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# Sygnia wants to give its staff shares that are effectively free, and some shareholders plan to vote no
- URL: https://www.businessbagel.com/sygnia-staff-share-scheme-vote-1-cent/
- Published: 2026-10-21T03:15:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T03:15:00.000Z
- Description: Shareholders vote on Friday on a bigger staff share scheme priced at 1 cent a share, with the board in favour and a group of investors, including a former partner of the founder, against.
- Author: Christian Maidman
- Tags: Companies, Business Bagel News

A share option is a promise that you can buy a company's share later at a price fixed today, and it is usually worth something only if the share climbs above that price. Sygnia, the Cape Town asset manager, has set the price on its staff options at 1 cent, while its shares trade in the tens of rands. On Friday its shareholders vote on whether to hand out a lot more of them.

The circular, sent to shareholders on 25 September, asks to grow the employee scheme by two thirds, to 25 million shares. More than a quarter of those are already spoken for, which leaves about 18 million to be issued to executives and staff in future. At the current share price, Daily Investor puts the shares on offer at about R600 million, effectively free to whoever receives them. This is the third time the board has rewritten the scheme's rules, and the second change went to a shareholder vote in May 2025.

## The limits written into the circular

The changes also raise what one person can receive, to 1.5 million shares a year and 7.5 million in total. In return, any grant above 5 million shares has to be tied to performance conditions set by the board, and Sygnia can cancel options and claw back money already paid out if an employee is involved in misconduct, dishonesty or fraud. The company says it needs all of this to attract, keep and motivate its key executives and staff.

Founder and chief executive Magda Wierzycka has been making that case herself, in an interview with BizNews. She told the outlet that Sygnia has been looking for a finance chief for the better part of six months, and that buying a candidate out of a previous employer's share scheme could cost R10 million before anyone is hired. She also told BizNews she may have to reconsider her future at the company if shareholders reject the plan, and she does not pretend to be a bystander: "I'm not denying for a second, neither is the board, that I would benefit from that scheme as a CEO."

## Who plans to vote no

The Financial Mail reported that several shareholders plan to vote against it, including Andre Crawford-Brunt, Wierzycka's former business partner, according to Daily Investor. They describe the scheme as a way to enrich Wierzycka and other executives at the expense of minority shareholders, the investors with small stakes and no seat on the board. Their objection is simple arithmetic: every new share issued to staff makes everyone else's slice of the company a little smaller.

The board has recommended a yes. The meeting starts at 10:00 on Friday at Sygnia's head office in Green Point, and the changes need 75% support to pass.