The man who was fired – and then built one of South Africa’s biggest companies

In 1995, Jannie Mouton was fired by stockbrokers Senekal, Mouton & Kitshoff, a firm he co-founded. At 48, he started one of South Africa’s most successful companies.

Jannie Mouton was born in Carnarvon in 1946. He followed in his father’s footsteps by studying at Stellenbosch University.

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree, he started his career aged 22 as an articled clerk at PwC. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1973.

He later helped to start the stockbroking firm Senekal, Mouton & Kitshoff, where he served as managing director.

However, on 5 August 1995, his life changed after his partners kicked him out of the stockbroking firm he founded.

In his book, And Then They Fired Me, he said the day he was fired as Senekal, Mouton & Kitshoff MD, his life was put on a new course.

“I had to delve deep, think a lot, learn and also make mistakes to get where I am now,” Mouton wrote.

“With the wisdom of hindsight, I can now say that day in 1995 was a blessing in disguise, really. It was a life-changing occurrence that led to the founding of PSG.”

Mouton joined forces with Chris Otto to start PSG Group in November 1995. They had a dream of building a financial services conglomerate.

They bought 51% of a listed recruitment company, PAG, for R3.5 million. In 1997, they sold PAG Placements for R107 million and changed the holding company’s name to PSG Group.

They continued with various innovative transactions, always with the primary aim of creating shareholder value.

In the early 2000s, PSG Group’s model changed to more closely resemble that of an investment holding company.

Over the years, PSG Group has contributed to building great businesses such as Capitec, PSG Konsult, and Curro.

Capitec is one of their biggest successes. Mouton and Otto saw the potential in microlending, held a banking license, and had cash. 

Capitec founder Michiel le Roux said PSG and Mouton’s active involvement in the beginning years of Capitec was crucial to the bank’s success.

PSG held a large stake in Capitec Bank, which became one of its biggest successes. Capitec was listed for less than R1 per share. Today, it is worth over R3,000 per share.

In 2005, PSG acquired a 15% stake in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and became its largest shareholder.

Two years later, it joined forces with Sanlam and Santam to start a new direct insurance company, MiWay Insurance, in partnership with Rene Otto.

The company also had a strong focus on education. It helped to start the private school provider Curro and the higher education company Stadio.

During August 2020, PSG Group unbundled an effective 26.4% interest in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)-listed Capitec.

In September 2022, PSG Group restructured by way of indivisible transactions. It unbundled PSG Konsult, Curro, Kaap Agri, CA&S, and Stadio.

PSG Group repurchased all shares from existing shareholders for a cash consideration of R23.00 per share and was delisted from the JSE.

As an unlisted investment holding company, PSG Group continues to serve as an incubator to build businesses and provide good shareholder returns.

Mouton’s success was legendary. An investment of R100,000 on PSG’s first day in business grew to R390 million twenty-two years later if all dividends were reinvested.

In 2018, Mouton revealed that he had been diagnosed with early-stage dementia and would be stepping down as PSG chairman.

Lessons from Jannie Mouton

Biznews founder Alec Hogg wrote an article about 20 key lessons Jannie Mouton shared during a 2015 PSG Konsult annual conference.

• Never give up – On 5 August 1995, the partners kicked me out of my stockbroking firm. Looking back, it was the best thing ever to happen to me. It forced me to start again.

• Read and study – If you have the time, read as much as you can, especially about business and books on winners.

• Analyse yourself – During this time I did a SWAT analysis on myself, drawing up a list of my strong and weak points. Once you’re finished it’s best to discuss your analysis with people you know well.

• Analyse the environment – There are opportunities everywhere.

• Formulate your plan – In 1995, I wrote down my own plan after analyzing the environment and myself.

• Execute your plan – Three and a half months after I was fired, we bought 51% of a listed company (PAG) for R3.5 million. That was the start of executing my plan.

• Importance of friends and family – My friends and family have walked the PSG road with me.

• Loyal shareholders—We almost lost the business a few years after its founding when ABSA launched a hostile takeover of PSG. Markus Jooste stepped in to help us fend it off.

• Measure your performance – We use an index of the total return to shareholders.

• Compare your returns against the best – All returns are relative. So we compare what our total return to shareholders against that of the most popular stocks on the JSE.

• Focus on core investments – One needs to know your own assets well and remember that people make the difference.

• Communicate well – It is important to always communicate honestly and transparently to clients, investors, and the media.

• Understand the market – The effect of appreciating the moods of Mr Market has had a major impact on our business.

• Seize opportunities – When opportunities arise, execute.

• Funding must be long-term – My son Jan introduced me to Perpetual Preference Shares – a brilliant way to raise long-term funding for a business.

• Black Economic Empowerment – We looked at BEE very differently to most companies. Instead of seeing it as something being forced on us, PSG considered the opportunity it provided.

• Believe in yourself – You need to invest in the company you work for. I have never sold a PSG share.

• The team is critical – Employ people better than yourself or those with complementary skills.

• Focus is everything – I’ve learnt a lot about the benefit of focus from Riaan Stassen and the guys at Capitec Bank. In the early years I was always trying to convince them to take on new products. Once I suggested they sell funeral policies. Then it was airtime. Riaan kept telling me – No Jannie, we have our focus and we’re sticking to it. Capitec’s growth proves he was right and I was wrong.

• Give back to society – A successful company knows it has a licence from society and must give back where it can.