Appointment of new lead Independent Director and changes to board committees Sappi Limited (Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa) Registration number: 1936/008963/06 JSE share code: SAP ISIN code: ZAE000006284 ("Sappi" or the "company") 25 February 2016 APPOINTMENT OF NEW LEAD INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR AND CHANGES TO BOARD COMMITTEES Shareholders are referred to the announcement released on the Stock Exchange News Service on 9 October 2015 regarding the retirement of Dr Danie Cronjé as independent chairman of the board of directors (“the Board”) and the subsequent appointment of Sir Nigel Rudd as independent chairman with effect from 1 March 2016, and are advised of the following additional changes to the Board and committees in terms of paragraph 3.59(c) of the Listings Requirements of the JSE Limited, all with effect from 1 March 2016: - Mr Jock McKenzie, independent non-executive director, has been appointed lead independent director to the Board and replaces Sir Nigel Rudd in that capacity. Mr McKenzie has also been appointed as a member of the Nomination and Governance Committee; - Mr Valli Moosa, non-independent, non-executive director, has been appointed Chairman of the Social, Ethics, Transformation and Sustainability Committee and replaces Mr Jock McKenzie in that capacity; - Mr Mike Fallon, independent non-executive director, has been appointed as Chairman of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee and replaces Sir Nigel Rudd in that capacity; and - Mr Rob Jan Renders, independent non-executive director, has been appointed as a member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee. Page 1 of 2 Pursuant to the changes detailed above, the committees of the Board will be constituted as follows with effect from 1 March 2016: AUDIT COMMITTEE Dr Len Konar - Chairman Mr Frits Beurskens Mr Mike Fallon Mr Peter Mageza Mrs Karen Osar NOMINATION & GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE Sir Nigel Rudd - Chairman Dr Len Konar Mr Jock McKenzie HUMAN RESOURCES AND COMPENSATION COMMITTEE Mr Mike Fallon - Chairman Mr Peter Mageza Mr Jock McKenzie Mr Rob Jan Renders SOCIAL, ETHICS, TRANSFORMATION & SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE Mr Valli Moosa - Chairman Mr Steve Binnie Mr Bob DeKoch Mrs Bridgette Radebe Dr Rudolf Thummer Full CVs of all Sappi Limited board members can be obtained on Sappi’s website on http://www.sappi.com/regions/sa/group/Leadership/Pages/Directors.aspx Amanda Tregoning Group Secretary & Corporate Counsel Sappi Limited Sponsor : UBS South Africa (Pty) Ltd Page 2 of 2 Date: 25/02/2016 11:15:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE'). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on, information disseminated through SENS.