Top South African CEO donates R204.4 million of shares in his own company to Wits

The Seabrooke Family Trust has donated 1.4 million shares in Sabvest Capital to the University of the Witwatersrand. 

These shares are worth R204.4 million at the company’s current valuation and were donated on 22 September 2026. 

The company announced on the JSE’s news service that the donation supports the university’s Arts Precinct Expansion project. 

This expansion project aims to centralise and upgrade the creative departments of the Wits School of Arts, which are spread across its Braamfontein campus. 

Currently, the Wits School of Arts operates out of the old Dental Hospital on Jan Smuts Avenue and has recently expanded from four to nine departments. 

To create additional space, new layers are being added to the building’s rooftop, which will house art studios, seminar rooms, exhibition galleries, and academic office space. 

The Seabrooke Family Trust is managed by Sabvest CEO Christopher Seabrooke, and Wits’ new musical hall bears his name. 

Seabrooke earned a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of the Witwatersrand, and his company is still based in Johannesburg. 

This music hall repurposed 19th-century workers’ houses and is located at the corner of Jorissen and Station Streets. 

Seabrooke is one of the best investors in South Africa, with the company’s net asset value per share rising by 18.1% per annum over the past 15 years. 

Sabvest’s share price has compounded at 20.9% over that period, nearly doubling the performance of the JSE Top 40. 

The company has ambitious targets, aiming for net asset value per share growth of CPI + 10% and dividend per share growth of CPI + 5% per annum.

Seabrooke uses Sabvest as an investment holding company that primarily takes significant stakes in unlisted industrial, commercial, and service-oriented businesses. 

Sabvest does not seek operational control in these companies, typically holding equity stakes of 10% to 40% alongside founders, managers, or financial partners. 

The company also avoids start-ups, greenfield developments, and operational turnarounds. It prefers established, cash-generative businesses with strong management teams. 

Some of its largest holdings include the technology distributor DNI Group, the private equity firm Apex Partners, the solar distributor ARB Holdings, and Halewood South Africa.