.
Edtech: Solid growth in majority-owned platforms, with continued investment impacting segment profitability
- Consolidated revenue increased 21% to US$ 134m with trading losses of US$ 131m as a result of investment in technology including AI, and international expansion.
- Stack Overflow grew total bookings by 37% and revenues by 20% and GoodHabitz grew enterprise customers by 18% and revenue by 24%.
For full details of the Group’s results, please visit www.prosus.com.
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