CFO Magazine Issue 2 - 2021

THE MAGAZINE FOR SOUTH AFRICAN FINANCE PROFESSIONALS 2 • 2021 CFO.CO.ZA

Retirement reflections eThekwini CFO Krish Kumar not done with public service

Bothwell Mazarura Kumba Iron Ore CFO Standing up for women Thembi Mazibuko Masslift Africa CFO Creativity and finance Glen Pearce Sappi CFO Thriving through Covid-19

Mr Price’s chief futurist officer Mark Stirton

Meet the 2021 CFO Awards nominees

AUDIT FIRM ROTATION

Learn from those who’ve been there, done that

Elmarie Maritz Sedibelo Platinum Mines CFO

Blazing a trail for women in mining

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CONTENTS

THE MAGAZINE FOR SOUTH AFRICAN FINANCE PROFESSIONALS 2 • 2021 CFO.CO.ZA

Retirement reflections

page 26 page 56 page 30

Mr Price’s

Bothwell Mazarura Kumba Iron Ore CFO Standing up for women Thembi Mazibuko Masslift Africa CFO Creativity and finance Glen Pearce Sappi CFO Thriving through Covid-19

chief futurist officer Mark Stirton

Meet the

40

page 44 page 68

2021 CFO Awards nominees

AUDIT FIRM ROTATION

Learn from those who’ve been there, done that

page 20

page 12

eThekwini CFO Krish Kumar not done with public service

page 52

Elmarie Maritz Sedibelo Platinum Mines CFO

Blazing a trail for women in mining

CFO South Africa is the organisation for finance executives in South Africa. Our goal is to connect finance professionals online and off in order to share knowledge, exchange interests and open up business opportunities.

CFO Enterprises (Pty) Ltd 1 Wedgewood Link, Bryanston, Johannesburg, 2191, South Africa. | +27 11 083 7515 | CFO.co.za © 2021 CFO Enterprises (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

MANAGING DIRECTOR

COMMUNITY MANAGER

PHOTOGRAPHY

Joël Roerig jroerig@cfo.co.za +27 76 371 2858

Brian Chivere bchivere@cfo.co.za +27 60 505 7727

Lizelle Furter, Patrick Furter, Ter Hollmann

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

SALES MANAGER

Georgina Guedes gguedes@cfo.co.za +27 83 651 2789

Karen Martin kmartin@cfo.co.za +27 82 920 8259

MANAGING EDITOR

LAYOUT & DESIGN

Caylynne Fourie cfourie@cfo.co.za +27 68 583 9270

Elizabeth Ferraris PROOFREADING Toni Muir

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CFO MAGAZINE • CFO.CO.ZA

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS Kate Thompson Davy, Puseletso Mompei, Ronda Naidu, Tamara Oberholster, Victoria Williams PRINTING Novus Print Peter Wilding peter.wilding@paarlmedia.co.za +27 11 201 3400

Community 8

Movers: Finance professionals take on new challenges

12

Krish Kumar is not done with public service

16

CFO straight talk: Top insights from the Finance Indaba Online

64

Hiten Keshave and Sanjay Soni talking to the township economy

68

Meet this year’s CFO Awards nominees

Leadership 20

Elmarie Maritz blazing a trail for women in mining

26

Bothwell Mazarura taking a stance against genderbased violence

26

Crisis Management 30

Glen Pearce puts a whole new spin on thriving

34

Embark on contingency planning sooner rather than later

Technology 38

CFOs on safari to the future

40

Tramayne Monaghan: the unexpected accountant

44

Mark Stirton: Mr Price’s chief futurist officer

Audit 48

Sitho Mdlalose says the future of audit is digital

52

State of play: An MAFR update

Lifestyle 56

Thembi Mazibuko cutting a niche for creativity

60

Jordaan Burger: Sage’s green-fingered CFO

44

30

56 CFO MAGAZINE • CFO.CO.ZA

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FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Serving up some pandemic buzzword soup

A

few months into the Covid-19 pandemic, a friend of mine bought a T-shirt with the words “I miss precedented times” printed on it. We all had a good laugh because, aside from agreeing with the sentiment, we’d heard and read the words “unprecedented times”, well, an unprecedented amount of times.

There are other words that we’ve heard a lot of in the past year and a half. ‘Agility’ is one. ‘Pivot’ is another.

‘Resilience’ is a third. And if you were able to apply all of those words to yourself and your business in these ‘unprecedented times’, well, you’d be able to ‘thrive in the new normal’, now wouldn’t you?

The reason we enthusiastically cling to these buzzwords is that they really do sum up the reality of what we are going through – or at least, what we aspire to.

Speaking them is the shibboleth that signifies we are all in this together. We know the language. But while the words we use to describe these attributes and behaviours in broad terms might be the same, it’s the individual stories underpinning ‘agility’ and ‘resilience’ that we can learn from.

In light of this, CFO Magazine continues to bring you stories and insights from leading finance executives, who themselves have learnt important lessons in the past year.

Kumba CFO Bothwell Mazarura, for instance, has always spoken out strongly against gender-based violence – but a particularly horrific case of woman abuse that occurred among the company’s staff during lock-

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CFO MAGAZINE • CFO.CO.ZA

down spurred him into action. You can find out more about how he and his fellow executives are tackling this thorny issue in an article on page 26.

Sticking with the theme of mines and women’s place in them, our cover story features Elmarie Maritz, CFO of Sedibelo Platinum Mines, who has made it her mission to make women feel “safe, secure, equal and included” at the company. You can find out how she works towards this, and about the women on her finance team on page 20.

While the last year certainly hasn’t represented ‘business as usual’ for anyone, there are those CFOs who have been busy forging new growth paths during this time. Mr Price CFO Mark Stirton is one such visionary, who has been on an acquisition spree, bringing Power Fashion and YuppieChef into the Mr Price Group stable in the past year. Learn more about why he describes himself as a “commercially strategic futurist” on page 44.

There’s loads more inspirational content featuring the great leaders in the CFO South Africa community on the pages ahead. I hope these stories give you opportunity to reflect on your own agility and resilience, and perhaps in the months to come, we will all be able to celebrate flattening the curve once and for all.

With warm winter salutations, Georgina Guedes Editor-in-chief gguedes@cfo.co.za +27 83 651 2789

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PEOPLE MOVES

FINANCE PROFESSIONALS TAKE ON NEW CHALLENGES After a year like 2020, these finance professionals have learnt to take every opportunity by the horns and are ready for the challenge of a career change.

Stuart Spencer, who will continue to serve as the bank’s COO. She previously served as the CFO of Investec’s Specialist Bank.

Jason Quinn

Jason Quinn was appointed as interim group CEO of Absa in February, taking over from exiting CEO Daniel Mminele. Jason has been the group FD of Absa since August 2016 and was awarded the 2020 CFO of the Year for his work in this role.

Punki Modise has stepped into the role of interim FD of Absa. Punki joined Absa Group in 2008 and has held various senior management roles, including that of CFO of the retail and business banking division.

Emanuel Cristaudo has been appointed as Truworths International’s new CFO with effect from July. He will be taking over from Hermanus Smit, who has been serving as the interim CFO following David Pfaff’s resignation in December 2020. Emanuel has had extensive involvement at executive and director levels at Truworths’ main operating subsidiary in its Africa segment, where he was employed for over 16 years until 2013.

David moved on to become the CFO of TymeBank’s sister company, Tyme, in March, as well as country CEO of Tyme’s South African operations.

“I am excited to join such an innovative and exciting company that will change banking as we know it,” David said.

Deon Smith was appointed as the CFO of Thungela Resources in April, following its demerger from Anglo American. Deon has been serving as the CFO of Anglo American’s Coal South Africa division since July 2017.

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Denel appointed Thandeka Sabela as its acting group CFO in March. She takes over from Carmen le Grange, who resigned as group CFO in early March. Thandeka has been with Denel since November 2015.

Gary Altini will step down as the CFO of Takealot, along with its CEO Kim Reid, in July. Gary joined Takealot in October 2010 after serving as CFO for various businesses within the Naspers Group.

Wescoal appointed Jubilant Speckman as its permanent group CFO in February. Jubilant has been acting as the group CFO since 1 September 2020 following the resignation of Izak van der Walt after three years as group CFO. "I am delighted and humbled by my appointment and grateful for the value placed on empowering the next generation of leaders,” Jubilant said.

Telkom appointed acting CFO Dirk Reyneke as its permanent group CFO in February. Dirk took over from exiting group CFO Tsholofelo Molefe in December 2020.

Investec appointed Marlé van der Walt as its FD in April. She replaces

Jubilant Speckman

Punki Modise

Sharon Naidoo was appointed as TransUnion Africa’s new CFO in

Xolani Mbambo not scared of the challenges that lie ahead Xolani Mbambo was appointed as the CEO of Grindrod Freight Services in February, following a successful tenure as the company’s FD. He was nominated for the 2020 CFO Awards.

“I am looking forward to this role with much excitement, but I am under no illusion on the challenges that lie ahead,” Xolani says.

He adds that he looks forward to driving the growth of the business by delivering on its strategy to unlock trade corridors in Africa. This will ensure that the products destined for export and import find the most efficient and cost effective corridors in which Grindrod operates.

Sharon Naidoo

February. “I’m looking forward to joining the leadership team of this dynamic business as we look to tackle the challenges and opportunities that will help our continent realise its potential,” said Sharon.

She joins TransUnion from Ricoh Africa, where she served as CFO. Former Afgri Group Holdings CFO Rivasha Maharaj was appointed as the FD of Omnia’s AGRI division in January. For her work as the CFO of Afgri, Rivasha was nominated for the 2020 CFO Awards.

Desmond Maharaj has resigned as the CFO of ArcelorMittal South Africa to pursue personal opportunities outside of the business.

Desmond was appointed as the CFO

Before being appointed as the CEO, Xolani served in the company’s operations department as an executive director for a year. He says that the rationale behind the move from CFO to operations was to spend some time at the coal face with teams in various operations, to intimately understand the core drivers of those businesses and forge good relationships with the people who are vital in executing the company’s strategy. “I also used this time to reflect on the key issues and priorities to focus on in order to make a positive impact on the business when I get appointed as CEO.” l

Xolani Mbambo

in September 2018, taking over from Gerhard van Zyl, who had been acting as CFO following the resignation of Dean Subramanian in May 2018.

Awards, replaces Marubini Raphulu, who resigned in April. Masibulele was appointed CFO of Hulisani in July 2017.

Renergen appointed Brian Harvey as its new FD in May. “I am excited for the opportunity to be part of this dynamic team and look forward to contributing to the future continued success of Renergen,” Brian said.

Brian takes over from Fulu Ravele.

He joins Renergen from Resources Generation where he served as CFO.

Sam Odendaal was appointed as the new group FD of Raubex Group in June. He took over from James Gibson, who resigned in May. Sam joined Raubex in July 2007 as the financial manager of its construction division.

D’Shorne Human was appointed as the new CFO of the South African Forestry Company in April. Prior to joining Safcol, D’Shorne served as the group FD of Pearlstock Holdings.

Sandile Ntsele was appointed as the CFO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies’ South Africa operations in April. He says: “I look forward to joining Liquid South Africa’s dynamic leadership team and leading its local finance department, and contributing to the organisation’s future success as it progresses to the next phase of its strategy.” Sandile previously served as the CFO for MTN South Africa.

Hulisani appointed its CFO Masibulele Dem as its interim CEO in May. Masibulele, who was nominated for his role at the 2019 CFO

Jasco Electronics appointed its CFO, Warren Prinsloo,as the company’s new CEO in March. Liska Prigge, a former divisional FD within Jasco ICT-Enterprise, took over from Warren as CFO. Warren has been the CFO of Jasco for 15 years and replaced interim CEO Pete da Silva.

Sandile Ntsele

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PEOPLE MOVES Raoul Gamsu assumed the dual role of CEO and CFO of Consolidated Infrastructure Group in February.

This follows the resignation of CFO Cristina Teixeira in October 2020.

Raoul will serve in his dual role until the new business rescue plan is in place.

Hulamin appointed Meganathan Gounder as its new CFO in April. His appointment follows the resignation of acting CFO Laren Farquharson in March. Meganathan has held various senior finance roles within the Illovo Sugar Group, including FD. Ric Sieni took on the combined role of CEO and FD at Trencor in March,

following the retirement of CEO Hennie van der Merwe. Ric was appointed as FD of the company in march 2016 and has been with the company since 1982.

BNP Paribas Personal Finance South Africa appointed Balraj Dev as its new CFO and deputy CEO in May. Balraj, who served as the chief risk officer at BNP Paribas for almost five years, took over from Mariné van Brakel as CFO. Marine has been appointed as the COO of the company.

African Bank CFO Gustav Raubenheimer was appointed as the company’s interim CEO in January, following the resignation of Basani Maluleke to pursue other career opportunities.

Conduit Capital appointed Bianca Yan as the FD of the company in February. She took over from Lourens Louw, who stepped down as the FD of Conduit Capital to pursue a new role at Constantia Insurance Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Conduit Capital.

Masibulele Dem

Nigel Naidoo was appointed as the new FD of Crookes Brothers in May.

Warren Prinsloo

He took over from Greg Veale, who stepped down in April to take up a position as CEO of a retail group.

Nigel has served as the company’s group financial manager for the past seven years.

Transcend Residential Property Fund appointed Nicholas Ian Watchorn as its new CFO in March. Nicholas took over from Myles Kritzinger, who was appointed as CEO in January and served in both roles since then.

Prior to his appointment, Nicholas was a transactor in the commercial property finance division at Absa Corporate and Investment Bank.

Kobus Gertenbach ready to put his skills to work as CEO Kobus Gertenbach has been promoted to the role of Premier FMCG’s CEO. He has served as the company’s group CFO since 2011. “It is a big responsibility to steer the business for the next few years, and I’m quite excited to take on the challenge,” he says. “Personally, one invests decades in building one’s skills, and it is a great opportunity to now put those skills to work and see if I can make a success of it.”

Kobus will be taking over from Tjaart Kruger, whom he has worked closely with as the group CFO for the last decade to map and execute Premier’s strategic direction. “Although the last decade already may seem like a very long time, there is a significant amount of unfinished business to reach the goals we set for the business,” Kobus says.

He adds that it’s not the appointment that is the goal, but to make a success of the opportunity. “I have a highly skilled and experienced executive and wider leadership team supporting me, and we all have an opportunity to see how successful we can make Premier.”

Kobus suggests that exciting times lie ahead for the company, and together with the exco and the wider leadership team, he plans to take Premier to new heights in the coming years. “We have a lot more room for growth in our dynamic marketplace.” l

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Kobus Gertenbach

to take over the role as group CFO. Thabang joined Efora Energy in 2020 from Barloworld and was in the role of group financial manager of a subsidiary prior to the appointment.

Balraj Dev

James Lenton stepped down as the group CFO of Hammerson in January. “Following successful completion of the rights issue, VIA Outlets disposal and induction of the new chair of the board and CEO, I feel now is the right time to look for a new opportunity. I remain fully committed in the role until my successor is in place,” James said. He joined Hammerson in September 2019 and was appointed as CFO on 1 October 2019.

Joanne Tanner resigned as the group FD of Tarsus in February. She has been with the company for 10 years and will officially step down from her role in August. She was appointed as group FD in February 2019.

Bata South Africa appointed Saket Mohta as its new FD in February.

Before joining Bata South Africa, Saket worked as Bata India’s financial controller.

Mohamed Bhyat was appointed as the new CFO of Havas in January.

He took over from Andrea Bottega.

“Havas’s culture is centred on the delivery of excellent work to clients, and the business’s commitment to transformation, diversity and inclusion is exemplary, and I look forward to playing my part in making a meaningful difference to our clients, our people and South Africa,” Mohamed said.

Efora Energy appointed Thabang Monametsi as its interim group CFO and FD in April while the company searches for a suitable candidate

Pieter Watson was appointed as the new FD of Nutritional Holdings in April. Pieter has more than 20 years’ experience in roles from financial manager to FD and CFO in diverse industries from cosmetics and pharmaceuticals to IT and media companies.

Vivo Energy’s CFO designate Douglas Lafferty took on the role of permanent CFO in March. Douglas took over from Johan Depraetere. Prior to joining the group, Douglas spent three years as CFO and executive director for Williams Grand Prix Holdings.

Travers Cape was appointed as the new CFO and interim company secretary of Nu-World Industries in February. His appointment followed the resignation of Bruce Hall Haikney as the company secretary.

International project developer juwi Group appointed Carlos Mateos as the new FD of its EMEA region in January. Carlos joined juwi South Africa in 2019 as the CFO. Rina de Jager resigned as the FD of Imbalie Beauty in February. She joined the company in 2018 following the resignation of interim FD Daleen Oosthuizen.

WG Wearne appointed Norman Janse van Rensburg as its new FD in January. Norman has been working

Joanne Tanner

Travers Cape

for Barloworld in various divisions for the last 20 years.

South African Airways appointed Fikile Mhlontlo as its interim CFO in April. Fikile recently served as the interim group CFO of Concur Construction and before that, served as an independent consultant.

The Eskom Pension and Provident Fund appointed its CFO Shafeeq Abrahams as its new CEO in April.

He took over from Linda Mateza.

Shafeeq has held various leadership roles in finance at the EPPF. Khathutshelo Ramukumba resigned as the CFO of the South African Post Office in January for personal reasons. Khathutshelo was appointed as CFO in October 2020 and had only served as the company’s CFO for three months.

The new council of the National Arts Council of South Africa appointed Reshma Bhoola as its acting CFO in March. The appointment follows the suspension of the NAC’s CFO and CEO, pending an investigation in relation to the management of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme.

South African Johan Gericke was appointed as executive VP and CFO of Finance of America in April. Johan most recently served as the chief of staff of Capital One’s commercial banking division. l

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COMMUNITY

NOT DONE WITH PUBLIC SERVICE After 40 years as the eThekwini Municipality CFO, Krish Kumar is retiring. However, he doesn’t intend to stop being a servant for the public, as he plans to train young professionals during his retirement. Caylynne Fourie asked Krish about his retirement plans.

K

rish Kumar is set to retire as the CFO of eThekwini Municipality after 40 years with the city, 24 of which were spent in his current role. He says that retirement will give him the opportunity to spend quality time with his family after a difficult year.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on me and my family. I lost my brother-in-law and my brother,” he explains. “I also tested positive and had to be quarantined when my brother passed away. This made me introspect and gave me a fresh perspective.”

Krish hopes to spend more time with his wife, Annie, two children, Alisha and Nikhla, and one grandson, Aryan. “I am a 24/7 person,” he says. “I have gotten on the wrong side of my family at times. I had to make a lot of sacrifices. I regret not attending sports days, awards days and plays. I also had to go back to work the day after my wedding and couldn’t go on our honeymoon.”

However, he says that spirituality keeps the family and himself focused. “My family is vegetarian and we belong to the Divine Life of South Africa. I got the blessing of Swami Sahajananda to accept the post of CFO, and over the years I have learnt to strike a better balance between work and family life.”

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Krish said he would not be leaving his post immediately but would stay until a suitable replacement was found, to ensure there was a smooth transition.

Highlights of being the eThekwini CFO Krish joined the municipality straight out of matric as a trainee accountant and worked his way through the ranks to CFO. Looking back, he says there have been several highlights.

He was appointed by the President of South Africa as a commissioner on the Financial and Fiscal Commission from 2009 to 2013, which involved providing input and advice with regard to the national budget, and interacting with parliament and sectors of government. He was also appointed by the Minister of Finance as a member of the Accounting Standards Board for two terms, which included working on the generally recognised accounting practices (GRAP) standards and ensuring that municipalities were practically ready to implement them. “It also afforded me the opportunity to work closely with the late Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu,” Krish says.

Krish served as president of Chartered Institute of Government Finance, Auditing and Risk Officers

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COMMUNITY

“There can’t be any issues around a CFO. If the CFO is corrupt, there is no hope. You need to be careful not to be captured.”

(CIGFARO) for two terms and also chaired the CFO Forum for over 10 years, which enabled the sharing of best practices and lessons learnt. He also won the Public Sector CFO Award at the 2018 CFO Awards.

clean in-tray every day,” he says. “Respect everyone and their time. You must be hands-on and lead by example.

Create an environment that is open, transparent and driven by best practice. Be decisive, don’t procrastinate on decisions.”

He says that, in public life, you can’t expect everyone to sing from the same hymn sheet. “Everyone has their own interpretations and perspectives. You can’t take any issue or perceived criticism personally. You have to be factual and have the tenacity to deal with any criticism or observation that may not be well-founded but based on their personal political stance.”

“I leave on a high, with the city’s finances doing well.

We have the highest rate of collections,” he says.

He adds that he learnt to maintain a zero-tolerance approach towards fraud and corruption. “Our unqualified audit opinions bear testimony to this. There can’t be any issues around a CFO. If the CFO is corrupt, there is no hope. You need to be careful not to be captured.

You can’t buy a good man or woman. It all comes down to your own value system. I can’t be a role model for my children if I get caught with my hands in the till.

It is also about doing the right thing when nobody's watching.”

Learnings during 40-year long career

Plans during retirement

Krish explains that one of his biggest learnings during his career has been to “do it now”. “I leave work with a

Asked what he intends to do first when he steps down, Krish said he will continue to be involved in climate

A recent highlight was that he was able to maintain the financial stability and viability of the city during trying times, including the global economic recession, the state of the South African economy and the Covid-19 pandemic.

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“I leave on a high, with the city’s finances doing well.

We have the highest rate of collections.”

change activities. “I am currently on the C40 global board and have been approached by them to facilitate a CFO Forum on a regional and global basis, as climate change is a major threat we face globally.”

He hopes to give back to the finance profession and has offered his services to training young professionals at an academic level for CIGFARO.

Advice for future CFOs Krish loved accountancy and mathematics at school. “I was always the top student in accountancy. It was my aspiration to become an accountant and my dream was always to become a CFO,” he says. And that’s exactly what he did.

Asked if he has any advice for future CFOs, he says to stay focused. “Drive a clean administration and ensure that the objectives in terms of a clean audit and consequence management are being met. You must have a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption.”

When it comes to politics, he advises that, while you must respect the submissions of all politicians, the role of administrators and politicians must be clearly appreciated and the line between the two must be clear and distinct.

“Leadership is about managing relationships and getting the three Ps right: the right policy, processes and people,” he says.

Krish says that he is grateful to the eThekwini Municipality and that the company has been a wonderful employer. “I am thankful to all the people who helped me along the way at work and in life.”

He also thanked the people who had closed their doors on his face during his career. “They made me stronger and built in me tenacity and persistence to always fight my case.”

Finally, he says that his favourite saying is “work is service to mankind” and explains that he is grateful for having had the opportunity to serve. l

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CFO

COMMUNITY

STRAIGHT TALK TOP INSIGHTS FROM THE FINANCE INDABA ONLINE

South Africa’s leading CFOs shared their experiences and challenges as finance professionals during 10 insightful Impact Sessions at the Finance Indaba Online on 31 March 2021.

Navigating the Covid-19 crisis Unilever VP of finance, Africa, Mikateko Tshetshe: “We used a team approach to navigate the conglomerate through the pandemic. Our key priorities were amplified in the pandemic. We had an obligation to keep our employees safe while supporting local and global operations. The CEO and I also had to band together to protect the business revenue and bottom lines.”

King Price Insurance deputy CEO (previously CFO) Rhett Finch: “I had to help the company adapt to the new normal.

Risk had changed overnight, because vehicle usage drastically reduced during the lockdown, meaning that premiums and insurance products had to be adjusted accordingly. We had to figure out how to adapt and take advantage of the crisis, so King Price launched its new pay-as-you-drive insurance called Chilli. Launching a product comes with its own set of challenges, coupled with navigating a crisis. The situation had to be managed as a team.”

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Investec CFO Nishlan Samujh: “During Covid-19, Investec was also separating from its asset management arm. The deal had to be finalised in the days leading up to the shutdown. There were a fair number of execution aspects of the deal that still needed to be done, and making sure we could follow through. It took the CEO, CFO, and exco team to come together to navigate the business through the separation, while adapting to the new normal.”

Changing the narrative for women iOCO group CFO Jo-Ann Pöhl: “Balancing a personal life and a career is challenging, but there is so much opportunity. My constant challenge is grappling with guilt about work and home, because women have multiple roles they juggle. In trying to find balance I have three rules, called the D3. The first one is asking what can be delayed because you never know what may come up, the second is what can be delegated, and the third is what can be done.”

Nkululeko Leadership Consulting CEO Nonkululeko Gobodo (the first black female chartered accountant in South Africa): “The discussion needs to be shifted around, and we need to ask ourselves how to empower women to take charge of their destiny. Women are just as smart, powerful and talented as everyone else and society needs to understand that the role of women has changed. Society is stubborn. Women still have to play the traditional roles they did during our grandmothers’ times, and it’s not acceptable. Can diversity and inclusion interventions stop focusing on men changing, but focus instead on how women can affirm themselves and take up their space in boardrooms? Because they deserve to be there.”

Equites Property Fund CFO Laila Razack: “What you learn as a woman is that you put so much more on the table. I had to learn to believe in myself and my abilities, and grow my confidence so that I didn’t become a barrier to my own career.”

Keeping the cash flowing during a crisis EOH CFO Megan Pydigadu: “The company has now moved to a situation where we have a 13-week short-term forecast, which is managed on a fortnightly basis. We were randomly paying suppliers daily and moved to paying weekly, managing terms around creditors. These measures helped us get in shape, so when Covid-19 hit, we were in a better position.”

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COMMUNITY Tongaat Hulett CFO Rob Aitken: “We had to revisit all accounting policies, put in a disciplined cash flow forecast, and take reporting requirements seriously. Our one-year forecast is helpful because it allows us to see how decisions play out, and we made it an exercise that included others beyond the finance team to get a more well-rounded picture of the company’s health.”

Doing deals in tough times Transaction Capital CFO Sean Doherty: “The biggest risk for a company can often be not doing anything. The due diligence for our Webuycars deal was done a good four months into lockdown. We had a hybrid approach to the transaction, where all commercials were done face-to-face and things like the shareholders’ agreement was done virtually. That deal took about seven weeks from start to finish. The other side of risk is opportunity and with a clean balance sheet there are opportunities to be taken advantage of.”

Rigorous reform will strengthen audit independence Aspen Pharmacare CFO Sean Capazorio: “The international standards governing the auditing industry mean that even if firms are using different methods, they will ultimately have to reconcile following international standards. If the industry is serious about deconcentrating the market, then rigorous reform is required.”

Machine helping man Exxaro Resources FD Riaan Koppeschaar: “If you look at the operations, I think mining these days is very competitive, and to reduce costs, you need to look at your productivity to get the maximum volumes out of the mines. So far, we are getting between five and 10 percent improvement in productivity, and internationally companies are getting up to a 25 percent improvement in productivity. This is largely because the machines can talk to each other through IoT.”

Finance is no longer just reporting Sasol Energy CFO Brenda Baijnath: “Internally, leaders are better equipped to make decisions.

We are able to do quick scenario planning like the effect of a dollar increase on the business or price hike on our margins. Our response is more nimble and agile. The fast adoption of digital tools has resulted in a dramatic shift in the finance function, with the focus now being 20 percent on historical reporting and 80 percent on forecasting.

Finance has earned its seat at the table and can influence

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the way the business makes decisions on investments and customers.”

Future-fit finance leaders Kumba Iron Ore CFO Bothwell Mazarura: “Uncertainty is ongoing, so finance leaders of the future need to be able to strike a balance between the financial bottom line and being purpose-driven. There is a shift in the type of jobs people are doing, and the skills required are quickly changing. You need people who can pull information from different systems including operational data, process control data, etc. They should then have the ability to see relationships between data sets, and support generating value as a business. Finance leaders need to be able to communicate the bigger picture to be able to influence the direction of the organisation.”

Nando’s South Africa CFO Simon Adams: “For finance professionals, storytelling is becoming a superpower. In finance, we get to see all functions of the business, and our job is to pass on helpful insights from our perspective. The challenge for finance leaders is getting less technical and relaying valuable information to the rest of the organisation in language that makes a difference to them. Numbers tell a story and a good storyteller conveys important information effectively.”

Workday FD Brian Montgomery: “We need a different mindset with respect to learning.

The needs are changing. Accountants are now involved in tech projects. Tomorrow’s finance teams need to develop broader influencing skills, and so soft skills training is also needed. Training needs to be prioritised and leaders should have the same type of commitment to learning as addressing issues: learning has to be ongoing, part of the day job, not a nice to have.”

Ethics start at the top Auditor-General South Africa CFO Bongi Ngoma: “When a fish rots, it rots from the head down, which means leadership is the root cause of corporate failures.

Leaders have been so unethical when doing business that the focus is no longer about advancing organisational sustainability, but on self-enrichment and how people can benefit at the expense of the country and businesses.”

Impala Platinum CFO Meroonisha Kerber: “At Implats, the leadership team has been acutely aware that decisions they make affect a wider group of people.

That’s why, during lockdown, the most important thing for us was bringing our people back to work safely and, while they were at work, we would do everything to ensure they remain as safe as possible. We went the extra mile by ensuring that employees’ safety did not only end at work but continued in their homes and communities.”l

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BLAZING A TRAIL FOR

WOMEN IN MINING Elmarie Maritz, Sedibelo Platinum Mines CFO, knows that you can’t create gender equity simply by hiring more women; you have to create a safe space for them to work as well. This is why she has prioritised hiring, supporting and mentoring women in an industry that doesn’t usually accommodate them. And Sedibelo Platinum Mines is reaping the rewards. By Ronda Naidu and Caylynne Fourie

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t’s a challenge for women to get into and be promoted in the mining industry, says Sedibelo Platinum Mines (SPM) CFO Elmarie Maritz. But she also sees this landscape as an opportunity for women to get into leadership roles and support each other on the journey to becoming successful.

“It is a very difficult industry to incorporate women in all areas of the operations, and it’s a result of the nature of the industry and women’s physique,” she explains. However, she adds that there are many roles in a mine that women can fill, both in the office and on site.

“Women bring a different perspective, that

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something else to the table,” she says. She believes that promoting and nurturing women will benefit the industry as a whole. “We all have different personalities and skills sets that we develop. Each individual, regardless of gender, needs to make the choice to do this first before they will be seen. However, in my experience, women are more collaborative, good listeners, mediators and definitely better at multitasking.”

This is one of the reasons she advises women to speak up. “We often have something to say but think it’s not important, so we tend to keep quiet. Our male colleagues put themselves at the table and so should we as women.”

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“We often have something to say but think it’s not important, so we tend to keep quiet.

Our male colleagues put themselves at the table and so should we as women.”

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Elmarie explains that, every time she steps into a meeting with a new audience, she needs to dig deep and find her own voice. “The first time I had to report to a board of directors that was male dominated was daunting,” she says. “In order to find yourself, you have to remember that you know your subject and you are, in most cases, the person closest to the subject. Your opinion on the particular subject adds value, there is no reason not to speak up and share your views.”

Elmarie sits on Sedibelo’s special committee at the board, Pilanesberg Platinum Mines’ Women In Mining, which is dedicated to looking after women in mining and in the workplace, and ensuring that they are safe, secure, equal and included. “If more organisations can set that tone from the top and then roll out policies to ensure that they are reaching those goals, we can enable our colleagues as well as the women in our communities and give them more of a growth path.”

Sedibelo is also part of the leading global organisation International Women in Mining, which gives the company a great platform for mentorships and networking with women at all levels in the mining industry.

But Elmarie believes that change can start in the simple things organisations do to ensure their women are included. “In the mining industry, most of our people wear safety gear, but to this day the safety gear is designed for men. Even when women take the smallest sizes available, the sleeves are still too long and it isn’t comfortable for a woman’s body,” she says. “By simply changing this one thing, we acknowledge that there are women at the table.”

The Mining Charter requires that there be 20 percent women inclusion at board level, 15 percent at executive level, 15 percent at senior management and middle management level, and 25 percent at junior management level in mining companies.

Thanks to Elmarie’s determination to uplift women in her working environment, along with her CEO and COO’s support, gender parity at Sedibelo has increased significantly to 33 percent across the organisation, and it is anticipated that it will increase to above 40 percent in the next few years. But it’s not just a numbers game for Elmarie. She takes care to ensure that the women who work with her feel comfortable and accommodated – and she takes mentorship very seriously.

“When I look at our targets and what we’re doing around internships, bursaries, adult education programmes, vacancies and new recruitment, I try to analyse our current numbers, what the division in gender is, and where we should improve and make it more equal,” Elmarie says. She explains that her strategy when recruiting and promoting people into management roles, which are still male-dominated, is to fill the

“As a women leader, bringing something to the table and setting an example for other women will give them the courage to bring themselves to the table too.” gap with women. “I look at the women we have in the workplace and women outside the organisation and see where I can build them up into these roles.”

When she started recruiting for her current finance team, she would look at CVs that had certain qualifications and experience, regardless of gender. However, the appointees usually ended up being women. Now, she explains that she actively looks for women when she needs to fill a vacancy in her team.

She believes that every CFO should promote a strategy like this, because they are on a leadership platform where they can make sure that there is governance around these important changes. “As a women leader, bringing something to the table and setting an example for other women will give them the courage to bring themselves to the table too.”

A science Elmarie’s views on uplifting women certainly come from personal experience. She has been at SPM for over 10 years, starting as a financial accountant and holding the role of CFO since 2016.

Her love for maths, accounting and economics started at school and her passion for the discipline has grown stronger over the years. “Finance is a science, even though it is not always exact. Finance gives you access to business and I really enjoy that. People think we are just bean counters. Today the CFO is a business partner to the CEO and the COO. We help the company and operations achieve their long and medium-term goals.”

For Elmarie, the role offers something new every day and allows her to interact with a wide range of people, including engineers and clerks working on the mine. “It’s a diverse role, from the mundane to the great. I am busy daily with cash flow, treasury, budgeting, analysis, governance and financial statements. We’ve also got great work like commercial negotiations. I also look after the IT function, and it is now so important to look at digitisation with digital mining, data and smart computing,” she says.

Elmarie finds it very interesting to identify and develop platforms for the company to grow, and gets her whole

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“We had to shut down the mine, ensure that mine assets were safeguarded and enable employees who could work from home to do so, as well as taking people’s emotions and job uncertainty into account.” team involved in the process. “It’s forward looking and setting up for the future.”

Together, Elmarie and her team have developed different strategies during the 10-year PGM slump to be part of the future where PGM prices rise and add to the bottom line. These strategies varied from cost-cutting, driving efficiencies and recovering capital from certain commercial agreements.

“Building solid relationships with stakeholders is critical to us,” she adds. “This is why we refer to ourselves as a stable and growing platinum metals producer that is committed to the wellbeing of its employees and an active member of the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela community.”

The company has grown over the years and, with these new strategies in pace, is now ready and able to position itself as a next generation producer, delivering PGM’s from mine to market while being an enabler of green technology.

“I honestly think it is a team effort and, without a strategy for the organisation as a whole and all levels of work supporting inclusiveness, we will fail,” she says. “Setting the example is important and I think the finance team has done exactly that.”

Safety Elmarie sees digitisation as an opportunity to sort out inaccurate information, get additional information and make better decisions. In this way, people will spend more time on evaluation, and it can provide smart metrics to make better decisions on safety and mitigate risks.

Safety is a key metric in mining. Elmarie believes that South African mining companies work hard to ensure the safety of their people as an industry, especially when it comes to standard operating procedures for safety.

The mining industry prides itself on its ability to implement policies and procedures that worked particularly well during the Covid-19 hard lockdown in the first half of 2020.

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“The pandemic has hit the mining industry quite hard.

We had to shut down the mine, ensure that mine assets were safeguarded and enable employees who could work from home home to do so, as well as taking people’s emotions and job uncertainty into account. There was zero production for about 45 days,” she says.

“After that period, we were able to ramp up to 50 percent of employees. The mining environment is different – people must operate safely – so employees went through medicals and rigorous training and screening for a period of time, before they could return to work. We also couldn’t have too many people in a small space. It brought a lot of challenges and the employees were amazing. There were no serious incidents and Pilanesberg Platinum Mines (PPM) [Sedibelo’s operating structure] kept communication going through SMSes and newsletters.”

New experiences On a personal level, Elmarie admits that she felt trapped during the hard lockdown. “I don’t enjoy working from home. I like being with my colleagues, seeing them and talking with them,” she says. “Like other families, my husband and two teenagers were also at home. We had to find a space for each of us, where there couldn’t be too many interruptions. My youngest didn't always understand that I was in a meeting and would just walk in when she had something to say to me.”

She adds that she also missed what she previously had, like being able to go for a jog or a cycle. “I missed my in-laws, family and friends. The hardest thing during the pandemic was that I lost my colleague, Noma Mabikwa, a financial manager at the mine. It affects you personally. I don’t think we appreciate what the pandemic has actually done to us.”

Despite these work and personal challenges, Elmarie was able to use the time productively, to update the future development plans for the Sedibelo Group as Platinum Group Metal prices recovered during the period. “This is certainly positive as it will bring new experiences and technology. We are negotiating a few new finance arrangements and planning new development projects. This will give the finance team scope to change and grow,” she says.

“We have a great finance team in the operations, which was set up by my late colleague. They are smart, intelligent, independent women who are drivers and ready to grow. People are often headhunted from outside the company for the top jobs. I was fortunate to be promoted from within the company and I now want to offer that opportunity to other women in the company.” l

THE FEMALE FINANCE TEAM CFO Magazine paid Pilanesberg Platinum Mines a visit to see the female-strong finance team in action during a team-building activity as they took a trip through the mine. Not only is it evident that they are passionate about their roles within the finance department, but they spoke enthusiastically about the serious challenges that go into operating a platinum mine. From the processing plant to the mining pit, the team were excited to showcase the work they are doing in a male-dominated industry.

Elmarie’s finance team at PPM is almost entirely made up of strong women, whom she has helped grow in their roles. One of these women was the late Noma Mabikwa, PPM’s finance manager, who has also worked hard to represent women at the company and given them a voice during manco strategic meetings.

While Elmarie was looking for a candidate to succeed Noma, she gave corporate financial manager Zonra Zietsman an opportunity to become the acting financial manager. “We believed her accepting this role would empower her to grow beyond her current role and also add enormous value to the finance team and the organisation.”

Zonra Zietsman Zonra says that mining chose her. She was working at PwC, with mining being one of the industries to which she supplied a service. When one of her clients offered her a job in the mining industry, she couldn’t resist. Nearly 10 years later, she is still in the platinum industry.

She explains that PPM has set the tone that there should be no differentiating between men and women. While she believes that mining in general does have some inherent differences, she doesn’t think there are distinguishing characteristics between male and female in finance, and certainly not within the PPM finance department.

“Over the past few months that I have been acting as the finance manager for PPM, I have gained a lot of knowledge around women in mining’s needs,” she says.

She is also one of the members of the team who is passionate about the company’s initiative towards making female employees more comfortable in their work ‘suits’ by introducing female PPE.

Relebohile Nkuna Sedibelo Platinum Mines has just appointed Relebohile Nkuna into the role of financial manager. Looking at the women in the finance team she has joined, she says she believes mines have come a long way in empowering women. “One thing I love about this company is that it is constantly making an effort to better

Zonra Zietsman

Relebohile Nkuna

the lives of its employees as well as its host communities. They’re not waiting for the government to set quotas, they’re always at the forefront.”

Bonolo Letsholo Pilanesberg Platinum Mines senior financial accountant Bonolo Letsholo, who grew up with a father that has worked in the mining industry, says that the mining industry has definitely opened up more to women since she stepped into the industry herself. “I went into the industry at a very young age and didn’t think I would fit into this very male-dominated industry. But, once I joined mining, I realised how Pilanesberg Platinum Mines has opened up to us quite significantly.”

Tamara Glasi SPM company secretary, Tamara Glasi, chose a career in the mining industry because it is “dynamic and multifaceted”. She says that the ever-changing nature of the industry makes every day interesting and creates a workplace of continuous learning. “Mines have a large array of stakeholders and it is exciting to be part of an industry that has such a widespread impact.”

She adds that it is motivating to know that SPM embraces women in senior positions. “The team has developed a culture of non-bias towards women,” she says. “This culture is driven from the top, which is evident from the strong female presence in the management levels of the organisation.”

She explains that Elmarie has been very supportive to the professional development of her employees by encouraging them to participate in projects that may be new to them. “I am inspired by how she has also recognised the need for female employees to have flexible working arrangements in order to navigate their roles as mothers, caregivers and breadwinners.”

Tshepiso Mataboge As part of its efforts to improve women inclusion in the company, PPM also sponsored a bursary for Tshepiso Mataboge to study finance right out of high school. Once she completed her studies, she joined the company as a finance intern, where she is learning a lot from her fellow female colleagues.

“The culture at PPM is a friendly and family type of culture,” she says. “Because of this accommodating environment, I’ve been able to learn from different professionals in our finance department. The team has been very supportive towards ensuring that I grow in my career, and I have gained so much during my time at PPM.” l

Zonra Zietsman

Tamara Glasi

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TAKING A STANCE

AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE For many women, a lockdown spent with their partners was a frightening prospect.

As tensions were raised and tempers flared, abusive men lashed out even more.

Reports of this kind of abuse became apparent to the management of Kumba Iron Ore, and so CFO Bothwell Mazarura spearheaded an initiative to get men to take responsibility for their actions. By Georgina Guedes

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uring lockdown in 2020, the management of Kumba Iron Ore became aware that some staff members were exposed to higher levels of gender-based violence in their homes than ever before. The extent of the situation was made starkly apparent when a number of incidents involving Kumba employees were reported.

“These incidents rocked the company, and we realised we had to do something about it, and do it soon,” says Bothwell Mazarura, Kumba CFO. Kumba has a zero tolerance for any kind of abuse and has run programmes around bullying and harassment in the workplace in the past. The iron ore miner has also created awareness about gender-based violence, or violence prevention. “But the escalation during last year was quite alarming, so we embarked on a campaign through the whole of the Anglo American Group to address these issues,” says Bothwell.

Previous interventions had seen women championing the issue and marching at the mines to create awareness of the issue, but Bothwell felt it was just as important for men to stand up as equal partners in the fight.

“It’s about time that we – as men – take responsibility,” says Bothwell. “We need to start showing that we are deeply concerned about GBV, that we are committed to doing something about it. So that’s when I started an initiative in Kumba for men to have conversations about gender-based violence.”

Along with Kumba CEO Themba Mkhwanazi and executive head of HR Virginia Tyobeka, they hosted a webinar for the company to show that its leadership takes gender-based violence seriously.

“In that webinar, I noted that when I am asked to think of situations when I’ve encountered gender-based violence, I can’t think of just one. I have several examples. It’s an indictment on society and on our lives, that I have three or four stories that I have personally experienced.

“If you multiply that by everyone else, it means that this has always been prevalent – never mind what we started to see during lockdown.”

The Kumba campaign The campaign within Kumba kicked off with a conversation, facilitated by Brothers for Life, an organisation that promotes positive male norms and campaigns for men to take a stand against GBV. Six senior executives, including Bothwell, were joined by a professional chef in a MasterChef setting, to explore positive male norms.

“The setting was deliberate. We wanted to have men in the kitchen, cooking, to try to break down the stereotypes around spaces belonging to women in the home. We were dressed in black and held an open, authentic and

“The most important thing for us is that it’s men leading the conversation.” unscripted conversation while we cooked – opening up about how we personally feel about gender-based violence and the issues related to it.”

The executives spoke about what they could do to prevent it, and what they think the impediments are to overcoming the challenges of gender-based and domestic violence in homes and even how gender inequality plays out in boardrooms. A video was created from the event, and it was shown to everyone in Kumba, which employs 13,000 people, the majority of which are men. The aim was to get men talking about the issues. And it seems to be having an effect.

“It’s starting to gain traction,” says Bothwell. “The men in our organisation aren’t just talking, they are doing things in their communities. The most important thing for us is that it’s men leading the conversation, because that means that the whole population will be involved, instead of one half, and that will make a huge difference.

And now we’re looking at real practical things we can do as the next step.”

One of the programmes they are planning targets young boys in schools, getting them to think about what it means to be a man, and breaking down stereotypes that

men are required to be tough, aggressive and dominant.

“We will be targeting boys because that’s when the stereotypes develop,” Bothwell explains. “If we can intervene at that age in a positive way, and demonstrate a different approach to being a man, hopefully they will come to understand that women are their equals, and must be treated with dignity and respect. I am very excited and passionate about this initiative.”

Bothwell has always felt strongly about women’s rights to feel secure in their homes and workplaces, but as a father of teenage girls, he’s even more aware of the dangers that society poses to women. He says he is literally filled with terror at them exploring the outside world.

One of the things that spurred him into action at Kumba was asking himself the question, “How can we play our part in ensuring that women can live their lives fully and without fear?”

He hopes he can inspire more male executives to take up this important cause, to help break down stereotypes and to champion the eradication of gender-based violence. l

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A WHOLE NEW SPIN ON When Sappi introduced its new Thrive 25 Strategy at the start of 2020, CFO Glen Pearce and his finance team had no idea how critical it would become during the rest of the year. He shares how the flexibility of the plan helped steer the company through Covid-19. By Caylynne Fourie

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“We have the flexibility within the plan to accommodate massive changes in the business environment, and to withstand the massive pressure we faced last year.”

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n February 2020, Sappi introduced its Thrive 25 Strategy, with the intention of making the company more sustainable and innovative to reflect the changing markets and economic conditions.

Little did the executive team know that Covid19 would soon be the strategy’s greatest test. In fact, Sappi was still in the process of making the new strategic changes across its regions in North America, Europe and South Africa in March 2020 when Covid-19 hit. Sappi CFO Glen Pearce and the rest of the executive team had to quickly jump into action to adjust the strategy that they were still rolling out.

“The strategy was sufficiently flexible that we could adjust it to focus on the four main objectives we had set initially, which were to grow the business, sustainable

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finance, driving operational excellence and enhancing trust,” Glen says. However, the long-term strategy remained unchanged as they shifted the immediate focus to short- and medium-term objectives.

When Glen and his finance team started looking at the short- to medium-term challenges that were presenting because of the Covid-19 pandemic, their main concern was their liquidity as the demand for their products dropped substantially overnight. And, as a result of the dwindling demand, the supply chain started presenting challenges. “Being in a production environment, we have investments that we need to keep full. If we fail to do this, the fixed cost absorption of the company increases and our profitability decreases,” Glen says.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT

“You need to have an understanding of what the group strategy is, what each region’s specific priorities and needs are, and compromise to get the best overall solution.”

To overcome these liquidity constraints, Glen and his team renegotiated the company’s covenants. They received a waiver of the covenants over 18 months, which comes to an end in September. Sappi was one of the first companies to negotiate its covenants based on the fact that its profitability would go down and put pressure on these covenants. In the process, Glen and his team have been able to raise funds and refinance some of the company’s loans, despite the difficult conditions.

Glen is particularly proud of how flexible the plan has been, especially during Covid-19. “As we grew to understand the impact and consequences of the pandemic, the strategy wasn’t forced to change, because the emphasis was on focusing on the balance sheet, sustaining our financial health and looking at operational excellence. We have the flexibility within the plan to accommodate massive changes in the business environment, and to withstand the massive pressure we faced last year.”

Out with the old systems, in with the new Sappi’s finance team has also been focusing on driving operational excellence in order to mitigate the supply chain challenges by reviewing all Sappi’s processes that support production. “Our operations in our production mills operate a mill execution system, which has been around for quite some time,” Glen explains. He adds that these systems were internally developed years ago with code that requires updating.

Because of this, Sappi has launched a 10-year plan to update the mill execution systems across the group, which will have an impact on all the systems throughout the group that lead into that mill system, including supply chain.

Additionally, a multi-disciplinary team has consolidated the systems and processes across the group into a Global Business Services (GBS) Council.

“The process and system development across the three different regions is now managed through the Council, enabling us to align the global company strategy for processes and business, and to benchmark across the different regions” Glen says.

The new strategy has also enabled Glen and his team to get information and make educated decisions based on that information. “We were able to pick up the liquidity and supply chain issues quite early and predict the challenges we were going to be facing, and act accordingly,” he says.

Bouncing back with a vengeance Sappi has seen the demand for its products recover in the graphics markets it operates in, although it hasn’t returned to pre-Covid levels yet. In the dissolving pulp markets, however, the demand has recovered to a point where the company doesn’t have sufficient capacity.

“We’re seeing wonderful opportunities in terms of getting new customers, servicing them and satisfying the pool of demand at the moment,” Glen says.

It all comes down to teamwork Glen accredits the success of the strategy to his finance team. “As a CFO, you have to understand that you are part of a team and a ‘cog in the wheel’,” he says.

In his immediate team, Glen has three CFOs from the different regions, as well as the group treasurer.

He explains that, when planning a group strategy and vision with different regions, you need to get the understanding and alignment between the different regions. “You need to have an understanding of what the group strategy is, what each region’s specific priorities and needs are, and compromise to get the best overall solution.”

With so many different priorities to consider, it can be difficult to get everyone aligned to the same vision.

“When we have disagreements, we put the issues that we have on the table and sit down to discuss them as a team,” Glen says. “Our first focus is to align to the group strategy. Once we have an agreement on that and set down principals around it, we then start addressing the issues as a group and come to a conclusion.”

He concludes that, as a leader, it’s important to create an environment where everyone has an opinion and, collectively, you can come to solutions that work out in everyone’s best interest. l

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EMBARK ON CONTINGENCY PLANNING

SOONER

RATHER THAN

LATER

Towards the end of 2019, Deloitte’s restructuring services business unit relaunched in what turned out to be a timeous commitment to supporting ailing businesses ahead of Covid-19. The unit, headed up by Jo-Anne Mitchell-Marais, has conducted important research into restructuring, revealing exactly why businesses should embark on this process at the first signs of financial distress. By Victoria Williams and Georgina Guedes

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inety-four percent of respondents to Deloitte’s Restructuring Industry Survey, carried out at the start of 2021 believe that the probability of a company being turned around is 50 percent or greater if restructuring advice is sought when the early signs of distress become apparent. This is a crucial aspect of restructuring – the sooner the process begins, the greater the chances of business success.

The report states that within the restructuring industry, experts talk about the “demise curve”, which outlines the many scenarios in which companies may find themselves, from the early stages of poor financial health (where informal and consensual restructuring plans apply) to financial distress and insolvency (where the options available to the company decrease as they enter into formal negotiations typically led by creditors).

A worrying trend identified in the survey results was that participants felt that companies are delaying seeking formal restructuring advice due to management teams and boards not believing that the financial distress warrants intervention (55 percent), and that management teams are concerned about being seen as

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incapable or incompetent (25 percent).

This trend is even more concerning right now, when many more businesses are grappling with survival as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 business downturn. Of the respondents, 88 percent expect an increase in activity levels in the restructuring industry over the next 12 months. Despite this, the survey found that informal restructuring solutions, are preferred over formal solutions and the unfavourable stigma attached to companies in business rescue is a challenge to the success of the formal restructuring process.

Between April 2020 and 31 October 2020, according to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), there were 233 business rescue cases filed in South Africa including some major players such as Comair, Edcon, Virgin Money, Phumelela Gaming and House of Busby. Many of these companies were already struggling before lockdown sent the economy into its deepest recession yet. The manufacturing, wholesale and retail, real estate, accommodation and food service activities and construction sectors have been particularly hard hit. While no updated business res-

Jo-Anne Mitchell-Marais

cue statistics are available post October 2020, the most recent report on liquidations in South Africa references an increase of 49 percent in the number of liquidations in March 2021 compared to March 2020, further confirming the struggle of South African enterprises.

and understanding of what contingency plans should look like for the ‘what if’ scenarios. The sooner a company considers corporate contingency planning, the more options are available to return the company to financial health.”

Many of the companies who enter business rescue will not survive. “We are entering a period of prolonged recovery fraught with uncertainty and risk where we are likely to see many more business failures – for both large and small business,” says Jo-Anne Mitchell-Marais, the Africa restructuring services leader at Deloitte, who authored the Restructuring Industry Survey report.

Jo-Anne is a UK chartered accountant by qualification and has specialised in solving financial distress over the past 15 years.

A corporate contingency plan is a proactive strategy that outlines the course of actions the management of an organisation can take in response to an event that could happen in the future. In the case of a financially distressed company, this could include a restructuring, a sale of assets, filing for business rescue or even liquidation. “It's important to work out what the worst-case scenario looks like. Once you have that picture, you can make more informed decisions,” says Jo-Anne.

Being proactive is vital For Jo-Anne, being proactive rather than reactive is vital to navigating a period of financial distress: “In the restructuring market, and as the survey results showed, we oftentimes see that there is an element of denial in large companies where there is insufficient planning

Key risks for the financially distressed Financially distressed companies face several risks that need to be addressed. If debt covenants are breached or repayment dates are missed, lenders may call for the immediate repayment of loans. This in turn can accelerate a descent into business rescue and possibly liquidation.

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“There is an element of denial in large companies where there is insufficient planning and understanding of what contingency plans should look like for the ‘what if’ scenarios.”

Likewise, suppliers worried about the company’s financial performance may call for payment upfront, which puts further pressure on cash flow. Employees fearing retrenchment may seek alternative employment, with the best employees being the most mobile. It is also not uncommon for an overseas parent company to want to shed its local, loss-making subsidiary.

In a case like this, Jo-Anne says it is important for leadership to have tough but honest conversations with all stakeholders. This includes negotiating with investors, lenders, suppliers and being transparent with staff. “You can’t just be a director in the good days. Every management team wants to stay in control of their business.

Early, proactive communications are so important to remaining in control,” says Jo-Anne.

Maximising cash flow Managing a financially distressed company’s cash flow becomes a top priority for any restructuring professional. This includes combing through the financials to pick-up unnecessary and irregular expenditure and investigating which contracts are causing a cash drain.

Reducing office space required or negotiating with

the landlord for a better rate can also be considered.

Thoroughly understanding the cash conversion cycle and working capital requirement is also fundamental to making decisions that have a positive cash flow impact.

Once the cash flow has been analysed, investigated, challenged and remedial measures put in place, it is critical to ensuring that debt repayments match the revised cash flow profile.

“Companies benefit from an outside perspective. At Deloitte we can use artificial intelligence interventions to produce quicker data, which in turn enhance decision making,” says Jo-Anne. Interventions are identified to optimise working capital and identify quick wins.

Resilience Working as a restructuring professional requires resilience. “What makes the job difficult is that we are always dealing with directors at a tough stage in their lives. It’s very lonely in these circumstances and oftentimes they must make the difficult, unpalatable decisions. We have to be there to support directors and guide them to these decisions. In these times, it is the success stories that keep us going,” says Jo-Anne. l

Deloitte restructuring services The Deloitte restructuring services business unit was relaunched in November 2019, headed up by Jo-Anne Mitchell-Marais, and has positioned itself for restructuring projects throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The financial advisory division, under which restructuring services falls, has dedicated teams in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia, and has recently completed a project in Cameroon.

Since the restructuring services relaunch, Covid-19 has ramped up the demand for its services. In such times, restoring a company’s financial health may include a pivot into doing business in a digital world, by being agile and improving accessibility to digital tools. In this case restructuring services could call in the assistance of Deloitte’s digital transformation strategies unit.

Restructuring services can also work in collaboration with Deloitte’s tax, corporate finance, risk advisory and forensics divisions for the benefit of clients.

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Early detection is the golden key in financial restructuring scenarios The 2021 edition of the South Africa Restructuring Industry Survey predicts a rise in activity over the next 12 months. What are the early warning signs of distress? Find out more in the full report including: • the rise of the chief restructuring officer; • how the business rescue process is perceived; • the potential impact of technology on the restructuring process in the future; and • the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key Contact To download the full report please visit www.deloitte.com/za

Jo-Anne Mitchell-Marais Africa Restructuring Services Leader jmitchellmarais@deloitte.co.za +27 11 209 6871 CFO MAGAZINE • CFO.CO.ZA

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CFOs ON SAFARI TO THE FUTURE On 24 February, finance and HR professionals gathered online for the Fearless Future Summit, hosted by CFO South Africa, during which they explored how accurate science writer Arthur C Clarke’s predictions from the 70s were, and then had the opportunity to live one of his predictions themselves.

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rofessor Ian Glenn, research associate in communications sciences at the University of the Free State and emeritus professor of media studies at the University of Cape Town, kicked off the virtual Fearless Future Summit by sharing some of science writer Arthur C Clarke’s predictions of the future that he made in the 70s.

The future, today Clarke worked on the famous film in 1968 called “2001: A Space Odyssey”. “In this movie we are introduced to a computer called HAL, which takes over a spaceship and attacks the humans on board. So the notion of our uneasy relationship with artificial intelligence is also there,” Ian said.

In 1976 Clarke gave a talk in which he looked at what the future held and said, “the basic ingredients of the ideal communications device are therefore already in common use, even today. The standard computer console with keyboard and visual display, plus hifi sound and TV camera, will do very nicely. Through such an instrument one can have face-to-face interaction with anyone, anywhere on Earth, and send or receive any type of information.”

Ian said that, after rereading Clarke’s book “The view from Serendip” during lockdown, one of the predictions jumped out at him. Clarke had said, “We are already

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approaching the point where it will be feasible, not necessarily desirable, for those engaged in white-collar jobs to do perhaps 95 percent of their work without leaving home… Apart from the saving in travel time, there will be astronomical economies in power and raw materials.”

Clarke foresaw some of the psychological problems that came with these advances. He said, “The trouble is, that [the easy and constant accessibility to information] is going to turn some of us into ‘infomaniacs’.”

Arthur even predicted virtual safaris, something attendees of the evening had a chance to experience during the last hour of the event. “How nice to be able to make a trip to the Amazon with a few dozen unknown friends scattered all over the world, with perfect sound and vision, being able to ask your guide questions, suggest detours, request closeups of interesting plants and animals. In fact, sharing everything except the mosquitos and the heat,” he wrote.

The future is already possible Once the audience had made their predictions, they returned to the main “room”, in which TomorrowToday Global founder and futurist Graeme Codrington outlined possible technology of the future.

“Any useful idea of the future must appear ridiculous at first,” Graeme said. “The reason it has to appear ridiculous at first, is that if we just take what we are already

doing and stretch it just a little bit, it doesn’t push our thinking forward and invite innovation.”

He referred to Elon Musk, who brought a group of engineers together and said that he wanted to design a hybrid vehicle that could go 500km per litre of petrol. The engineers said that it was impossible and that they could only do 30 or 40km per litre. But Elon wanted more and ended up building one of the world’s greatest, electrical battery driven sports cars that can go from 0 to 100km in six seconds. “You can only build that if you tell everyone to get rid of the rules in their head and the boundaries that they have,” Graeme said.

He then discussed some of the trends his company has been observing that lead the way to the future, like driverless cars and sustainable energy. “We are currently busy building a nuclear fusion plant in the South of France that, once it is operational, will turn seawater into energy for free,” he said.

He also referred to graphene, which was discovered over 10 years ago. It’s a compound that is based on carbon that is 200 times stronger than steel and 20 times more conductive than copper, but lighter than air. Graphene can be used to enhance the human body.

There are also technologies that exist, that can extend the life of cells and enable humans to live for more than 100 years.

Everyone concluded that the world today is changing rapidly and even though things might seem impossible, they’re probably already real.

Attendees were then taken on a live, private virtual safari through the Greater Kruger National Park, guided by bushveld expert Brent Leo-Smith from Painted Dog TV. The attendees’ first sighting was an elephant taking a mud bath. Brent explained that he and his crew had been tracking the elephant as she was going from one muddy pit to another. The hosts then asked attendees which animals they wanted to see and, after much debate, Brent went looking for the requested leopard and hyena. Instead, he came across some Matabele ants marching across the road, and found fresh leopard spoor, but the leopards themselves remained well hidden in the verdant foliage of the park.

As Brent drove on and neared the end of the hour-long game drive, the guests saw a rhino, grazing in the field.

The rhino had been dehorned by the Kruger National Park rangers to reduce the risk of poaching. One of the guests asked how long its horn would have been if it hadn’t been cut. Brent said that it differed for each rhino and that it was difficult to guess.

Finally, guests were given a view of the red-gold sun as it set behind the lowveld trees of the Kruger National Park, bringing the first-ever SA executive virtual safari and summit to an end. l

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TECHNOLOGY

THE

UNEXPECTED ACCOUNTANT Tramayne Monaghan has been passionate about technology since he was a child and knew from his days of auditing Spree.co.za while working at Deloitte that he wanted to work in the tech space. Today, he is the CFO of Tencent Africa.

By Victoria Williams

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ramayne Monaghan joined Tencent Africa as CFO in April 2014. Since then, he has enjoyed a whirlwind of responsibilities including launching new products into the continent, and managing data, business development and marketing for the organisation. These are not typical CFO responsibilities, but Tramayne has relished the broad scope and freedom to execute. “I feel like I’m growing and changing each day. I’m involved in financial management, people operations and ideation and creation,” he says.

Since March 2020, Tramayne has taken on the role of chief people officer at Tencent Africa alongside positions as both CFO and chief innovation officer. While innovation has taken somewhat of a backseat this year, the Covid-19 pandemic has put both finance and human resources into the spotlight.

“We’ve focused on severe cost-cutting, including renegotiating office space contracts, analysing every line on the income statement, and doubling up roles when employees resign. From a people management perspective, the emphasis has been on helping people to survive the pandemic. This has included recruiting a childminder for a single mother,” he adds.

Tramayne enjoys both the binary black-and-white world of finance and the many shades of grey in the people

management space. He is incredibly passionate about helping team members to perform optimally – taking 75 percent performance up to 100 percent.

While not possible in 2020, one of the perks of the job includes travel. “Travel unlocks different pathways in the brain. It opens your mind. If people were to travel more, there would be less hatred in the world,” he comments.

At 26, Tramayne was the youngest divisional CFO for Tencent. He is a CA (SA) and holds an MBA from Regenesys. His MBA thesis was on the impact of mobile wallets on banked and unbanked populations.

Tech-obsessed Tramayne is a digital native who has been passionate about technology since he was a child growing up in Port Elizabeth. “I’m blown away by the power of technology – whether in uplifting people from poverty or making massive online markets of value exchange.

With technology, the boundaries of what is possible don’t exist,” comments Tramayne.

He had his first career taste of technology while working at Deloitte, auditing the e-commerce platform Spree. co.za. From that moment, he knew that he wanted to work in the tech space. He would download 25 apps per month to test and learn from them.

Since those days, he has held positions at Naspers and a six-month learning sabbatical at Over, a US tech company, with offices in Cape Town and London and teams dotted around the globe.

Working as the COO at Over, a mobile app for editing images, gave him perspective on a Silicon-valley funded start-up. “It’s a completely different culture that is focused on the number of hours spent at work. On the positive side, they don’t accept the status quo. They operate at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in the self-actualisation space. This means that they have so much freedom to innovate,” he adds.

The frontier market Technology company Tencent Africa opened its doors in 2013 as WeChat Africa, the company responsible for WeChat operations on the continent. The company is now primarily responsible for the operations of the JOOX music entertainment app throughout Africa. JOOX is one of the most popular music apps in emerging markets from Indonesia to Thailand and Malaysia in 2015, rivalling the likes of Spotify. The Chinese online giant is hoping for another runaway success in Africa.

“I’ve always wanted to travel and see new things. Travel unlocks different pathways in the brain.”

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“While the tech talent pool in South Africa is small, the talent available within this pool is incredible.”

Africa’s mobile population is among the world’s fastest-growing, with the Global System for Mobile Communications Association estimating that there should be 623 million unique mobile users, or half the continent’s population, by 2025.

by Africans for Africans. While the tech talent pool in South Africa is small, the talent available within this pool is incredible,” he adds.

“Africa is an especially important frontier market for Tencent. Many Africans will not know computers but skip this step and go straight to mobile. Africa is not without its challenges, including high data costs and questionable corporate governance practices in some territories,” says Tramayne.

Tramayne is an avid reader, consuming books on psychology, leadership and technology. Some of his favourite psychology books include works by Carl Jung and Jordan Peterson. His business picks include books

by Ben Horowitz and Seth Godin. “I am fascinated by the human mind and psychology – the balance between our dark and light sides,” he comments.

Tramayne has launched and runs various consumer mobile products such as WeChat, WeChat Wallet, VOOV, JOOX and PUBG Mobile. Plans include promoting Tencent Cloud, an alternative to Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.

Tencent Africa employs about 40 staff members with offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The music team is based in Johannesburg while the firm’s developers are based in Cape Town. Opening offices in Kenya and Nigeria is on the cards. “The intention is to build products

Reading and writing

He is in the process of completing his first book, which he plans to self-publish. The manuscript, titled The Shepherd and the Beast, contains stories of leadership throughout his career. These include experiences with supportive, inspirational leaders as well as hurtful, destructive ones.

For Tramayne, the journey of writing has been deeply fulfilling. He hopes this book is the first of many as he grows a personal brand outside of his CFO responsibilities at Tencent Africa. l

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TECHNOLOGY

MR PRICE’S

CHIEF FUTURIST OFFICER CFO and futurist Mark Sirton is passionate about helping business and individuals prepare for a rapidly changing world, which is exactly what he had in mind during Mr Price’s recent acquisitions of Power Fashion and Yuppiechef. By Ronda Naidu

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r Price Group’s recent acquisitions of Power Fashion and Yuppiechef mark the first deals the company has done in more than 20 years – with both deals being completed in less than six months.

This track record supports CFO Mark Stirton’s assertion that he is not a traditional CFO, but more into the operations and business model engineering. “I would best describe myself as a commercially strategic futurist,” he says. “The fiscal discipline skills help you to commercialise your thoughts, but my true passion lies in helping business and individuals prepare for a rapidly changing world," he says.

“I am a proponent of technology and being a datadriven organisation. It is the key enabler to transform business models, replumb our business and enable an insights-driven organisation,” he continues.

Although the Yuppiechef deal received more media coverage, the Power Fashion business was several times bigger. “We had to reset the business in terms of vision, strategy and growth. We realised when we analysed the market that there were opportunities up and down the value chain. We targeted aspirational value with the Yuppiechef deal and deep or price value in the Power Fashion deal,” he explains.

The former also gives the company an e-commerce opportunity and a channel strategy access to skills.

Mark does, however, caution against confusion around the concepts of digital and e-commerce.

“Digital is much broader than e-commerce. It encompasses every aspect of business and our lives that no longer requires physical constructs to execute,” says Mark. “In South Africa and Africa, the emergence and penetration of smart devices has accelerated way faster than in developed markets. Communicating and transacting through apps and other digital mediums has become prolific. This provides a major opportunity for digitally ready organisations.”

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Mark, who is in the process of completing his executive MBA in Global Digital Business, sees Mr Price’s mobile capabilities providing a strong platform to aid in delivering the group's digital ambitions.

Borderless “Business models are changing at a rapid rate. The customer is firmly in charge; we cannot push products onto customers any longer, but need to see how we can meet the customer at the intersection of their needs and desires in a frictionless way. We are moving to a digital, borderless environment and competitors can launch from nowhere. You can do everything nowadays in a low-capital environment, from managing supply chains to customer expectations. If you’re too slow, you’ll find yourself irrelevant,” he says.

This is one of the reasons Mark sees the upside in Covid-19, of jolting people into action and moving businesses from complacency to urgency.

“In March 2020, we presented a growth budget to the board and then in April we had to go back with version two that looked horrendous. Basically, we lost R2 billion cash in April 2020 when Covid-19 hit. This was almost 50 percent of our cash reserves in one month. Capital and funding strategies had to be employed quickly. We had to convince the board that we needed to open up a channel for authority to raise capital via an equity raise – authority we did not ever think we would need, being such a strong cash-generating business. Fortunately, we did not need to action this form of capital raise, but display the uncertainty that we had to deal with,” he says.

This is where an agile, resilient business makes all the difference. “Mr Price people have a high degree of ownership, empowerment and love for the business and that definitely helped in a crisis,” he says. “We also have very flat structures, which facilitate communication. Messages we get to people are clear: it’s firm and it’s fast.”

“You can do everything nowadays in a low-capital environment, from managing supply chains to customer expectations. If you’re too slow, you’ll find yourself irrelevant.”

“We were very fortunate compared to some of our peers,” he adds. “With our diverse retail footprint, when customers were avoiding headline malls [during Covid-19], they frequented our smaller location shops.”

Competitive and complex This lends credence to the company’s mandate of being the people’s value champion, with the aim of bringing fashion to people who are cost conscious, but want to look and live well. “The average consumer in Africa has a high desire to look and feel good. Often their living conditions are inadequate, so how they present themselves is very important to who they are,” he says.

Retail is, however, a highly competitive market, works off the back of economic cycles, and is currently in a tough space. “It has been devastating at a retail segment level, but base effects are starting to create green shoots,”says Mark. “Mr Price has a defensive business model: category

dominance coupled with promotional appeal help us to surprise and delight our customers with the price and fashion value clearly communicated. Evidence of this is displayed over the last 12 months where we have taken market share. We are also starting to see a lot more trialists from the higher LSMs, which shows the versatility of the model and that our purpose is having impact.”

Mr Price recently decided to pull out of Nigeria to create strategic focus on its core market, South Africa. “Africa is a complex animal. The government and regulatory complexities and inconsistencies create a lot of challenges, most notably the uncertain forex regulations. We are completely sober to the fact that opportunity comes with mess, but unfortunately trading in Nigeria exceeds our current risk to reward tolerance,” he says.

However, Mark remains optimistic about the African market and the opportunities that it can bring to Mr Price. l

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AUDIT

THE FUTURE OF AUDIT IS

With technologies like blockchain and automation on the rise, Vodacom South Africa FD Sitho Mdlalose highlights the need to establish audit teams that are tasked with creating value through insights and that can “think digital”. By Tamara Oberholster

“

The word that springs to mind when I think of the future of audit is ‘digital’,” says Vodacom SA FD Sitho Mdlalose. “The future of audit for me is really about the future of business in general, and that’s digital.”

Sitho was appointed FD of Vodacom South Africa in 2020 after the Vodacom Group restructured and the decision was taken for the South African company to operate as a standalone company. Before that, he held the role of CFO for International Business at Vodacom for several years, giving him a good understanding of the challenges of managing internal audit for a multinational entity.

As Vodacom continues on its journey from telco to tech company, Sitho believes that audit will play an important role. “Yes, assurance is great because of what it does, and from an audit function perspective, it helps me protect the value that the organisation has built,”

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he says. But beyond this, he believes that the future of audit, and where it can truly begin to create value, is through providing increased insights. “The future of audit cannot be purely protection of existing value – it can help create future value.”

Like all areas of business, audit will also need to keep pace with rapid digitalisation. With technologies like blockchain and automation on the rise, Sitho highlights the need to establish audit teams that are tasked with creating value through insights and which can “think digital”.

As processes are automated and digitised, Sitho believes there will be a shift towards continuous monitoring.

“It will no longer make sense to continue to do manual testing when there are these automated processes,” he says. “As automation happens, the level of effort required to manage them lessens, and so processes and controls can run concurrently on a continuous basis.”

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Emerging risks highlighted by Covid-19 Sitho believes that audit will not return to its former pre-pandemic state. “A lot of businesses have taken massive leaps in digital as a result of being forced into it, and I think that is absolutely true of audit,” he says.

“I could never have imagined that we would do remote audits, but we are entering our second year of doing so.”

Covid-19 has highlighted emerging risks and it’s been challenging to give assurance over these in a rapidly shifting environment. “The impact of those risks is significant,” Sitho says. “For example, from an internal audit perspective, an organisation may have gone from liquidity not being one of the biggest risks that the organisation faces to suddenly having to think about whether cash flows are going to remain the same.”

Remote working has also given rise to privacy considerations – an area that presents serious risk for any organisation. As a multinational company, Vodacom has also had to navigate the challenges of working remotely across different regions, which often have different regulatory requirements too. “The reality is that audits rely on data sets,” he says. “I think one of the challenges that any multinational organisation will likely face is the accuracy of the data that they're trying to mine, and in this digital environment there's now an increased reliance on that data as the basis for digital testing.”

accessible, businesses now need IT and cyber skills too.

“You'll get a varying degree of specific deep skills within those fields in different markets in the continent, and to an extent, while you can always set up central hubs, emerging skill sets in networking and cybersecurity start to become a challenge,” Sitho says.

He adds that it’s also important for enterprises to realise that while it’s possible to build audit programmes and develop standardised testing for deployment across regions, it’s critical to leave room for flexibility. Customers, the business landscape and regulatory frameworks will differ in each country and audit programmes need to remain adaptable enough to cater for these differences.

Vodacom, which traditionally focused on telecommunications, has shifted over the years and continues to adapt in response to consumer and market demands, moving into technology and financial services. According to Vodacom, its M-Pesa mobile money service is the most successful in Africa, and is also the region’s largest fintech platform, with almost 42 million active customers.

“The world moves too fast for any one organisation to have the sole right to knowing everything first.”

In this brave new world, it’s not always immediately clear which regulations need to be followed. For example, Sitho says, a company’s centralised audit team may sit in Johannesburg and be looking to run some tests and scripts over certain data. To do that may require loading data to the cloud, which may expose it to privacy risk. “There may also be laws around whether that data can leave the country or not, and does going to cloud mean it's left the country?” Sitho says.

“Different countries have different views on things like that.”

New skills for the future of audit Another challenge in the post-pandemic world of audit for multinationals is the availability of skills across different markets. While traditional audit skills may be

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As Sitho points out, a changing business means changes in internal audit too. “The number one priority is ensuring that we've got the right skills.

We changed a lot of our recruitment, to ensure that we're getting the right balance of skills across our whole business, and in internal audit as well.

We’re getting people who understand robotics, who understand big data and know how to use and analyse data, who are privacy experts,” he says. “We’re working on getting all the different skills and expertise into internal audit, so that when we audit we've got a view and understanding of the environment.”

Sitho underscores the need for audit teams to not only understand emerging technologies, and emerging risks, but to have a thorough understanding of the business’s long-term strategic goals. “This allows them to proactively equip themselves for where the business is going,” he says. “It’s also important to look at how to maintain a dynamic audit plan. We’re moving away from traditional audit plans that get approved once a year by the audit committee, where what needs to be delivered is agreed on day one, and over the 12-month period, it's executed. Now, there's still room for that because you want the accountability of ensuring that

“I think one of the challenges that any multinational organisation will likely face is the accuracy of the data that they're trying to mine, and in this digital environment there's now an increased reliance on that data as the basis for digital testing.”

you look through all the areas. However, you need to keep some flexibility in that audit plan to be able to address the emerging risks as the year progresses because as environments change more quickly, internal audit teams need to make sure that they are able to change just as fast.”

Sitho believes that collaboration is helpful in navigating the way forward. “The world moves too fast for any one organisation to have the sole right to knowing everything first. Collaborating with other organisations where possible is a big thing because you need to learn fast. The speed of identification of risks is critical in the environments we operate in today. Collaboration opportunities are a really helpful thing.”

He concludes by reinforcing his belief that internal audit is more important than ever before. “It's increasing in relevance as the complexity of organisations grows,” he says. “The future of audits is to become more integral to the business and to be a better business partner.” l

This interview forms part of the “Future of Audit” series, sponsored by ACCA. The full series can be viewed at CFO.co.za/partners/ACCA. For more information, visit www.bonitas.co.za

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AUDIT

STATE OF PLAY:

MAFR

UPDATE

With less than two years to go until mandatory audit firm rotation comes into effect in South Africa, audit firms, IRBA and CFOs share their insights into the process so far.

By Tamara Oberholster

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n 2017, the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) issued the rule that public interest businesses must change audit companies every 10 years, thus introducing mandatory audit firm rotation (MAFR). The regulation comes into full effect in April 2023. Ahead of this, many organisations have already adopted the practice – 43 percent of JSE-listed companies, according to Imre Nagy, acting CEO of IRBA. Several of these rotations have happened during the Covid-19 lockdown. This posed new challenges, with audits needing to happen largely virtually.

"Not only did we have to cope with an audit and reporting season during lockdown, but we also had a change of auditors, compounding the challenge as they don’t know your environment, and both the teams didn’t really know each other,” says Dorette Neethling, CFO at Adcock Ingram. “Our planning also had to include reporting to our controlling shareholder for 11 months of the year, adding another dimension to the workload. I am very proud of my team as they fairly easily adapted to all these changes and challenges.”

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Hardy Maritz, acting executive director of finance at UCT, explains that the university's entire council changes every four years per its statute, which fell at the end of June 2020. “Given it is our equivalent of a corporate board, we had no option but to make sure we met our original deadlines,” he says. “Given council appoints our audit committee, we also ran the risk of an entirely new audit committee coming into a very complex business. We had this situation four years ago, with no continuity at all from our previous audit committee, and were left with new members wondering what may have caused this. What helped with the audit was that our entire finance team, as well as senior members of our external audit team from EY, were already used to working remotely and online due to us learning to work away from the office during #FeesMustFall.”

How painful is the process?

Sean Capazorio is CFO at Aspen Pharmacare. The multinational pharmaceutical group has been using a joint audit model for seven years, with the audit in each

region split between a Big Four firm (selected globally) and an emerging firm (selected locally). The group has recently rotated firms through a tender process. “It is obviously a very disruptive process because you do get a strong working relationship with the existing audit firms,” he says. “You have to invest a lot of time in educating the new audit team and it probably takes two or three years to really get up to speed.”

Sean adds that the process was also stressful because people in other regions, who aren’t subject to the same regulatory requirements (such as those in Aspen’s South American operations), don’t necessarily understand why rotation is required. However, he says there have been benefits, such as thinking about better ways of working, re-evaluating costs, and getting a fresh perspective.

It’s been stressful for the audit firms too, Dion Shango, CEO of PwC Africa, admits. “What we’ve seen is that our people are quite set in their ways – in being specialists in delivering a service to a client, and when you take somebody out of their comfort zone, and ask them to

start competing against their peers in the market, that’s a daunting and challenging experience,” he says. “But the transformation has been positive, to our culture as an organisation. It's certainly added to the repertoire of skills and capabilities that we have. Everybody has learnt and everybody has developed.”

PwC made its objections to MAFR known during the initial consultation process. “We found ourselves not being 100 percent in agreement with the reasons that were being put forward,” Dion says. PwC believed that rotation would be costly – both for audit firms and for clients – and that it would not necessarily result in a reduction of market concentration – a secondary aim of MAFR. The cost concerns have proven valid. Dion says PwC underestimated the investment in terms of both time and resources that MAFR would present. This has meant the firm has had to be more intentional in deciding which opportunities it will invest in pursuing to avoid overextension.

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Dion Shango

And market concentration has proven tricky too. “We as a firm are always in support of any and all measures that promote audit quality in its entirety on the market concentration issue. What we have seen thus far is that whilst MAFR has indeed allowed other firms, particularly mid-tier sized firms, to gain entry into the market or listed entities in particular, there has also been a significant shuffling of the deck chairs as it were, with some of these audits changing between the large firms.

That's an interesting trend to observe. And it will be interesting to see how long it continues.”

Is MAFR achieving its aim?

Imre explains that the role of IRBA is to protect the financial interests of the public by ensuring that only suitable qualified individuals are admitted to the auditing profession, but more importantly to ensure that registered auditors deliver services of the highest quality and adhere to the highest ethical standards. “The primary role of MAFR is to help to ensure independence, which IRBA regards as the bedrock of the auditing profession. There is a real need for auditor ethics to be strengthened,” he says.

He cites several instances over the last few years where a change in auditors has resulted in material restate-

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Sean Capazorio

ments of financial reports. These often result in an investigation of the previous auditor, as the question becomes why they missed the issues at hand. “This in itself shows that there are benefits to having a fresh pair of eyes,” says Imre – when a firm has audited a company uninterrupted for decades, it’s hard not to maintain complete independence, free from bias.

Imre says that IRBA is seeing an improvement in audit quality, although not yet directly attributable to MAFR. However, as more rotations take place, he says more data will become available, which will hopefully further substantiate the value of the rule.

Aside from protecting auditor independence, a secondary aim of MAFR was to open up the market to non Big Four firms. Victor Sekese, CEO at SNG Grant Thornton, says that to date, it has helped to ensure second-tier firms are invited to the table, but that it has not yet translated into lessening the Big Four’s market dominance. “However, when you look at net movement, second-tier firms have gained about 12 percent of new appointments,” he says. “It's still early days. My expectation is that in the second round of rotations, we're expecting to see the net gain increasing more, especially as the second-tier firms gain more reputation and more experience.”

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Victor Sekese

Dorette Neethling

Additional reform measures required

we should consider a return to it.

Victor believes additional instruments are necessary to augment MAFR’s role in addressing market concentration. Having recently completed his dissertation on audit regulation, Victor has some recommendations to offer on this front. The first is that key executives in public interest organisations need to be subject to a set of professional requirements. “They should be members of a well-recognised professional body, but over and above that, we need to provide those professional bodies with the power to be able to sanction their members,” he says.

“Secondly, we should look into professionalising directors. Theoretically, there's no requirement for one to be a director of a corporate entity.”

Imre says that IRBA agrees that MAFR is no silver bullet and needs to be viewed in the context of the wider financial reporting and governance ecosystem. “There are a lot of gaps in the system and even in the profession itself,” he says. “From a regulatory perspective, we've adopted a refocused strategy focusing on three areas.”

Insisting on minimum requirements for directors of public interest entities would help to ensure sufficient management controls are in place, long before auditors come into the process. Victor also believes that there is value in the joint audit model, where emerging firms are partnered with established firms to ensure capacity building takes place. This, he says, is what the UK regulators are implementing, and South Africa should take heed. Victor says this model was successfully proven in South Africa in the public sector in the 1990s, and that if we are serious about addressing market concentration,

These are: sustainability and relevance; audit quality; and comprehensive stakeholder engagement. Imre homes in on broadening the stakeholder focus to the wider financial reporting and governance ecosystem, pointing out that auditors are only able to perform their function with the information they are supplied, and gaps may creep in before their involvement.

“I think the entire line of defence needs to be improved,” Imre says. IRBA is working with stakeholders to find common ground and find a platform to develop solutions together to improve the system in its entirety.

“There's a lot of work to do and we as a regulator can't do it alone. We need all the role players to come together and we need to look in the same direction, to find solutions for the profession. There are a lot of solutions in the public domain. We need to sit and look at all of them.” l

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reative runching

Thembi Mazibuko is not only responsible for the numbers at Masslift Africa, but enjoys letting her creativity show as the head of the company’s communications and marketing department. Thembi told Puseletso Mompei about her passion for colouring outside the conventional lines of a CFO.

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hembi is the CFO of Masslift Africa, the sole distributor of Mitsubishi forklifts in Southern Africa. A self-described creative at heart with a financial qualification, she also heads up the company’s communications and marketing department and says, “As the CFO I excel at financials, reporting, risk mitigation etc, but I’m fortunate to have taken charge of marketing for the company.”

Thembi’s strong creative streak presented itself from childhood and she has always had a passion for the arts, but says she got into a career in finance after realising that she had an aptitude for numbers and

that being a CA would be a good choice.

“I have the natural aptitude for finance, and I enjoy it, but it doesn’t invigorate and excite me as much as when I am being creative.”

She has struck a good balance, where as a CFO she performs the technical finance duties, but says, “When I am feeling low, I can switch to something imaginative like our social media or working on press releases. That gets my creative juices flowing and boosts my energy. Then, with that gusto, I can go back to the day-to-day finance things that need to be taken care of. I have found that I need to find a creative outlet to be a balanced individual.”

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LIFESTYLE

Showing up wholly Forthright and confident, Thembi believes in bringing her whole self to work. She says leveraging her creativity has enriched her career. “I have always looked for opportunities to express my creativity and I am naturally drawn to people and interesting experiences. Even in previous roles, I would always put my hand up for organising events or initiatives that were people-led.

For instance, I enjoy pulling together presentations or campaigns that require imagination. At Barloworld Logistics, I was part of the ethics and compliance committee and I was heavily involved in crafting the messaging for that initiative.”

This curiosity has also enabled her to learn a lot about the business outside of the confines of any one role.

A fresh perspective to problem solving Typically, people who are creative don’t venture into careers such as finance, but, speaking about her willingness to explore and express both sides of her personality, Thembi says having two very different vantage points helps her think outside the box.

For instance, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, as a CFO in a marketing role, she understood how important it was to stay visible.

The prevailing trend is that when the chips are down, finance leaders often pull the marketing budget first. “Instead, we have done the opposite and it has helped in terms of our brand equity; it has communicated to our customers that even though it is business unusual, we are still here and are ready to support their business.”

She says another powerful aspect of her personality that helps her succeed is that she has a curious mind. “I don’t just take things at face value. While I believe in data-driven decision-making, I have also learnt to follow my gut.

In some instances you won’t always have all the information at your fingertips, and that is where being well read and exposed to different ideas and concepts comes into play. However, I have found that being willing to dive into the details has

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stood me in good stead and has helped me navigate new and tough situations.”

As a person who easily connects with others, she has built a solid network of people she calls on if she wants to brainstorm or when presented with something new to navigate.

Leading teams She believes leadership is about multiplying yourself, “So that when you’re not in the room, people are still able to do what’s required at the right standard without feeling like they will get penalised if things go wrong.”

Thembi says leaders have an important role in creating an environment where people are free to speak out and fully express their abilities. She says: “This means identifying their native genius and putting them in positions where they are naturally effective. With my team, I make it very clear what the goal is and collaboratively agree on how to achieve it. People are more invested if they give input on how to get there, not a top-down approach.”

Thembi says that she tries to empower the teams she works with so she doesn’t have to micromanage. “I come in when there are real challenges and glitches, but it is important for everyone to have a clear understanding of each person’s role and how their contribution is going to impact the goal or strategy we are working towards.”

Growing through crisis “In the past year, there has been a lot of problem solving and through that, my role evolved,” Thembi reflects. “The business looked to me as the CFO to do a lot of forecasting, but given the unique circumstances of the year, you couldn’t base the outlook on historical data because of how unusual the times were and because the environment was constantly changing. So, I decided to lead with my instinct and life experience and use all resources to try and figure out the right way ahead. Overall, we managed to navigate out of that successfully, even managing to pay out increases and bonuses, which is testament to

“I have always looked for opportunities to express my creativity and I am naturally drawn to people and interesting experiences.”

the calibre of people on the team and the infrastructure we operate on.”

Thembi says when the company went into lockdown just before year end, they initially thought it was going to be a short event but soon realised that it would be a long journey. She says first and foremost among the board, managers and team, the biggest priority was keeping the business afloat. “During the hard lockdown, only technicians were able to go to work. The focus was on cash, on how we made sure we paid salaries – with some employees’ family members getting retrenched, difficult financial situations in homes – negotiating with suppliers, and so on.”

Looking forward, Thembi says she wants to make Masslift a business brand. “We want to evolve from the materials handling space to one that is a lot more well known in the market as thought leaders in certain spaces. There is a lot of opportunity to make the Mitsubishi brand as synonymous with forklifts as it is with cars.”

She says her mind is fixed on continuous risk assessment and says for instance, forex fluctuations have a deep impact on their operations, so she is being vigilant and looking for blind spots so that the business can maintain its gains and build its brand equity.

Beyond work In her free time, Thembi immerses herself in the arts. She’s not only an avid reader, but a creative person in her own right; her passion project is a blog where she publishes contemporary romance pieces.

She says this is a creative genre she enjoys because there’s value in stories which express humanity through light-hearted story telling. She also edits and proofreads creative works by other writers and loves literary events, which she can’t wait to enjoy once live events are back. In the meantime, she indulges in her passion for literature works at every opportunity and enjoys hopping on a discussion with her book club friends. l CFO MAGAZINE • CFO.CO.ZA

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SAGE’S FD WITH GREEN FINGERS Sage FD Jordaan Burger’s remote work means he’s been closer to his off-time obsession, his (literally) growing collection of about 200 cycads. He took some time away from finance and flora to tell CFO South Africa about his unusual hobby. By Kate Thompson Davy and Victoria Williams

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“Growing cycads from seeds is a real exercise in the importance of patience.”

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ordaan Burger – Sage’s green-fingered financial director – is a sucker for cycads, the living dinosaurs of the plant world. Cycads have been a lifelong love of Jordaan’s, but he says working from home during the Covid-19 lockdown has given him more time to admire and nurture his collection, in between a “daily routine of back-to-back virtual meetings”, of course.

Cycads were abundant during the Mesozoic age (from about 252 to 66 million years ago), making them much older than the dinosaurs – and arguably more resilient, having survived three of the five great global mass extinction events.

Time well spent Sage staff have been working remotely since around March 2020, Jordaan says. “I am grateful for the opportunity to admire my cycads in my garden during the day. I also enjoy reading up on them. Growing cycads from seeds is a real exercise in the importance of patience. It takes time and effort to prepare seeds for

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the germination box and to ensure the moisture and temperature are just right.”

He continues: “Then you have to fight the urge to open the box daily. It’s better to keep it closed for as long as you can. It can take anywhere from several weeks to a number of months before the seeds will start to germinate. Once their roots and first set of leaves are strong enough, the cycads can be planted outside, in pots or your garden.”

Today, he has some 19 of the 40 South African species, “but not the very rare ones”. He says: “It’s not uncommon for the rarer species, such as Encephalartos hirsutus, to be auctioned off for more than R50,000 at Cycad auctions, and that’s for a plant you can take home on the passenger seat of your car.”

Early inspirations “I grew up with cycads in our garden as a child and my dad always cherished them… I started growing them in 2014, but I really wish I had started earlier. Cycads take a long time to grow, so the sooner you start the better.”

LIFESTYLE

“Cycads are the most threatened plant group in South Africa… [and] one of the most threatened groups of plants in the world.”

Other than patience, they don’t require any specific special skills, he says. It is “relatively easy” to grow them, “if you have a strong plant older than two years. They need plenty of sun, soil that drains well and watering once a week.”

Rare beauty “South Africa is home to the Encephalartos cycad genus, totalling about 40 different species, and it’s every collector’s dream to have them all. Yet that’s by no means easy to achieve. Encephalartos woodii, for instance, is one of the rarest plants in the world,” Jordaan says.

He explains that today, there are only 500 woodii in existence, and all of them are male “To reproduce them from seeds, you need a male and female plant,” Jordaan explains. “More male plants can be reproduced from suckers, but the plant is essentially extinct in the wild.”

Under threat They may have outlived the dinosaurs, but today cycads are under threat. Botanist and conservationist Kirsten Retief is a local expert on cycads. In a research paper, she writes: “Cycads are the most threatened plant group in South Africa… [and] one of the most threatened groups of plants in the world. In South Africa, almost 70 percent of cycad species are threatened with extinction, with four species on the brink of extinction and seven species with fewer than 100 plants left in the wild.”

And cycad poaching is big business. In 2008, over 100 rare cycads (valued at some R10 million) were stolen from the Lilly Cycad Reserve. Then in 2014, thieves took 23 cycads from Kirstenbosch National Botanical gardens.

“The South African species are endangered and protected under the CITES treaty, so each plant requires a permit. My hobby is, therefore, also my contribution to nature conservation,” says Jordaan.

Jordaan’s contribution to the growth of cycads can be likened to his focus on the growth of Sage.

Either way, it’s clear the CFO has green fingers. l

Working from home with cycads Jordaan has a lot more time to appreciate his cycads while working from home under Sage’s new remote working policy.

“It was initially a rush to get more than 1,000 employees at Sage working from their homes under lockdown. We are busier now than we were before the lockdown started. Our day-to-day work functions seamlessly and our team is generally thriving working remotely,” says Jordaan.

Because of this, Sage exited the leases on its offices in Durban, Cape Town and Pretoria in October 2020, only retaining its head office in Midrand. This bold move will undoubtedly shape the company’s working environment and culture for many years to come.

Jordaan says the response from colleagues to this decision has been mixed, but that the positives of remote working far outweigh any negatives. “Not everyone is well-equipped to work from home. Here, Sage has delivered desks, chairs and second computer screens to support colleagues’ working environments.”

To combat the risk of social isolation, the company introduced a virtual community called Family@Sage, designed to provide colleagues with peer support. At the end of every week, Sage also encourages colleagues to celebrate one another and their achievements on Hi-5 Fridays. The company has also looked to protect its employees’ mental wellbeing.

“During Covid-19, we promoted our Employee Assistance Programme and invested in a free subscription for everyone to Headspace, the award-winning app and guide to everyday mindfulness. Headspace covers aspects such as meditation and various techniques designed to impact everything positively, from your mood to relationships and sleeping patterns,” adds Jordaan.

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Photos: Patrick Furter

COMMUNITY

“The township economy is 97 percent informal and it’s really where mass amounts of people live in confined spaces.”

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CFO CARES Talking to the township economy

Two less-than-traditional CFOs, Hiten Keshave and Sanjay Soni, share their idea of helping township entrepreneurs who have ideas but lack the knowledge and networks to take those ideas to market. By Ronda Naidu

A

The duo met during a SAICA mentorship programme pilot in 2019 and have since formed a solid relationship working with start-ups.

“It’s a lonely journey being an entrepreneur. I have lived a life for living and I am now living a life to serve a purpose,” explains Hiten.

“In October last year, we started to look at how we could have a bigger impact, more than the outreach work we do in our personal capacities,” Hiten said.

business started by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. That’s how founders Hiten Keshave and Sanjay Soni describe Qalisa Hub, a start-up virtual accelerator.

Sanjay laughingly admits that although he has been a qualified CA for 23 years, he has not practised in the traditional role of a financial officer. “Not even for one day.

The notion of entrepreneurship has always appealed to me. I have been in the advisory corporate finance space. I am what may be called a non-traditional CFO,” he says.

Hiten does advisory work as a CFO for start-ups. “I do wear a CFO cap, not in the traditional blue-chip type of CFO role though,” he says.

Knowledge and networks

That’s when the pair came up with the idea of helping township entrepreneurs who have ideas but lack the knowledge and networks to take those ideas to market.

“When we thought of supporting businesses, we wanted it to be in a meaningful impact area. The township economy is 97 percent informal and it’s really where mass amounts of people live in confined spaces. It is largely untapped and unregulated,” Sanjay says.

He explains that people who live in the townships understand the township challenges better than those who don’t. They are also able to solve problems that people in the township face. “With Qalisa Hub, we want to support entrepreneurs in the township to become investor ready.”

The co-founders have both been involved in start-ups for decades.

It’s no surprise, then, that “Qalisa” means “to start or initiate”.

Social impact “Given the fact that we are both CAs, we have a professional network and can lean on people. So, this is a high-social-impact project, not a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s finding a way to bring the ‘Sandton capital’ in – not so much the money, but bringing the intellectual capital into the township environment,” says Sanjay.

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COMMUNITY

“With the start-up landscape in South Africa and even Africa, there are very few investors who will invest at the ideation stage.”

“We are not only looking at bringing in qualified professionals as advisors for entrepreneurs, but also people who have at least 10 years’ experience in their speciality fields. The reason for this is that period of time allows a person to gain experience and maturity.”

In terms of a business model, Qalisa Hub is focused on paying it forward.

“The entrepreneur doesn’t pay us for advice,” Sanjay explains. “Advisors are coming on board on the same basis. Our model commits the entrepreneur to giving us equity, once they have delivered the idea and pitch deck. The equity percentage is split with the advisors and founders at some point in the future. This is not so much about taking equity because it has a lot of monetary value, but about keeping the entrepreneur invested in the process. So, equity is a notion as opposed to a rand value.”

There are lots of incubator and accelerator programmes in the marketplace and Qalisa Hub plans to differentiate itself through being virtual, which allows advisors to come on board from anywhere in the world, focus on experiential learning, and open to any township entrepreneur.

Qalisa Hub is open to working with everyone, regardless of race, gender or age. The overriding premise is whether the entrepreneur wants to solve a township-related challenge.

Doing the legwork “This is not about opening a spaza shop, though. It’s about how township challenges can be addressed differently,” Sanjay says.

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Hiten adds: “With the start-up landscape in South Africa and even Africa, there are very few investors who will invest at the ideation stage, unless there is a personal relationship or a high-net-worth individual looking at the idea. With Silicon Valley in the US, pre-revenue businesses have done quite a bit of work and market research, and then money is thrown at them to make it happen. South Africa is risk averse and the rejection rate is so high for individuals in search of capital to make their ideas a reality.”

Access to capital is one of the barriers to entry for township entrepreneurs, the others being lack of access to technology; no access to skills sets that allow people to think about their ideas and their business, and lack of access to a network of individuals who can bring growth to the business.

Qalisa Hub has received 22 applications to date, seven of which have been onboarded, three of which are in the boarding stage and four that are being reviewed. These include Kompeh, an app to support spaza shops to procure goods at cost-effective and competitive prices; My Female Carpenter, an artisan who refurbishes old wood into second-hand furniture; Woza WiFi, which creates access to WiFi spots in the township districts; and more.

However, Hiten acknowledges that entrepreneurs have money at the top of their list of needs. “We explain that a lot of legwork needs to be done before that. There are ways to start a business without capital injection as the first step,” he says. l

Sanjay Soni

Hiten Keshave

Do you have a CFO Cares story to share with us?

Contact CFO Magazine managing editor Caylynne Fourie on cfourie@cfo.co.za with the details.

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The 2020 CFO Awards winners

MEET THE 2021 CFO AWARDS NOMINEES In November, the 2021 winners of the prestigious CFO Awards will be announced at the glamorous, socially-distanced, annual event dubbed “the Oscars of the finance profession”. The winners will be selected from the finest of the finest among South Africa’s finance professionals. These are the nominees for the 2021 CFO Awards.

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Bothwell Mazarura

Adriana Weilbach CFO at Telesure

CFO at Kumba Iron Ore

Prior to joining Telesure in June 2017 as the CFO, Adriana served as a non-executive director on the 1st for Women Insurance board since 2012. She has held the position of COO at Credit Suisse and headed up the risk finance consulting and captive management division at Marsh in South Africa. She also fulfilled a variety of roles at Santam, including heading up the risk and compliance division, managing international acquisitions and corporate finance activities, and was managing director of Santam’s risk finance insurance company.

Prior to joining Kumba Iron Ore in 2017, Bothwell served as CFO and executive director at Wescoal Holdings since July 2016. He previously held various senior financial roles at Lonmin since 2010, including head of group finance and head of treasury. Prior to this, he held a position as a partner at Deloitte since 2002. During his tenure at Deloitte, he also spent some time working in the United Kingdom.

Bothwell has previously been nominated for the 2019 CFO Awards.

Bruce Bydawell

Alet Coetzee CFO at Northam Platinum

CFO at Alexander Forbes

Alet joined Northam Platinum in 2015 as a group financial controller. Prior to that she served as an associate director at EY, Northam’s external auditor.

She worked at EY for almost 14 years. She has been involved with the Northam Platinum group since June 2007, when she first joined the external audit team.

Before his role as CFO, Bruce served as FD of Alexander Forbes Group Services and was responsible for the central group finance function. Bruce was part of the finance team that took the company through private equity ownership between 2007 and 2014 and its relisting on the JSE in July 2014. Bruce completed his articles with Deloitte (South Africa) in Johannesburg and subsequently spent three years with Deloitte (United States) in numerous audit roles. He has also worked at Presmed Healthcare and Deutsche Bank.

Bongiwe Ntuli

Prof Carolina Koornhof

CFO at TFG

Executive director of finance at the University of Pretoria

Bongiwe began her career shortly after completing her articles at the age of 21, holding various positions in finance, treasury and risk-management at Anglo American. Prior to taking up the mantle of CFO of TFG, she worked as CEO of Freight Services at Grindrod, and Grindrod group executive board member. She currently sits on a number of external TFG boards and is the independent audit chairperson and non-executive director of South African software company Adapt IT.

Prior to her appointment as executive director, Carolina was dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University. She completed a BCom and BCom honours degree in accounting sciences at the University of Pretoria, and holds an MCom degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and a DCom degree in accounting sciences from the University of Pretoria. She completed the advanced management programme at the Harvard Business School in the USA in 2007.

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Craig Miller

Eddie Fivaz

CFO at Anglo American Platinum

CFO at TWK Agri

After completing his articles with Deloitte South Africa, Craig served as an audit manager for Deloitte London. He then joined Anglo American, where he has been for more than 20 years. He has fulfilled various roles, including group financial controller, CFO of Anglo American’s Iron Brazil business and Anglo American Coal South Africa, as well as head of the CEO’s office.

After finishing his final year at school, Eddie enrolled for his first year at the University of the Free State, where he obtained his degree in agriculture. He then enrolled for a finance degree. After studying, Eddie did his articles with Marais & Crowther and later became a management accountant at GWK. In 2005 he joined Eskort where he served as a financial accountant.

Prior to joining TWK Agri in 2011 as CFO, he served as the financial manager at VKB Agri.

Damian Judge

Glen Pearce

CFO at Trellidor

CFO at Sappi

Damian served on the board of directors with Advanced Polymers and Kaymac as FD before joining Trellidor. Before that, he served as a financial training manager at Converg Financial Training. He has also served as a member of the executive committee of the Manufacturing Circle.

Glen completed his articles at EY and started his career as a group accountant and finance manager for Murray and Roberts. He then joined Sappi as a financial manager in 1997, and later became the financial manager of Sappi Forest Products. He was promoted to FD of Sappi Fine Paper South Africa in 2001 and moved to Brussels in 2004 to become accounting director for Sappi Fine Paper Europe.

Dirk Viljoen

Lucas Verwey

Group CFO at Hollard Insurance

Group FD at Distell

Prior to his appointment as group CFO, Dirk served in various actuarial roles within the Hollard Group.

Before this, he served as a technical manager at Fedsure. He also served as a risk manager at Commercial Union Asset Managers in Cape Town. He holds directorship roles on the boards of various companies under the Hollard Holdings group, as well as non-executive directorship roles and chairman positions. He is also a director on the boards of Clarendon Transport Union and Ooba.

Lucas joined Distell in 2014 as a non-executive director before being appointed as group FD. From 2013 to 2015 he served as the FD of CapeVin Holdings. Before that, he served as an investment executive at Remgro for five years. Prior to this his experience includes heading up KPMG’s oil and gas consulting unit in Cape Town, and various other merger and acquisition roles in London. On his return from London he started his own retail distribution business in Cape Town.

Lucas has previously been nominated for the 2017 CFO Awards for his work as the group FD of Distell.

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Mark Kathan

Meroonisha Kerber

CFO & FD at AECI

CFO at Impala Platinum

In addition to his overall responsibility for the finance and treasury functions within AECI, Mark oversees the company’s corporate communications and investor relations, legal and secretariat, internal audit and IT functions, and its retirement funds. He also plays a leading role in the company’s M&A activity. Prior to joining AECI, Mark was the FD at Nampak and served on that company’s group executive committee. He was previously nominated for the 2015, 2016 and 2019 CFO Awards.

After serving as an audit manager and senior audit manager at Deloitte, Meroonisha joined Anglo American Platinum in 2005 as a senior manager of consolidation and group reporting, was appointed as senior manager of technical accounting in 2006, and served as head of financial accounting before being appointed as senior VP of finance at AngloGold Ashanti in 2016. She has served as the chairman of the RMA Audit committee, audit committee member of Platinum Health Medical Aid, and held various other directorship roles of smaller Anglo American Platinum subsidiary companies.

Masilo Makhura

Mikateko Tshetshe

CFO at the Department of Public Services and Administration

After completing his articles in 2001, Masilo joined Pytron Consulting’s public sector unit. In August 2002 he resigned from Pytron Consulting and joined the government in Mpumalanga in the provincial office of the Accountant-General as a deputy director of financial systems. He also chaired the Provincial CFO forum of Mpumalanga. In 2008, he joined the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in Pretoria as an FD, before joining the Department of Public Service and Administration in 2011.

Megan Pydigadu

VP of finance, Africa, at Unilever

Mikateko joined Unilever Southern Africa in 2017 as VP of finance, before being promoted to her current role in 2018. Prior to joining Unilever, she was the CFO for AstraZeneca’s Sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa regions and previously spent 12 years in the FMCG industry at SC Johnson, where she served in various roles, including director of finance and strategic corporate initiatives and director of finance for its Africa cluster. She started her career as a trainee at Bayer. Mikateko is qualified as a fellow with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in the UK.

Ockert Janse van Rensburg

Group FD at EOH

Group CFO of Motus Corporation

Megan started her career at Deloitte South Africa, where she completed her articles. In January 2002 she joined De Beers as a senior divisional financial manager and in September 2005 she became the group financial controller for Bateman Engineering.

She joined MiX Telematics as CFO in August 2010. In February 2017 she became the CFO of Eazi Access Rental before joining EOH as the group finance director. Megan was nominated for the CFO Awards in both 2014 and 2015 for her work at MiX Telematics.

After becoming a CA(SA), Ockert completed an HDip in corporate law. He completed his articles at PwC and spent 12 years at the firm before becoming an audit partner. In 2007, Ockert joined Foodcorp Holdings (now RCL Foods), where he served as CFO for eight years before joining Imperial in January 2015. In July 2016, Imperial’s motor business was consolidated into one and in January 2017, Ockert became the CFO of the new company, Motus Corporation.

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Sam Hopwood CFO at Mars South Africa

Sam joined Mars in 2011 as an accounting analyst in their Netherlands division, and in 2012, became a sales finance business partner for the company’s Nottingham division. He has also served as a supply finance manager for the company’s Leeds, C&T and Wrigley South Africa divisions. Before becoming the CFO of Mars South Africa, Sam served as the CFO of Mars Switzerland. Sam received his CIMA qualification in accounting and finance from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in 2013.

Sherylee Moonsamy CFO at the Johannesburg Development Agency

Sherylee started her career as a senior auditor while serving her articles at HLB Barnett Chown before joining the JDA in 2009 as an accountant. In 2012, she was promoted to finance manager and obtained her CA(SA) accreditation from SAICA. In 2016, she was appointed as acting CFO and in 2018, was officially appointed as the JDA’s CFO, where she is responsible for both the finance and supply chain unit.

Sean Capazorio

Sibongiseni Ngoma

CFO at Aspen Pharmacare

Sean completed his articles at PwC and remained at the company for two years as an audit manager. In 1993, he joined Unisys as a corporate management accountant. He was later promoted to the position of financial controller before leaving the company in 1996. He joined SAD as a corporate finance accountant responsible for group taxation and corporate finance. He was appointed group finance officer of Aspen Pharmacare in January 1999. Sean was awarded the Finance Transformation Award at the 2018 CFO Awards.

CFO at the Auditor-General of South Africa

Bongi completed her articles with EY in February 2000, after which she joined the IDC as a business analyst. She was later promoted to senior manager of finance accounts, and then as the head of internal audit. In November 2012, Bongi joined the office of the AGSA as a corporate executive responsible for internal operations overseeing finance, human capital, legal, and learning and development. When the role was divided under the new chief people officer and the chief financial officer roles, Bongi was promoted to CFO.

Sheldon Friedericksen

Simon Adams

CFO at Fedgroup

CFO at Nando’s South Africa

After completing his articles with Deloitte in 2010, Sheldon was seconded to New York where he served as an audit senior and audit manager for Deloitte. In 2013 he was promoted to senior manager of Deloitte South Africa and returned home. Sheldon joined FedGroup in 2014 as a group financial manager and was promoted to CFO in 2016. He also serves as the head of risk, head of internal audit, head of legal and compliance, head of human resources, and being the group company secretary at Fedgroup.

After serving his articles at RSM Betty & Dickson, Simon stayed on as an audit senior. He then moved to Anglo American, as a financial accountant, followed

by Japan Tobacco International, in the same role. In 2009, he was appointed the commercial manager of AVI before joining Mondelez International in 2011 as an FP&A category finance manager. He was promoted to head of finance for the company’s Kraft Foods Kenya division and then to finance business lead of central and east Africa. Before joining Nando’s, Simon served as the CFO of South, East and Central Africa at BIC. l

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THE 'OSCARS' OF SA FINANCE

SAVE THE DATE | 17 NOVEMBER 2021* The Polo Room, Inanda Club, Sandton CFOAwards.co.za *Covid-19 Regulations Allowing CFO MAGAZINE • CFO.CO.ZA

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FROM THE COMMUNITY MANAGER

REFLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IS YOUR ANSWER TO THE COVID-19 QUESTION

I

n some ways, Covid-19 has been an opportunity for us to hit the reset button. However, as human beings, we don’t like uncertainty and unpredictability.

Charles Darwin wrote that natural selection favours a sense of flexibility. It’s not always the strongest that survives, but sometimes the most adaptable.

Every day I speak to top CFOs and under the current climate their questions, fears and challenges have been quite similar. What exactly will normal look like? Will there be a “new normal”? Perhaps we are already in it. In the main there is a lot of agreement, we need to ensure that our new systems are safer, fairer and more sustainable than those that allowed this crisis to happen. Performance should be measured in purpose as well as profit.

My observation coming into the role of CFO community manager can be summed up by saying “Goodbye work-life balance, hello work-life integration!”. Which in itself poses more questions around the impact of this culture shift. The virtual working space is not for everybody, it can be lonely.

A lot of us are energised by in-person conversations at the office watercooler. Oh how we miss those!

This got me thinking, perhaps companies need to reflect on what they have learnt from enforced experiments. Perhaps we should redesign jobs to make them more meaningful and motivating, or try to build cultures of creativity and generosity. As humans, we are fickle and forgetful though, delighting in instant gratification. Our yearning for a preCovid existence is there for all to see on social media.

Will we revert to old habits and behavior when lockdowns are lifted and social distancing is called off? That is the question! My drive is to maintain the levels of engagement in the CFO community, where ideas are flowing and we are constantly sharing with one another. A culture of lifelong learning that enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development while maintaining self-sustainability as well as competitiveness and employability.

During Covid-19, I have learnt that being a leader is a con-

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cept where you prepare yourself for the unpredictable. You can’t always know what comes your way and you can’t always have the answers. So how do you do it? How do you prepare for the disruptions that life will inevitably throw your way?

In the age of disruption and virtual fatigue, one cannot rely on an antiquated “dictate and lead” approach. The new world calls for leading with mental agility. In my interactions with financial leaders over the last few months, it's become apparent that to succeed in the VUCA and Covid world we have no choice but to master our ability to adapt and learn and for this we need three things: 1. An iterative process – in which what you approach becomes less important than how you approach it.

2. A tribe of resources – the networks that you call on and nurturing relationships daily.

3. To get out of your comfort zone – daily. And when you become unstuck or fail, call on your tribe.

But always find time to step back, reflect, refine and repeat.

I am looking forward to doing this with all of you in the coming years.

Brian Chivere CFO Community Manager bchivere@cfo.co.za +27 60 505 7727

INVEST IN YOUR PEOPLE

AND BOOST YOUR SUCCESS

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Become a member NOW! Support the CFO community with a membership and grow the brightest stars in your finance team.

Your support allows CFO South Africa to keep growing. A membership is also the best professional gift for two of your direct reports. They will be able to attend and benefit from all CFO events, receive all editions of CFO Magazine and be invited to join weekly online CFO Community Conversations.

Meant for: CFOs and up to two handpicked senior direct reports.

IMMEDIATE BENEFITS: » Exclusive invite to CFO SA Community Conversations (Online)

2021 CALENDAR 4 August 2021 Women’s Dinner 7 October 2021 Finance Indaba Live

» All issues of CFO Magazine delivered to your desk » Support the CFO South Africa community » Exclusive invite to all CFO Summits

10 November 2021 CFO Day

» Exclusive invite to CFO Awards » Exclusive invite to CFO Day » Bi-weekly newsletter » Finance Network Indaba VIP team invite » Up to 12 CPD points per person

17 November 2021 CFO Awards Community Conversations twice a month and weekly Finance Indaba Network webinars (Online)

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Contact: Brian Chivere bchivere@cfo.co.za | +27 60 505 7727

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