Land Bank seeks to exit default by end-March
South Africa’s largest lender to farmers is seeking to exit default on its debt by the end of March, potentially marking the end of a two-year saga that’s raised concern other indebted State companies will follow suit.
The Pretoria-based Land & Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa has been struggling to find a way forward since missing a loan repayment in April 2020 that triggered a cross-default in notes issued under a R50-billion bond programme.
“We hope to get it out of default by the end of the financial year,” chairperson Thabi Nkosi said in an interview on Tuesday. “We are already in advanced talks with lenders,” with 28% of liabilities having been settled, she said.
The Land Bank has been seen as a potential harbinger for how debt at other struggling state companies will be handled. Arms maker Denel last week said it was seeking government help after missed bond payments put it at risk of default. Eskom Holdings, the national power utility, has R392-billion of debt and is dependent on State bailouts.
The government has committed R7-billion in support for the Land Bank.
Nkosi’s comments come after the Land Bank announced that CEO Ayanda Kanana had resigned, along with Litha Magingxa, who oversaw agricultural economics and was acting head of strategy.
“The new board was appointed late last year with a clear mandate. We needed to clean house and very specifically deal with the challenges, we found an organization where internal controls were in a dismal state,” she said. “The CEO joined the bank at a time when it was already difficult. That can exacerbate stress and we sympathize with that but we will continue to address these issues.”
Kanana declined to comment. He will leave the bank at the end of April and a replacement is being sought, with interim measures to be announced, Nkosi said.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...
VISIT SHOWROOMDeveloped to exceed the latest EN 15964 standards for police breathalysers proving that it will remain accurate and reliable for many years to come.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
