Johannesburg - The Barloworld annual general meeting (AGM) yesterday was a mix of old and new world.
Old world was the involvement of a board of directors that would not have been out of place in South Africa 20 years ago.
The new world aspect was that for the second year in succession, the company had a poll to determine the exact number of shareholders who voted on the various resolutions.
A poll at an AGM is considerably more democratic than the traditional show of hands.
The use of a poll ensures that the votes of every shareholder attending in person or by proxy are counted.
Traditionally, attendance at AGMs has been dominated by company employees, who are happy to vote in line with the desires of the top executives.
This means that reliance on a show of hands to pass resolutions ensures that the position of the executives is implemented.
The only marginally controversial resolution at the Barloworld AGM was the re-election of directors by a single resolution.
About 75 percent of the votes that were polled, equivalent to 90 million shares, were in support of the resolution, which ensured that it was passed.
However, shareholders with 29 million shares, equivalent to 25 percent of the polled votes, did vote against the resolution.
The Public Investment Commissioners, which holds over 13 percent of the group, is believed to have led the opposition to the resolution.
As if to make up for this controversial resolution, the proxy form on which shareholders voted allowed for an individual vote on each of the directors.
During the AGM, which continued for a remarkable 35 minutes, James Frater of fund management group Frater Asset Management raised concerns about the racial profile of the main Barloworld board.
Although he commended the group's sustainability report, he was concerned that the dominance of white males might result in all of the board members sharing the same views.
Group chief executive Tony Phillips noted that "all but one company in the Barloworld group was within the employment equity target".
Barloworld added R1.40 to R69.70 yesterday.