Finance professionals moving up and away this quarter

Peter Oswald with effect from 31 March 2020. Andrew, a 2016 CFO Awards nominee, has more than 16 years of experience with Mondi Group in various strategy, business development and finance roles.

CFO Awards nominee Joe Ndala has been appointed as Aurecon’s new CFO. Joe previously served in the role of AECOM MD since 2018. Before that, he served as the company’s CFO of Africa since 2014. Sugentharen Perumal Andrew King

Nashua welcomed Salome Barker as its CFO as of November 2019. She has been with the company since March 2012 when she was appointed as divisional FD of Nashua ECN. She has served in various finance roles throughout the company’s divisions since then.

Sugentharen “Sugen” Perumal has been appointed as MTN South Africa’s acting CFO. He takes over from Sandile Tsele, who moved on to support MTN Group CFO Ralph Mupita as of 1 November 2019.

Robert Katz has again taken on the role of CFO at Peregrine Holdings, along with his current role as group CEO, as of 1 November 2019. He takes over from Claire Coward, who was the group CFO since 1 June 2018 and resigned as of 31 October 2019. Rob was appointed as Peregrine Holdings CEO in November 2017 after holding the CFO position at the company for seven years.

Mondi Group CFO Andrew King will be stepping into the role of interim group CEO after the resignation of Talib Sadik is acting as Adcorp Holdings’ interim CFO as of 18 November 2019. He took over from Cheryl-Jane Kujenga, who was appointed as interim CEO after the resignation of Innocent Dutiro as CEO, to allow her to focus on her new role.

Carmen le Grange has taken on the role of group CFO of Denel from 9 September 2019. Her appointment comes after previous CFO Odwa Mhlwana was fired in November 2018. She took over from former ArcelorMittal SA CEO Wim de Klerk, who was serving as acting CFO. Tanyaradzwa “Tanya” Chikanza has been appointed as Bushveld Minerals’ new FD as of 1 October 2019. She joins the company after nine years at Lonmin, where she served as executive VP of strategy, investor relations and communications.

After five years without a CFO, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) appointed Japhtalina Lesibana Fosu from 2 September 2019. Lesibana is a qualified CA(SA) with an MBA from IMD Business School in Switzerland. She received a Clean Audit Award from the Auditor-General for her work at the Limpopo Road Accident Fund for clean unqualified opinions for two consecutive years between 2012 and 2014.

Karel Kramer has been heading up the budget and treasury department of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality as acting CFO since 7 October 2019. Karel took over from director of budget and financial accounting Jackson Ngcelwane, who was serving as acting CFO.

CFO Awards 2018 nominee Osman Mia has been appointed as CFO of MEA at AstraZeneca. About the role, Osman said: “It’s been my dream role in my short to medium term with the company. This was the next stepping stone that I wanted to unlock my international experience.”

The appointment comes after Osman relocated to London in 2015 to take up the CFO-in-waiting role for the MEA region.

Osman is set to work in the role for three years, within which his strategy is to set up processes to “ensure the company develops and delivers on what we call an ‘African ambition’,” and to streamline the supply chain into the export markets of Middle East and Africa. Osman also plans to set the foundation for strong double-digit growth in the short to medium term.

“Watch this space!” Osman said as he shared his hopes to guide the companies through the headwinds of expanding into new markets. l

Osman Mia

Robert Nicolella has been appointed as Hosken Consolidated Investments FD as of 1 August 2019. He has subsequently resigned from the audit and risk committee of Tsogo Sun Hotels. Robert took over from Kevin Govender. Robert joined Hosken Consolidated Investments in 2011 to develop its properties portfolio.

James Lenton took on the role of CFO of Hammerson on 1 October 2019. He has also joined the board as an executive director as of 16 September 2019. He succeeds Timon Drakesmith. James joined Hammerson from AIG, where he served as the CFO and board member of its European Group since 2014.

Andrey Maruta has been appointed as Kore Potash CFO as of 23

Joe Ndala Talib Sadik

September 2019. He took over from John Crews. Andrey has over 16 years’ experience in the mining industry, including as CFO at Petropavlovsk.

Jean-Pierre van Staden is the new CFO of Botswana-based Minergy. He has been in the role since 2 January. Jean-Pierre replaced Morné du Plessis, who stepped into the role of Minergy CEO as of 1 August 2019.

Air Namibia has appointed Werner Schuckmann as its new CFO as of 8 October 2019. Prior to joining Air Namibia, Werner held various CFO and financial director roles spanning the fishing, aviation and construction industries.

Grindrod Bank has confirmed the appointment of Rakesh Garach as its CFO and executive director, a role he has held since 1 August 2019. Rakesh has extensive experience in financial services, in both the private and public sectors.

Life Healthcare Group appointed its group CFO Pieter van der Westhuizen as acting group CEO following the resignation of Dr Shey Viranna as CEO. Pieter will remain in his role as group CFO while serving as acting CEO. He has been with Life Healthcare for 20 years, the last five of which he served in his role as CFO.

Paycode has appointed Grant Haarhoff as its new CFO as of 23 October 2019. Grant joins Paycode from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), where he held several high-profile roles, including acting group CEO, over six years.

Pieter van der Westhuizen

Willem Marais resigned as the FD of Pembury Lifestyle Group on 10 January. Willem, who has a B.Com Honours degree in accounting from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, joined Pembury as group financial manager in January 2019. Demographica has appointed Bianca Raghuber as its new FD. Bianca has been in the role since 1 July 2019, through her appointment was only officially announced on 2 December.

Jan Hnizdo, the CFO and managing director of Teraco, has taken over as CEO after the resignation of Lex van Wyk, one of the founders of the organisation.

Tsogo Sun Gaming has announced the resignation of CFO and executive director Rob Huddy as of 31 July 2020. Rob has been the CFO of Tsogo Sun Gaming since its unbundling in June 2019. He previously served as the CFO of Tsogo Sun Holdings Group since 30 September 2011 and its executive director since 31 October 2011.

The finance executive space is not untouched by the recent emigration fever hitting South Africa and a number of high-profile CFOs are heading for distant shores.

Comair FD Kirsten King’s resignation will come into effect on 28 February 2020. She will be emigrating to the United Kingdom. Kirsten was first introduced to Comair as the revenue accountant and was appointed FD in 2014.

City Lodge Hotels CFO Alastair Dooley has resigned as of

Kirsten King

31 January 2020. He will be emigrating to Australia. Alastair took over from Andrew Widegger, who was appointed as CEO, in June 2018 after serving as the group’s divisional director of finance since 2009.

2017 CFO of the Year winner Till Streichert resigned as the CFO of Vodacom to pursue an opportunity outside of the company. He will be leaving in June 2020. “After 12 years at Vodafone and six years with Vodacom, it is a decision that wasn’t taken lightly. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in South Africa and dealing with a number of challenging situations across the various Vodacom operations in Africa,” he said.

Till took the reins as CFO of Vodacom Group in August 2015, after serving as the executive director of finance for Vodacom SA from February 2014. He had been the CFO of Vodafone Romania and held a number of senior positions in that country.

Bridget Radebe

African Rainbow Capital CFO and 2019 CFO Awards nominee Bridget Radebe has resigned as of 29 November. She had been a non-executive director of African Rainbow Capital Investments since 10 August 2017. l

Another returning expat, Afrox’s Matthias Vogt, has resigned as group FD as of 31 March 2020. He will be returning to Europe to pursue other opportunities within The Linde Group.

Matthias has been the group FD and an executive director of Afrox since 1 August 2017, and was nominated for a CFO Award for his work in the role. He has been with Afrox’s parent company, the Linde Group, for nine years in various senior positions in corporate finance.

Matthias Vogt