Infrastructure orders in SA are still slow in coming, and have also curbed revenue growth. But Upton believes this in
changing. 'Infrastructure development [or the lack of it] in SA has become a hot potato and there is now real political
pressure to get projects moving.' He adds that while the planning is taking place, construction companies will not see
the orders for another 12 to 18 months.
Along with its peers, Group Five has had a torrid three years, after the boom years of the 2000s. However many
analysts are tipping the sector for growth, arguing that the only way is up.
Question marks
But Vestact equities analyst Byron Lotter remains cautious. While the sector has good fundamentals and appears to
be turning, there are risks, he says. For one there are big question marks over government spending. 'Government
can't even pay current contractors, where is the money coming from?'
And when the money is available, the competition for projects is fierce and margins are tight. 'In my opinion this is a
very cyclical business and it's one where it is difficult for the individual investor to stomach the troughs.'
Group Five shares traded flat on Monday at R22,85, while the construction sector fell 0.47%."
[27] Ms Planting wrote Moneyweb 2 after she had participated in a conference call during which the CEO of Group
Five, Mr Mike Upton, had spoken to journalists and analysts following the publication of the company's annual
results. Ms Planting echoes Ms Cloete: "This article is an original work and required my independent effort,
skill and expertise to write." Having written the article, she emailed it to Moneyweb's editor who edited it and
wrote the headline before it was published.
[28] The evidence adduced by Moneyweb in relation to the originality of Moneyweb 2 is even thinner than the
evidence relating to Moneyweb 1. Unsurprisingly, it also suffers from the same deficiencies. I do not know how
much of the article is Ms Planting's own work nor how much she has simply repeated Mr Upton's words.
[29] I am not able to discern the nature and extent of her contribution. I do not know to what extent Moneyweb 2
differs, if at all, from the existing material on which it is based. Her statement that the "article is an original
work and required [her] independent effort, skill and expertise to write" is factually bare. Accordingly, I find
that Moneyweb has not established that Moneyweb 2 is an original work.
The third article: "McDonald's plans to launch McKitchen"
[30] I shall refer to this article as Moneyweb 3. It was published on 26 August 2012 at 11:12pm and was written
by Ms Eleanor Seggie, an employee of Moneyweb. I have set out the article below and underlined those parts
that were reproduced in the related Fin24 article.
"McDonald's plans to launch McKitchen
The fastfood outlet is looking at innovative ways to keep your plate full of its food.
JOHANNESBURG 'It's a very difficult market to enter right now. Whoever wants to enter this market needs to come
in with vision and heaps of
Page 204 of [2016] 3 All SA 193 (GJ)
cash, a full commitment and a longterm plan. If you're not going to come in with that you're not going to survive,'
says Greg Solomon, McDonald's South Africa MD.
He was leading journalists on a recent media tour of the Woodmead restaurant.
McDonald's takes longterm positions on people (16 years), initiatives (eg 24/7 outlets) and on leases (eg, 20 years).
As such, it owns 68%70% of its property portfolio in SA.
'We continue to invest . . . capital into this business, by growing 2030 new restaurants every year that's hundreds
of millions of capital spend.' The first McDonald's was opened in South Africa in November 1995 and in the last 11
years not one has been closed, although Solomon says he's eyeing one now as its performance isn't up to scratch.
McDonald's SA plans on opening 1822 restaurants this year, around the country.
One of the newbies, in Victory Park, Johannesburg, will debut in the next two months.
Though it was initially referred to as a 'McKitchen,' it was later clarified that the Victory Park branch will be
implementing and testing minor changes to the kitchen and service design, to improve efficiencies. If effective, it may
be implemented in other kitchens. Solomon wouldn't say more, but hinted that it will feature a modified cooking
platform and new innovations to the front counter and beverages.
However, he maintains that McDonalds is a 'people's business' and he aims to make it into a more renowned training
institution. Currently the fastfood outlet spends approximately R21m a year on training.
Big Mac anyone?
The company's most successful sales product is the Big Mac; although it got off to a slow start, it now makes up 25%
of its business. Second place (on volume) goes to its cheeseburger.
Chicken forms just over 30% of the business revenue. The biggest selling chicken product is the Chicken Foldover a
locally adapted product introduced as part of its 'global' strategy, along with a beef product called McFeast, and fresh
corn, which is building nice traction as an alternative to fries.
However, it won't steer too much away from its core US brand though so don't expect chicken McFeet in the near
future.
Breakfast now forms 11% of its revenue and Solomon reveals there may be a lot of menu innovation in the pipeline
over the next two years.
Other significant parts of the business include beverages as well as dessert: Mcflurries have massive equity 'up