Miller’s mouth lands him in court as JSE demands proof

CEO Mike Miller’s campaign to defend Mantengu Mining has turned into a full-blown media offensive, complete with sponsored headlines, interviews, and dramatic accusations of criminal plots. But what began as an effort to restore confidence may now be eroding it.

Over the past few months, Mantengu has issued a series of media statements and interviews repeating its increasingly elaborate claims of market manipulation, while its CEO has appeared repeatedly on BizNews, insisting the company is the victim of a “criminal network” targeting its shares. That messaging hit a crescendo this week in a paid Business Day feature sensationally headlined “Mantengu probe exposes alleged JSE-linked criminal syndicate.”

Styled as an investigative report, the article alleged that “senior JSE personnel” were complicit in share manipulation, that police dockets had been “hijacked” by a brigadier in the Randburg precinct, and that the supposed syndicate operated with influence inside the Sandton and Johannesburg SAPS regions.

It even claimed that trades were sometimes settled “in return for luxury vehicles” and that a “well-known fraud examiner” was financially entangled with the group. No corroborating evidence accompanied the allegations, although the article maintained that this evidence does exist.

Following this “report” in Business Day, the JSE have yesterday launched an urgent application in the Johannesburg High Court to force Miller and Mantengu to now put up his evidence of the alleged criminal syndicate, or shut up. In its papers, the JSE have confirmed that there is no evidence to suggest Miller’s claims are true, and that it was necessary to bring the application as Miller’s conduct undermines the integrity and reputation of the JSE.

Despite this onslaught, the market’s verdict has been unforgiving. Mantengu’s share price, which briefly traded above R3 immediately after its consolidation in April 2023, remains well below R1 – a slide analysts say reflects scepticism rather than sabotage.

Behind the noise lies a company still fighting for credibility. The Business Day article followed a string of defeats that have left Miller isolated. In October, the Johannesburg High Court threw out Mantengu’s urgent application against the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), in which it accused the exchange of “censorship” for refusing to publish his allegations on its SENS platform.

The court found that Mantengu had withheld key information, including a key Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) report, and had engaged in “an abuse of the court process.”

That FSCA report, released five months earlier, had already dealt a major blow. After a detailed probe into Mantengu’s claims of “naked short selling” and insider manipulation, the FSCA concluded there was “no reason to suspect improper conduct by the JSE or any of its officials.”

With regulators and courts unmoved, Miller took his case to the court of public opinion. But as his allegations grew more sweeping, implicating not only traders but JSE executives, law-enforcement officers, and even former associates, observers say the story began to collapse under its own weight.

One of the more improbable names drawn into the web is businessman Zunaid Moti, who was accused by Miller of being part of the “syndicate.” Moti has dismissed the claims as “an attempt to deflect from his own failures,” vehemently denying that he has ever owned or traded in Mantengu shares. He has since gone on the offensive with a fiery BizNews interview and social media posts scrutinising Mantengu’s numbers.

According to Moti, Mantengu’s filings show glaring contradictions. The 2022 reverse-listing deal through which it acquired Langpan Mining remains at the centre of the confusion, as the circular to shareholders placed the transaction at R550 million, while an independent expert’s report valued Langpan at only R27.5 million. A separate Competent Person’s Report suggested anywhere between R223 million and R851 million, depending on untested platinum-group metal (PGM) recoveries.

Warnings caution that the PGM estimates were speculative, but Mantengu’s subsequent reports have relied on the highest figure, even though the company still has not begun PGM production. Moti also notes that while its 2025 results show a handsome net profit of R300 million, other figures paint a more alarming picture with only R4 million in operating income, R60 million in interest charges, and liabilities exceeding R400 million.

A large portion of that paper profit came from the so-called “bargain purchase” of Sublime Acquisitions – an asset booked at R350 million but suspiciously acquired for nothing.

For now, Miller continues to insist that Mantengu’s sluggish share price is the symptom of a greater conspiracy, and that emails, recordings, and “over 500 pages of transcripts” will allegedly expose a far-reaching criminal network. But with no corroboration from official sources, the more he insists on the existence of enemies everywhere, the less convincing his story seems.

What was meant to reassure shareholders has instead deepened suspicions. As Mantengu’s story grows more tangled, Miller’s toughest task may no longer be proving market manipulation, but convincing investors he still deserves their trust.