CEO: Capitec

Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie was named Alumnus of the Year 2019 by the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB).

The award is the highest honour given to alumni of USB on behalf of the Alumni Association and formally recognises alumni who have excelled as responsible leaders in the private or public sector, or in an entrepreneurial venture.

Prof Piet Naudé, USB Director, says: “Gerrie has played a key role in expanding Capitec’s role as a socially conscious financial institution and this resonates well with USB’s vision to create value for a better world. His achievements are testimony of his significant impact on the global business environment.”

Vice President: Strategy & Business Integration for Programming at Expo 2020 Dubai

Dr Shaun Vorster, VP of Business Integration for Programming at Expo 2020 Dubai, was awarded USB’s Alumnus of the Year 2018 at the prestigious annual USB-Kgalema Motlanthe Leadership Lecture Series. He is making the world a better place through his values-based leadership.

Chairman at Mobax Group

USB MBA alumnus Vuyani Jarana and CEO of SAA was recently awarded as Alumnus of the Year 2017 at the Kgalema Motlanthe Business Lecture gala banquet in Cape Town. Previously, Vuyani served as the Chief Officer of Vodacom Business, where his key responsibility was to drive business growth by enabling businesses and governments across the African continent to successfully increase their connection and digital capabilities. Jarana is a true example of the difference that one person can make to sustainable business success in South Africa and beyond.

Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank

Discovery Limited announced the appointment of Francois Groepe as deputy CEO of Discovery Bank, with effect from 1 August 2019.

Said Groepe of his appointment: “The South African financial services landscape is undergoing significant structural change and Discovery Bank, which is the world’s first behavioral bank, will be playing a key role in this changed landscape. I look forward to being part of this exciting transition.”

Added Barry Hore, CEO of Discovery Bank: “We are pleased to welcome Francois Groepe who brings with him tremendous experience in both the corporate and regulatory environments. He is a seasoned executive and will be a valuable addition to our team.”

Prior to joining Discovery, Groepe (49) was deputy governor at the South African Reserve Bank, where he served 14 years on the Board of Directors, seven of which he served as an executive with oversight over various functions including the Fintech Unit. Before this, Groepe was the Group Managing Director and CEO of Media24.

“The Bank is in an excellent position, now focused on providing a seamless experience to clients as it opens up more broadly in coming weeks. Francois joins at an incredibly exciting time and complements the dynamic and purpose-driven team that has dedicated itself to building a world-class digital bank,” said Adrian Gore, Chief Executive of Discovery Limited.

Chairman of the Plexus Group of companies, which he founded in 1995

Prof Prieur du Plessis is the chairperson of the investment management business Plexus Holdings, which he founded in 1995. He is a member of the Advisory Board of USB, a trustee of PPS Holdings Trust, chairperson of Grindrod Asset Management Holdings, deputy chairperson of the Institute of Directors in South Africa and director of the Distell Group. Prof Du Plessis is also a professor extraordinaire at USB and the Honorary Consul General of Slovenia for South Africa.

Remgro Executive

Mr Pieter Uys, the Head of Strategic Investments at Remgro Limited.  Prior to joining Remgro, Mr Uys was a founding member and ultimately became the Chief Executive Officer of the Vodacom Group, one of the leading mobile networks in Africa.

Qualifications: Mr Uys holds an M.Eng. (Electronic) degree; and an MBA from the University of Stellenbosch.

Executive Director of Hindsight Financial

BEng Electrical (University of Pretoria),
BSc Hons Energy studies (Rand Afrikaans University)
MBA (University of Stellenbosh)

Ras Myburgh started his career at Eskom’s Duvha Power Station where he gained experience in operations, maintenance, plant performance optimisation and engineering. He was appointed as Power Station Manager at the Drakensberg Pumped Storage scheme. He participated in the design and restructuring of the Eskom Generation Division, resulting in the decentralisation of engineering functions to power stations.

He also gained experience in procurement and contract management including negotiations of multi-billion rand long term technical refurbishment and supply agreements, and managed large teams of professionals in construction, maintenance outage, and organisational re-engineering projects.

Iscor Mining head hunted him for their engineering division, where he led companywide cost improvement and business re-engineering projects to prepare for the unbundling of the mining business form Iscor to form Kumba Resources. Thereafter, Ras was asked to head up the Kumba Resources Transformation Unit in order to manage the empowerment and mineral rights conversion of the company. This led to the unbundling of the company into Kumba Iron Ore and Exxaro. He was appointed CE of Kumba Iron Ore and was responsible for the unbundling process, structuring and listing of the new company. Following the 2008 electricity crisis, Ras was seconded to Eskom to develop and implement a long term coal supply strategy.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Gained operating, engineering and maintenance experience of complex, high voltage, high pressure, and high kinetic energy engineering systems while working in various capacities on Eskom’s power stations;
Managed the Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme;
Managed company wide re-engineering and multi billion rand business improvement projects while working at Iscor Mining;
P & L responsibility for Iscor Coal Business (now Exxaro Coal);
Gained valuation, mergers and acquisitions and black economic empowerment experience while managing Kumba Resources’ empowerment and unbundling
CE of a JSE listed company (Kumba Iron Ore);
Turn-around, commercial and contracting consulting to Eskom in coal supply management.

CEO of Artscape

Marlene le Roux is an activist for communities who have been denied access but with an enthusiasm for re-imagining and reigniting spaces towards a just and inclusive society.

Born and raised in Wellington from an economically challenged background she found and nurtured strong values of dignity and respect from community leaders in her schools, arts organisations, church and family. Raised by her grandmother a factory worker and mother an ordinary farmworker. Educators instilled in her the value of indigenous language and mother tongue education and introduction through literature to imagine the future.

Her university studies was at the University of the Western Cape where she embraced nonracial principles and was involved in many actions towards these ideals. Her involvement in student politics was driven by justice for all through various activism.

Le Roux entered the place of work as a teacher in one of the most socially impoverished communities in the Western Cape, Manenberg. She taught students in very trying times in our country and her involvement in their development extended most times outside of the classroom into the streets and homes of families. During this time she was very instrumental in the structures of the South African Teachers Union and balanced her teaching profession with addressing transformation within this sector.

She progressed into the Western Cape Education Department as Subject Advisor for music. Here she challenged the status quo of the newly formed outcome based education system.  She advocated for change and challenged for a movement towards a more inclusive Education System. This for her has been a process of reminding those with her in the decision making environment of the inequalities we have today and which needed a working on to redress and to understand that this scenario comes from a system which excluded the majority of our nation.

This drive led her to change her space of influence and then became the first Director of audience development and education at The Artscape Theatre Centre.  She started the Audience Development and Education Department at Artscape as its Director and responded to the skills gap which exist in the School System as a result of the various changes in the national curriculum, the arts and culture curriculum which has suffered a serious negative impact and cutbacks. Other than the selected Arts and Culture FOCUS SCHOOLS, few schools in disadvantaged areas, have staff members dedicated to the teaching of various art forms. Learners therefore, do not have a solid foundation in the Arts e.g. music education, drama or the visual arts. Marlene then through this work afforded young people an opportunity to perform on a theatre stage with mentoring support in a professional environment.
The young people are given the opportunity to develop a sound knowledge of the theatre within the industry as a whole. Through this office she also established the Resource Centre which builds capacity of artist and arts organisations to become marketable and sustainable within the sector. This distinctive offering she pioneered and sets (Artscape) apart from other state theatres. Many young people have come through these programmes and are now performing on professional stages in South Africa and the world.

Marlene le Roux is currently the first person of color to hold the Chief Executive Officer role at Artscape. She not only is the first women but also advocates for inclusion of the disabled community through various initiatives to transform the Centre to have accessibility top of the agenda. She drives the artistic programme at the Centre to be a home for all genres and representative of all the people of the Western Cape.

Marlene has conceptualized and edited a book on women with disabilities called Look at Me. She also compiled a book on the icons of Mitchell’ s Plain entitled,  “Place in the Sun”. She is also Co-author of a mother tongue publication for Afrikaans called,  ” Ons kom van vèr”. Marlene also published a book “Die Wellingtonse Klopse – 100 jaar se onvertelde stories” with Professor Michael le Cordeur in 2013.

Marlene serves on various boards to ensure ethical leadership and accountable governance.  This includes The Desmond and Lea Tutu Legacy Foundation, Stigting vir die bemagtiging deer Afrikaans,  Chrysalis Academy,  Disability organisations in the Western Cape as founder and patron (too many to mention), the national disability task team with the Chapter 9 institution of the Cultural Religious and Linguistics Commission as disorders for two terms to the Presidency of Thabo Mbeki and currently to President Jacob Zuma.  In almost all these organisations she serves as chairperson.

Le Roux have won numerous awards for her work in Arts Education and activism.  This also through her continuous work within the diplomatic community. She won the Shoprite Woman of the year award in 1998 (Art Category). Desmond Tutu Legendary Award 2001. Chavelier Ordes et des Letters (French Knighthood I  performing arts 2002. Woman of the World path the way award 2004. Honors member Golden Key Honour Society at The University of Stellenbosch 2007. Western Cape Provincial Award, Arts and Culture 2004. Alumnus of the year 2007 for excellence in management The University of Stellenbosch.  The Mayoral Gold medal for outstanding contribution played in the role of enhancing women’s, youth and disability issues, The City of Cape Town.  CEO Magazine award, South Africa’s most influential Women in business and government 2010.  30 March 2017 she was bestowed an honorary Doctorate in Education from CPUT.

Dr. Marlene le Roux was elected from 20 countries to serve as an international expert on the London Olympics Committee in 2012. She also was on the council of England to select collaborative Arts Projects to be showcased as part of the London Olympics and Paralympics.  This year she also received the German Peace Award. The French government again bestowed a ” Chevalier dans l’Ordre national du Merite” for her role in the Arts, Culture and youth development.

Dr. le Roux has just been awarded as the 5^th Point of light recipient of the Queen of England from South Africa for her work in the disability sector.

Chairperson, Department of Business Management, US

Laetitia van Dyk is the Chair of the Department of Business Management, University of Stellenbosch. Between 2007 and 2011, she held the position as Head of Leadership Studies (Associate Professor) at the University of Stellenbosch Business School.  She returned from London during 2006 where she held the position of HR Director, UK Banking for Barclays PLC. Prior to this, she was Group Executive Director of Absa, managing a portfolio that included Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), Group People Management, Group Marketing, and Group Communications and Public Affairs. Over a period of nearly twenty years she has distinguished herself as a people management specialist and a highly skilled communicator. Her meteoric rise to one of the most influential and challenging positions in her field is supported by an ongoing academic career that has included three Master’s degrees and the attainment of several international management diplomas.

Laetitia holds an MA degree in Psychology from Pretoria University, an MBA from the University of Stellenbosch Business School (cum laude) and an international Master’s degree in Consulting and Coaching for Change from the prestigious HEC (HAUTES ETUDES COMMERCIALES) business school in France.

During 2000/2001, Laetitia was chairperson of the Institute of Bankers in South Africa, the first woman to hold this position since its inception in 1904. In 2004 she was elected chairperson of Bankmed. Laetitia is also the first woman to have been either the vice-chairperson or chairperson of Bankmed. She was a finalist in the 2000 Boss of the Year of South Africa competition. In 2006 the Stellenbosch University Business School recognised Laetitia with the USB Alumnus award.

The sustained excellence of Laetitia’s leadership was well demonstrated by the success of Absa People Management which, in both 2002 and 2003, achieved for Absa the accolade of top position in the annual  “Best Companies to Work For” competition sponsored by Deloitte & Touche Human Capital Corporation and the Financial Mail.  Laetitia was also responsible for Absa’s strong focus on employment equity and of valuing diversity as sound business practice; an approach that supports BEE with regard to broad-based empowerment and development of the Group’s employees.

Laetitia is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal Trust (WAT), Chairman of the Absa Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK), a member of Bankmed Board of Trustees and a member of KWV Board of Directors.

Laetitia’s interests include her passion for traveling, especially Paris and other European cities, cycling, reading, arts, opera and classical music.

Executive chairman of KHUM

Mohlala’s career has seen a spectacular rise – from a security guard to president and CEO of a company with an annual turnover of R2.5-billion. Since his appointment two years ago as head of City Power, Johannesburg’s electricity utility, the man known affectionately as MK scooped the Impumelelo Businessman of the Year Award and the African ICT Public Service Delivery Achievers Award.

Mohlala attributes his success to his “street-wise” management style. He believes that one can’t manage an organisation through textbooks. A person must apply their learning to their context. A person must think on their feet and be decisive.

He started his working career as a security guard at Eskom College in 1984, where he powered his way through the ranks, reaching the position of customer service regional manager for the North West, Northern Cape and Free State. At the same time, he was studying through correspondence, completing a Bachelor of Administration degree. He is currently completing his MBA.

Mohlala is also a non-executive director of seven companies and a chairman of two others.

Founder & Executive Chairperson of Ndalo Media

Khanyi Dhlomo is CEO of Ndalo Media and Ndalo Luxury Ventures, and a magazine publisher. She recently flung wide the doors of Luminance, her luxury boutique department store in Hyde Park, Joburg, and in doing so has returned to her roots, writes Sue Grant-Marshall

Khanyi Dhlomo was a slip of a girl, hardly out of her teens, when the boss of South Africa’s largest media empire decided to make her editor of his top black women’s magazine, True Love.

That’s the effect the quiet, reserved but determined then BCom student had on people.

She halted her studies, temporarily, edited the magazine for eight years, during which its circulation doubled and awards rained down on it, and then decided to pursue business.

Nearly all her friends and colleagues thought she was crazy to bow out of so successful an editorship with its glamorous profile, “and they made sure they told me so”, says Dhlomo with a wry smile.

Nevertheless, she left for Paris in 2003 with a BA in Communications and Industrial Psychology, which she’d gained while simultaneously being an editor and the mother of two babies.

It was while she was manager of SA Tourism in France and strolling the fashionable streets of Paris, gazing at their stunning stores, that the idea of Luminance first began to glimmer in her mind.

But being Dhlomo, she then dived even deeper into business waters by doing an MBA at Harvard Business School, Boston, in the United States.

“There were 90 in my class and 900 in my year,” she says, recalling how hard she worked alongside fellows from all over the world.

Apart from her excellent degree, she acquired two other major assets there.

They were top Chicago store designers, JGA Store Design, Brand Strategy and Retail Architecture, as well as a network that included entries to some of the top luxury brands in the world. These include Alexander McQueen, Manolo Blahnik, Giorgio Armani, Carolina Herrera and Oscar de la Renta.

On her return to South Africa in 2007, she stuck to what she knew best though, and launched Ndalo Media, a joint venture between herself and Media24, one of the country’s leading media companies.

Today, five years on, it publishes Sawubona (SAA’s in-flight magazine), Destiny and Destiny Man magazines. It is also the home of DestinyConnect and DestinyMan.com, “two of South Africa’s fastest-growing social networks for businesspeople and entrepreneurs”.

It’s that last word that most defines Dhlomo, for on her return from America in 2007, she told a journalist: “I am, like all my family, essentially an entrepreneur. The retail business is in our veins.”

Her grandfather, a teacher and businessman, began buying land in KwaZulu-Natal in the 1930s. In time her father, Oscar Dhlomo, bought the land and developed shopping centres on some of it, as well as owning retail businesses.

“My mother ran them. It was due to the stores, which I used to run in and out of, that my parents were able to provide my excellent education.”

Dhlomo was the first black girl at Girls Collegiate, now Wykeham, in Pietermaritzburg. “It was tough, for my fellow boarders were children of wealthy Natal sugar farmers whose interaction with black people had been as farm labourers.”

But Dhlomo says that the experience prepared her “for being on my own in difficult situations as well as being a pioneer”.

Yet again, she’s playing the latter role. Luminance is the first boutique department store in the country – and the first in Africa – to have such a comprehensive selection of international labels. They sell alongside African designers with prices ranging from R500 to R90 000.

It looks like an art gallery, thanks to local John Jacob Interiors, who took over from the Chicago company, and Dhlomo uses the word ‘curated’ often as she describes the local art and fashion gracing its elegant shelves.

“We have Imiso ceramics from Cape Town, beaded kitchen accessories from rural KZN women and art by Nelson Makamo. The latter has sold some of his work to Giorgio Armani, so there’s a satisfactory blending and bringing together of local and international products,” says Dhlomo.

She and her mother, Venetia, are majority shareholders in Luminance, having invested R15 million in it together with leading businesswoman Judy Dlamini. They obtained R34.1?million from the National Empowerment Fund and 58% of the latter funding remains in South Africa to support the local economy.

The deep pile carpets, muted lighting and artworks do not invite the usual flick-flack most of us do as we zip through clothes rails. So seeing children’s wear that creates images of sticky little fingers on dresses worth R40 000 has Dhlomo exclaiming that she and husband Chinezi Chijioke have a three-year-old daughter, “and I’ll make a plan”.

Maybe part of that will be a daughter following in a mother’s entrepreneurial footsteps – again.

Senior Executive and Corporate Advisor at MIH Holdings Limited

Mr. Jacobus D. T. Stofberg, also known as Cobus, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Myriad International Holdings B.V. Mr. Stofberg has been a Founder Member of M-Net since 1986. He serves as the Senior Executive and Corporate Advisor at MIH Holdings Limited since April 1, 2011. Prior to joining M-Net, he was a Partner of Coopers & Lybrand (predecessor of PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc.). He serves as the Chief Executive Officer of MIH Limited. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of NetMed N.V. Mr. Stofberg began his affiliation with Naspers group in 1985. He has held a variety of positions, including Chief Operating Officer within MIH Holdings group of companies. He serves as Co-Chairman for the European and African region of GBDe. He served as the Chairman of OpenTV Corp. He has been Independent Non-Executive Director of Naspers Limited since October 16, 2013. He serves as a Director of Myriad International Holdings B.V. He served as a Director of NetHold, NetMed and NetHold group companies. He serves as a Director of MIH Limited from 1998 to April 1, 2011. Mr. Stofberg holds a BCom (Law) and LLB from Stellenbosch, BCompt (honours) from Unisa and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in South Africa.

Director of Companies and failed Wine Farmer

Veteran business executive Gerrit Thomas Ferreira will retire from financial services group Rand Merchant Investment (RMI) when he turns 70 next month when retirement becomes compulsory.

JOHANNESBURG – Financial services group Rand Merchant Investment (RMI) on Wednesday announced the retirement of its co-founder and chairman, Gerrit Thomas Ferreira, who will turn 70 next month when retirement becomes compulsory.

RMI said Ferreira will be replaced as chairman by Jannie Durand, the current deputy chairman, effective 31 March.
Affectionately known as “GT”, Ferreira has been involved in the financial services sector since graduating from the University of Stellenbosch. He was a co-founder of Rand

Consolidated Investments in 1977, which acquired control of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) in 1985.

When RMB Holdings was founded in 1987, he was appointed chairman, a position he still holds. He has also been RMI’s chairman since its inception in December 2010 and a driving force behind the group’s value creation and relentless pursuit of high values.

Ferreira was also instrumental in building financial services businesses such as FirstRand, Discovery, MMI and OUTsurance.
“GT’s legacy will remain as a set of unique values instilled in RMI. These values will ensure that the set strategy is implemented with integrity and discipline to create further value for stakeholders,” the firm said.

RMI also announced the retirements of board members Jan Dreyer and Khehla Shubane on 31 March, and lead independent director Pat Goss on 10 April.
In their places, RMI appointed new board members Mamongae Mahlare, Ralph Mupita, and James Teeger as independent non-executive directors; or David Frankel as an alternate to Teeger.

Ferreira currently lives on his wine estate, TOKARA, in Stellenbosch and according to him is desperately trying to retire.

I was appointed as Strategy and Human Resources Director at KWV (1995).

After nine years (2004) of corporate life, I returned   and continue my Practice as Organizational  Development & Leadership Consultant. I am still on a part time basis involved with Leadership Development at USB-ed.

Experienced finance and business leader with a solid track record in the Pharmaceutical and Biotech industry. Successfully managed businesses and major reorganization projects that delivered accelerated growth. Proven track record in employee development.

Passionate about providing patients access to the best therapies, which provide the best outcomes for patients, health care professionals and society while keeping the healthcare system effective and sustainable for the next generation.

After a successful career in finance in various local, regional and global roles up to the CFO level of Janssen Europe, Middle East and Africa, a career change was made into general management in 2012, with roles as Managing Director of Janssen Alpine (The Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical business in Switzerland and Austria) and Global Integration Leader for integrating the in 2017 acquired Actelion business into Johnson & Johnson.

In addition to my roles at Janssen, I served as a member of the Interpharma Board, chair of the Interpharma Innovation Hub Committee, member of the “Doing Business in Switzerland” Chapter Board of the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce and member of the Advisory Board of the University of Stellenbosch Graduate School of Business.

Lived and worked in Belgium, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland and USA

General Manager, Old Mutual (Retired)

Director, Shoprite

BSc Hons B(B&A) Hons

• Appointed as a director of Shoprite Holdings in 1991.
• Chairs the Social and Ethics Committee.
• Serves on the Audit and Risk, Remuneration, and Nomination Committees.
• Holds directorships in various private companies.

Qualifications

B.Comm; Hons B.Comm; MA in Economics (Northwestern, Chicago); Hons B (B&A) (Stellenbosch University); DPhil Business & Commerce (H.C.) (1996); Gerhard completed the Advanced Management Program (Harvard University) in 1987.

Background

Gerhard was born in Cape Town and matriculated in George. He spent his whole working career with Old Mutual during which time he occupied several management positions and retired in 2001 as the Managing Director of Old Mutual South Africa.

He has served as director for various organisations, some of which are Transnet, Nedbank, Imperial Bank, CG Smith, Stellenbosch University and various Old Mutual affiliates in the UK, the Channel Islands, Bermuda and South Africa.

Gerhard is married to Di and they have two sons, three daughters and seven grandchildren. He enjoys reading widely, is a keen traveller, both locally and internationally and he loves relaxing at the family vacation home on the West Coast.

Founder member, Delfin Financial Consultants

Hennie’s career in the financial planning industry started in 1981 with Sanlam where he progressed to a senior managerial level. In 1991 he co-founded Woodbridge Financial Services.He later joined Plexus Asset Management, tasked with promoting the company’s investment solutions to financial service providers. This period fast tracked his exposure to the world of portfolio management and investment planning. In 2001 he joined up with Eugene de la Rouviere to form Delfin Financial Consultants. He has been a member of the Financial Planning Institute of South Africa since 1996 (AFPI).

He is married to Ann and they have two sons. He loves the outdoor lifestyle and enjoys nothing more than riding his mountain bike. He has successfully completed the Cape Epic, Transbaviaans and Sani2C endurance events.

Although he embraces the world of technological communication, he places a strong emphasis on personal interaction with his clients.