A company has been fined for making allegations of share price manipulation - and not the other way around.
Image: Nicola Mawson | IOL
The JSE has censured Mantengu Mining and imposed a suspended R100,000 fine after finding that the company published allegations of share price manipulation that were not adequately substantiated.
The censure follows two voluntary announcements issued by Mantengu on the Stock Exchange News Service (SENS) on 8 and 9 May 2025, titled “share price manipulation – criminal complaint” and “warning of shorting risk”.
According to the JSE, the announcements contained “speculative, unverified and unsupported” allegations and did not meet the standards required under the exchange’s Listings Requirements.
The exchange said the disclosures did not constitute price-sensitive information in terms of its rules and therefore should not have been published in that form.
For information to be considered price-sensitive, JSE rules require it to be sufficiently specific and precise, relating to a current or reasonably anticipated event, and detailed enough to allow investors to assess its potential impact on the share price.
The JSE said Mantengu’s statements consisted largely of allegations, suspicions and assertions that had not been verified or supported at the time of publication.
“In the absence of supporting facts or evidence, the information lacked the degree of certainty required to render it specific and precise and did not provide the market with a clear and reliable basis for decision-making,” the exchange said.
Mantengu, which is pursuing a strategy to expand into mining, mining services and energy, has positioned itself as a disruptive mining investment group.
Image: Mantengu Mining
It added that Mantengu was in breach of the General Principles of the Listings Requirements, which govern the dissemination of information to the market and the maintenance of investor confidence in disclosure standards and corporate governance.
Mantengu’s allegations date back to at least 2024 and culminated in criminal complaints being filed with the Hawks in May 2025 against several JSE executives and other parties. The complaints followed what the company described as an extended period of internal investigation with advisers.
The company has alleged that its share price was being targeted through practices including naked short selling and other forms of market manipulation. These allegations have been strongly rejected by the JSE.
Mantengu has also argued that its market valuation does not reflect its underlying performance, pointing to a trading update in which it expected earnings to exceed its market capitalisation as support for its concerns.
Magen Naidoo is listed as Mantengu Mining's CEO on its website.
Image: Mantengu Mining
Short selling is a recognised market practice in which investors borrow shares and sell them with the intention of buying them back later at a lower price. Naked short selling, where shares are sold without first being borrowed or without ensuring delivery, is prohibited in most regulated markets.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) also reviewed a sample of trades between June 2023 and February 2024 in relation to the allegations. It found no evidence of prohibited trading practices or wrongdoing by the JSE or its officials, and said there was no prima facie case for further action.
Mantengu has disputed the scope of that review, saying it covered only a portion of a broader period under consideration and focused narrowly on naked short selling rather than the wider allegations it had raised.
The central issue before the JSE was not the substance of Mantengu’s allegations, but whether the company’s SENS announcements complied with disclosure requirements. The exchange concluded that they did not.
The JSE instructed Mantengu to retract the announcements in order to remedy the non-compliance. The company declined to do so, maintaining that its statements were supported by documentary evidence.
Mantengu’s designated adviser initially approved the announcements for publication but later withdrew that approval and also requested that they be retracted. The company did not comply with either request.
“Notwithstanding this withdrawal of approval, the company persisted in its refusal to retract the announcements and allowed the non-compliant information to remain on SENS,” the JSE said.
The suspended fine of R100,000 is payable only if Mantengu is found guilty of similar breaches within a three-year period.