Spar dismisses tax irregularity claims as ‘baseless’ and ‘misleading’

The Spar Group has launched a fierce defence of its corporate governance, labelling recent media allegations of tax irregularities as “baseless” and “totally inaccurate”.

The group issued an urgent Sens announcement on Wednesday in direct response to an article published by Business Day on 2 June 2026. The media report alleged systemic structural irregularities stemming from a due diligence document prepared by Business Day.

Read: More problems loom as Spar crashes back to 2008 levels

This corporate governance battle hits the retailer at an incredibly sensitive operational period.

Just days ago, Spar issued a severe trading statement warning shareholders that aggressive Black Friday promotional overspend and logistical capacity failures at its KwaZulu-Natal distribution centre would halve its half-year headline earnings by up to 60%.

Read: Spar profits set to plunge up to 60%

This latest media storm adds further noise as the group tries to execute an intensive cost-realignment and balance sheet cleanup programme.

The single-store due diligence reality

Spar clarified that the referenced Business Day report was not a systemic forensic audit of the group’s central financial controls.

Instead, it was a limited, confidential, single-store due diligence review commissioned by a complainant, Amaan Sayed, during private negotiations to purchase a single corporate outlet, the Bloed Street SuperSpar and Tops, for R4 million.

The group fiercely rejected media characterisations that tax fraud had been uncovered inside its distribution network. The group’s board stated: “Spar rejects any suggestion that value-added tax (Vat) fraud has been established.

“No finding of Vat fraud has been made against Spar or the corporate store concerned. The characterisation of the matter as a ‘Vat fraud saga’ is therefore totally inaccurate and misleading.”

The retailer further confirmed that its official external auditor, PwC, has raised “no reportable irregularities” concerning the group’s financial statements or internal oversight processes.

A retaliatory sequence of events

To protect its market reputation, Spar openly detailed the timeline surrounding the leak, directly questioning the motivation and credibility of the underlying complaints.

According to the board, Sayed signed a sales agreement for the Bloed Street store in February 2026. However, standard operating rules dictate that all independent store transfers are strictly conditional on securing membership approval from the Spar Guild of Southern Africa.

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On 18 March 2026, the independent Guild declined Sayed’s membership application on objective commercial parameters, a poor credit history and the explicit need to protect the broader brand.

The board highlighted that within mere days of being blocked from re-entering the network, Sayed initiated a coordinated wave of regulatory complaints specifically targeting Spar Group board chair, Mike Bosman, including a demand for a “delinquent director” declaration.

Furthermore, the retailer revealed that Sayed leaked the report in direct violation of a binding non-disclosure agreement, noting that his own attorney had previously confirmed the data had been deleted.

Vexatious claims and market continuity

Spar’s executive leadership and regional committees have unified behind their chairman, confirming that the regulatory filings submitted to the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) have been met with comprehensive responses from Bosman.

Addressing the legal manoeuvres directed at its leadership, the group stated: “Regarding the complaints against Spar Group chairman, Mr Mike Bosman, and the request for a ‘delinquent director’ declaration, the group stands very firmly in support of Mr Bosman’s leadership and views the request as baseless, vexatious, malicious and without merit.”

The board reassured the market that the media reporting has zero impact on its previously disclosed financials, including the impending FY2026 interim results set for publication on 10 June 2026.

Spar share price 

Listen to Nick Kunze from Sanlam Private Wealth unpack Spar’s shock update that sent the share price to multi-year lows:

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.