CFO SA Magazine, Issue 1, 2021

THE MAGAZINE FOR SOUTH AFRICAN FINANCE PROFESSIONALS 1 • 2021 CFO.CO.ZA

Food for thought Innocent Gumbochuma’s restaurant

Laila Razak Equites Property Fund CFO Representation matters Calib Cassim Eskom CFO In the engine room Riaan Koppeschaar Exxaro director of finance New tech for old jobs

CFO Cares Senele Mbatha supporting his community Yolande van Biljon Steering the SABC to independence

VIRTUAL AUDIT

Everything you need to know from CFOs who’ve done it

Staying power

CFO of the Year Absa’s Jason Quinn

Gathering velocity Technology will continue to transform how we work and live— in 2021 and beyond

Deloitte Global TMT Predictions 2021 We can’t talk about 2021 without mentioning COVID-19. This year’s nine Predictions are influenced by the global pandemic’s evident economic and societal impact. COVID-19 has been a catalyst for anticipated changes across the TMT landscape. For instance, we note an acceleration in the rate and scale of cloud migration and ‘intelligent’ enhancements in edge computing. Amongst a few other themes, 6 of this year’s 9 Predictions explore a number of issues relevant to businesses and consumers, including topics such as:

Intelligent edge Racing to the edge

Cloud migration For cloud computing, a sunny forecast

As technologies mature and combine, tomorrow’s internet will dwarf today’s.

Amid lockdowns, COVID-19 made cloud a rare focus of growth. Soon it will be standard.

$12B By5G,2021 hyperscale cloud, and other edge techs will drive a $12B market (growing at 35% CAGR).

70% 70% of enterprises will be By 2023

using the intelligent edge.

$16B ByThe2025 edge data center market will reach $16B. Vehicles, VR, and the Internet of Things—faster, cheaper, more secure, and paving the way for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

45 25

10

In 2020 Total IT spend down 10%, hyperscale cloud revenue up 25%, cloud chip sales up 45%

internet traffic doubled 2019 2x Cloud volume during the pandemic.

5G and health Facts versus fears New 5G cellular networks use far less energy than radio or TV and present no proven health risks. But some people still fear it causes cancer and spreads COVID-19.

13% to

36% Watts

AM

30% InCloud2021revenue will grow >30% annually through 2025.

$105B

In 2022 Hyperscale capital spending will top $150 billion.

The more the cloud grows, the more space there is to mine it for value creation.

FM 5G

Public perception 13% to 36% of people in 14 countries believe 5G presents health risks.

Power output 5G base station: 100–200 Watts TV and FM radio: 100,000 Watts AM radio: 500,000 Watts FM radio and TV expose people to 5 times the radio energy they absorb from cellular.

5G actually uses less transmitting power than 4G. Clear, consistent messaging will be necessary to overcome myths about its danger.

Open RAN Proprietary no more

Women in sports Ready for the spotlight

8K TV Bigger, sharper TVs

Advanced mobile services will rely on the flexibility of open, virtualized Radio Access Networks (RAN).

Women’s sports still trail men’s sports in market value—but they’re growing faster and targeting the $1 billion mark.

The standard for image quality—and bragging rights—is rising yet again.

Pixels

70+ 80% 10x

By 2021 More than 70 open RAN trials active, doubling current activity.

By 2023 80% of core wireless network deployments will be virtualized.

By 2025 Open RAN share of the RAN market may grow 10 times or more.

84% Viewers

+22%

84% of sports fans want to watch at least one women’s sport.

The 2019 Women’s World Cup football final had 22% more US viewers than the 2018 Men’s World Cup final.

Men’s Women’s

Keys to growth: more investment, more content, more stories, bigger venues.

History repeats itself as closed gives way to open and hard gives way to virtual.

33M

8M 4K

Specs 4K TV: 8 million pixels 8K TV: 33 million pixels

8K

$2.5B In8K TV2020sales total $2.5 billion.

1M In8K TV2021sales will reach 1 million units (out of a total 220M-unit market)/ $3.3 billion and rising. $3,300 but $1.5K 8Kentrysetslevelwillwillaverage fall to $1,500.

As 8K TVs grow in the market, the cameras and equipment to generate 8K content will grow in parallel.

The insights represented here are only part of the picture. Explore our full report on 2021 predictions to get more details on the emerging landscape.

As companies embrace digital and business model transformation, CFOs are being asked to play a significant role in transformations which are not purely finance related. With technology underpinning how we work and live, a key consideration for CFOs is how to overcome legacy technology systems including the shift to cloud based solutions.

Mark Joseph Africa TMT Industry Leader

africatmtindustry@deloitte.co.za www.deloitte.com/predictions

@Deloitte

© 2021. For information, contact Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited Designed and produced by Creative Services at Deloitte, Johannesburg.

CONTENTS

THE MAGAZINE FOR SOUTH AFRICAN FINANCE PROFESSIONALS 1 • 2021 CFO.CO.ZA

Food for thought

page 12 page 36 page 58

CFO Cares

Laila Razak Equites Property Fund CFO Representation matters

Senele Mbatha supporting his community Yolande van Biljon

Calib Cassim Eskom CFO In the engine room

Steering the SABC to independence

Riaan Koppeschaar Exxaro director of finance New tech for old jobs

page 70 page 44

40VIRTUAL AUDIT

Everything you need to know from CFOs who’ve done it

page 28

page 61

Innocent Gumbochuma’s restaurant

page 48

Staying power

CFO of the Year Absa’s Jason Quinn

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

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

SALES MANAGER

Kate Thompson Davy, Puseletso Mompei, Victoria Williams

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

Tamara Bell tbell@cfo.co.za +27 81 387 2477

PRINTING

MANAGING EDITOR

LAYOUT & DESIGN

Caylynne Fourie cfourie@cfo.co.za +27 61 458 9746

Elizabeth Ferraris PROOFREADING Toni Muir

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CFO MAGAZINE • CFO.CO.ZA

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

Novus Print Peter Wilding peter.wilding@paarlmedia.co.za +27 11 201 3400

Community 8

Movers: New year, new C-suite

61

Innocent Gumbochuma: Food for thought

64

Finance Indaba Network launched

68

Spearheading the new world of work

70

CFO Cares: Senele Mbatha supports his community’s children

People 12

Laila Razack: Representation matters

16

Bonitas empowering members during Covid-19

18

2020: the year we regained our humanity

22

Nonhlanhla Mona-Dick: An accountant with a big soul

22

Leadership 24

CFO Awards, celebrating finance in an extraordinary year

28

Jason Quinn: The CFO with staying power

36

Calib Cassim: Restoring power at Eskom

40

10 Questions for Pieter van der Westhuizen

44

Yolande van Biljon: Steering the SABC to independence

Technology 48

What we learnt – a masterclass in virtual audits

54

Jen McDonald: Making the case for digital transformation

58

Riaan Koppeschaar on using new tools for old jobs

44

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FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Celebrating finance excellence in 2020 – and 2021

M

y birthday is in February, and my birthday party was 2020’s last fun thing before restrictions and then lockdown were introduced. For a large part of 2020, I was optimistic that my birthday in 2021 would be the first fun thing we did after all this Covid-19 nonsense went away. I can categorically state that I am not that optimistic anymore.

into what CFOs have done differently during the pandemic – from Riaan Koppeschaar giving insights into how Exxaro is using drones to take photos of coal stockpiles (page 58), to Pieter van der Westhuizen revealing how the group had to switch over to manual systems after they suffered a brutal cyberattack at a time when they needed their IT systems the most (page 40)!

But that’s not to say that 2020 didn’t deliver any celebrations. One of the most special things that happened in an unbelievably challenging year was that CFO South Africa was able to host the CFO Awards, albeit much later than originally planned. We projected that

by November, things would have quieted down on the virus front, and that the inevitable chaos of the holidays wouldn’t have had an impact on infection rates just yet.

But not all 2020 stories are Covid-19 related, and we also bring you insight into what Jen McDonald learnt through a finance transformation project at Deloitte (page 54), How Calib Cassim is undoing a legacy of corruption at Eskom (page 36), and how Yolande van Biljon believes there have been more wins than losses in her time at the SABC (page 44).

Even so, we carefully followed restrictions, asking guests to fill in a questionnaire in advance, taking temperatures at the entrance, and requiring mask compliance and frequent hand sanitising. Even with all these measures reminding the audience that we were in the midst of a pandemic, South Africa’s top CFOs were blown away by the event – one that felt both safe and celebratory. You can read all about it on page 24, and learn more about the CFO of the Year – the “quite big and pretty smart” Jason Quinn on page 28.

This edition of CFO Magazine also gives some insight

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These CFOs have all shown the calibre of finance leadership in South Africa, and while 2021 is going to be a tough year, the finance community has set itself up for expectations of excellence in the face of adversity. I am looking forward to checking in with the CFOs in our community as the year moves on, and to telling more of your stories in future editions of this magazine.

Stay safe and focused, Georgina Guedes Editor-in-chief gguedes@cfo.co.za +27 83 651 2789

THE 'OSCARS' OF SA FINANCE

SAVE THE DATE | 13 MAY 2021* The Polo Room, Inanda Club, Sandton CFOAwards.co.za *Covid-19 Regulations Allowing

PEOPLE MOVES

NEW YEAR NEW C-SUITE These finance professionals have decided to take on new responsibilities along with the new year.

AngloGold Ashanti has appointed senior VP of group finance Ian Kramer as interim CFO after Christine Ramon was appointed as interim CEO following Kelvin Dushnisky’s resignation.

Tsholofelo Molefe

MTN has appointed former Telkom group CFO Tsholofelo Molefe as its new group CFO. Tsholofelo resigned from her role at Telkom on 4 December with immediate effect. [Tsholofelo won the Finance Transformation Award and HighPerformance Team Award at the 2020 CFO Awards.]

Tsholofelo will be taking over from Sugentharan Perumal, who has been acting in the position of group CFO since 1 September 2020 after Ralph Mupita was appointed as MTN’s group CEO. MTN South Africa also appointed Dineo Molefe as CFO from 1 December 2020. Dineo is a CA(SA) and joins from T-Systems (South Africa), where she served as the MD. Telkom appointed Dirk Reyneke as acting group CFO with effect from 7 December 2020.

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Abigail Mukhuba has been appointed as Sanlam Group’s new FD as of 1 October 2020. She has taken over from Wikus Olivier, who has been acting as the CFO since July 2019. Abigail joins Sanlam from African Rainbow Minerals where she held the position of FD since 2017.

“Joining the Sanlam Group as FD is certainly an honour and it comes with significant responsibility as we work towards ensuring the organisation’s financial health to the benefit of all stakeholders,” she said.

Wikus has been appointed as Sanlam’s group executive of strategy.

Kirsten King is back as the CFO of Comair since 30 November 2020.

Kirsten resigned in February 2020 in order to emigrate to the UK. She is a qualified CA(SA) and was introduced to Comair as the revenue accountant. She was appointed as FD in 2014.

appointed as COO, along with his role as CFO, in 2018.

Cristina Teixeira was appointed as the new CFO Spur Corporation from 1 February 2021. She will be taking over from Phillip Matthee, who will take on a senior operational role within the group’s finance department.

Adcorp appointed Noel Prendergast as its permanent CFO in October 2020. He had stepped in as acting CFO following the resignation of CFO CJ Kujenga.

CJ has been appointed as the CFO of Ascendis starting in December 2020.

She takes over from Kieron Futter who was Ascendis’s CFO for five years. She has served as Adcorp’s CFO and interim CEO. [CJ was nominated for the 2020 CFO Awards.]

Wescoal appointed Jubilant Speckman as acting group CFO from

Brandon Wood was appointed as Italtile’s new CFO in August 2020, replacing former executive director of finance and administration Tsu Mhlanga.

Truworths International announced the resignation of CFO David Pfaff from 28 February 2021. David joined the group as CFO in 2013 and was

David Pfaff

Realising a dream On 25 August, Ashley Francis stepped down from his role as University of Cape Town executive director of finance to pursue his dream of being an entrepreneur, having recently founded his own company called Safricang Group.

“I am extremely excited as I commence my entrepreneurial journey utilising and focusing on my industry experiences of food and agriculture, real estate, renewable energy and education, then integrating these with latest technology whilst holding firm on the cornerstones of financial and business acumen,” Ashley says.

Ashley, a 2020 CFO Awards nominee, says he has dreamt of becoming an entrepreneur his

whole life and, after seven years at UCT, finally has the chance to realise his dream as the founder and CEO of Safricang Group, which will specialise in food, agriculture, real estate, renewable energy, education and technology.

The realisation that he was ready to further pursue his dream came during lockdown, and Ashley says that, after many discussions with his family, he made the decision to resign from his role at UCT so he could focus on building the new company.

UCT group FD Hardy Martiz will step in as acting executive director of finance. Hardy joined UCT in 1999 and was appointed director of group finance at UCT in January 2016. l

from 1 October. He took over from outgoing CEO Norman Celliers.

Johann has been with Zeder since 2014 and was appointed as CFO of Zeder Investments in September 2016.

Cristina Teixeira

1 September following the resignation of Izak van der Walt after three years as group CFO. Then in January Jubilant was appointed permanently to the position.

Zaida Adams was appointed as the new CFO of Investec Property Fund from 1 December 2020. She took over from Jenna Sprenger, who stepped down to spend more time with her young family.

Hulamin has announced the appointment of Mark Gounder as its new CFO and executive director with effect from 1 April. Mark’s appointment follows the resignation of acting CFO Laren Farquharson.

Zeder Investments CFO Johann le Roux was appointed as acting CEO

In August, Marelise de Lange was appointed as the interim CFO of Delta Property Fund, following the resignation of CFO Shaneel Maharaj. Prior to her appointment, Marelise, a qualified CA(SA), served as the CEO and founder of tertiary choices gateway UCANDO. Net1 CFO Alex Smith was appointed as interim CEO following the resignation of Herman Kotzé after 22 years with the company. Alex was previously the CFO, secretary and treasurer of Net1 since 1 March 2018. Prior to joining the company, he was CFO and director of Altron.

Ashley Francis

16 years’ experience as a senior finance executive and has served as COO and CFO at Alexander Forbes Investments, and as FD of Alexander Forbes Emerging Markets.

Douglas Lafferty was appointed as CFO designate of Vivo Energy following the resignation of CFO Johan Depraetere, which will come into effect in February 2021. Douglas will become CFO on 5 March 2021.

Before the appointment, he served as the CFO of Williams Grand Prix Holdings.

Nutritional Holdings has appointed Suzanne Meyer as its new CFO from November 2020. Suzanne is a qualified CA(SA) with experience in both the public and private sector.

Asathi Magwentshu has been appointed as the acting CFO of Rebosis Property Fund following the resignation of Isabeau King as CFO. She was previously with Texton Property Fund, Delta Property Fund and Vunani Properties.

Redefine Properties has appointed Ntobeko Nyawo as its new CFO as of 1 March 2021, following the appointment of current CFO Leon Kok as COO. Ntobeko has over

Asathi Magwentshu

CFO MAGAZINE • CFO.CO.ZA

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PEOPLE MOVES Umgeni Water has appointed Kajal Singh as its new acting CFO as of November 2020. Kajal has taken over from CFO Nomalungeo Mkhize, who has been appointed as acting CEO.

Wikus Roos was appointed as the new CFO of TeleMasters Holdings from 1 November 2020. He has taken over from Michael Vosloo. Wikus has over 38 years’ experience, 31 of which were as a partner in the Gauteng Assurance practice of PwC. Thebe Investment Corporation has appointed Grathel Motau as its new group FD as of 1 September 2020.

Grathel has extensive experience in finance, having previously served as an audit partner at KPMG and the group CFO of Blue IQ Investments.

Prinisha Khoosal has been appointed as Bridgestone South Africa’s first female CFO. Prinisha says: “This is an unprecedented time and it calls for high agility and a mindset of change to embrace the challenges and respond appropriately... I plan to drive and be part of the response plan for Bridgestone while instilling a cost-conscious culture during this difficult time.”

Transcend Residential Property Fund has appointed CFO Myles Kritzinger as its new CEO. Myles is taking over from Solly Mboweni, who has stepped down as CEO to fulfil another role within the International Housing Solutions South Africa group.

Aneshree Naidoo has been appointed as the CFO of Webber Wentzel. She joins the firm from Deloitte Consulting, where she served as Africa CFO and on their leadership committee for the past

Middle East Diamond Resources has announced the appointment of Deon Botha as its new FD on a parttime basis as of November 2020.

Ntobeko Nyawo

five years. “Webber Wentzel is a leading law practice and I gravitated to the firm’s shared values from first interactions,” Aneshree says. “I am excited to work with best-in-class professionals.”

Isaac Nkululeko Malevu was appointed as the Industrial Development Corporation’s (IDC’s) new CFO as of 1 October 2020.

Isaac will be taking over from Gert Gouws, who stepped into the role of interim CFO in July after IDC CFO Nonkululeko Dlamini resigned.

Isaac joins IDC from Standard Bank CIB, where he served as CFO. Maphefo Sedite has been appointed as the new CFO of the Gauteng and Development Agency subsidiary Innovation Hub. She has taken over from Beverly Mmamedupi Bokaba, who has been serving as acting CFO since September 2019 after CFO Mavis Thomani stepped down.

Till Streichert has been appointed as the new CFO for Madrid-based global travel technology company Amadeus. Till takes over from Ana de Pro, who has stepped down after more than a decade with the company. He joins Amadeus from Vodacom, where he spent 12 years, most recently as group CFO and executive director. [Till was awarded the 2017 CFO of the Year Award for his role at Vodacom.]

Francis Heunis has been appointed as Namibian-based Oryx Properties’ new CFO as of October 2020. She has taken over from Lizette Smit, who announced her resignation on 30 June.

Australian-headquartered Perseus Mining has appointed South African Lee-Anne de Bruin as its new CFO following the resignation of Elissa Brown on 31 October.

Thabiso Hermanus has been appointed as the head of finance at Altron Bytes People Solutions.

Thabiso joins Altron Bytes People Solutions from Adcorp Group, where he served as group finance executive since 2017. l

There's a new CFO in the Kingdom King Price Insurance has appointed Paul Stedall as its new CFO. Paul will be taking the reins from Rhett Finch, who was appointed as the insurer’s deputy CEO in August 2020.

team have built over the last eight years.

“It’s a phenomenal organisation that has agility and innovation at its core, and I'm excited to introduce some innovation in the finance space.”

About the appointment, Paul says that he looks forward to being able to continue to build on the solid finance Rhett and the

Paul joins King Price from Deloitte South Africa, where he served as a partner from 2010 until 2020. l

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Paul Stedall

Raisibe Morathi

“Mixed emotions” as Raisibe Morathi leaves Nedbank for Vodacom Raisibe Morathi was appointed as the new group CFO of Vodacom starting on 1 November 2020. She joined Vodacom from Nedbank, where she served as group CFO. Raisibe said: “I’m excited to be joining the Vodacom Group board and exco at a time when it has simplified its structure to drive increased focus across all of its international territories. I look forward to leading a high-performing finance team, driving the function’s strategic digital transformation and contributing to the future success of the group.”

Raisibe will be taking over from Sitho Mdlalose, who was appointed as interim group CFO following the resignation of Till Streichert.

Raisibe took up the reins as CFO at Nedbank in September 2009 and was charged with driving transformation in the finance division. Over more than 15 years in the financial services and insurance industries, she served in a number of senior positions at the likes of Santam, HSBC, AMB and the IDC. She was also an advisor to the government. Raisibe is a chartered accountant with a certificate in advanced management from INSEAD in France and a higher diploma in taxation from Wits University.

Raisibe was nominated for the CFO Awards in 2015 and 2017 for her role as Nedbank’s CFO. She currently sits on the panel of judges for the CHRO

Awards – a role that she has found rewarding.

About her departure from Nedbank, Raisibe said: “I wish to thank the board of Nedbank for the opportunity afforded to me over the last several years, the experience gained is truly invaluable. It is in that context that this is a moment of mixed emotions, sad to leave all my friends and colleagues at Nedbank while also looking forward to opening a new chapter in my career.”

Mike Davis has taken over from Raisibe as the CFO of Nedbank Group.

Raisibe explains that she remains a true Nedbank loyalist whose connection as a client of 26 years will continue well beyond this period, and congratulated Mike Davis. “I wish him well in the role, with full confidence that he will do well.”

Mike Davis was appointed as group executive of balance sheet management and to the group executive committee on 1 January 2015.

He has significant industry-wide experience in finance, asset and liability management and capital management, having worked in financial services for over 20 years. Mike is the current deputy-chairperson of the Nedbank CFO Forum and has strong relationships within Nedbank and with shareholders, as well as the broader investment community. l

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REPRESENTATION

MATTERS Equites CFO Laila Razack shares how sitting on the board of the non-profit that coordinates all the company’s transformation and social initiatives offers her a chance to make a difference. By Puseletso Mompei

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PEOPLE

H

aving seen the impact of Black Lives Matter and other social justice movements around the world, it has become more clear than ever that giving voice to diversity is very important. “Having women of colour, such as myself, in a position of leadership is a powerful affirmation, not just for me but for others to see that it is possible,” says Equites Property Fund CFO Laila Razack.

Extremely passionate about education and the impact that it can make on lives, she relishes the opportunity that being a director on the board of the Michel Lanfranchi Foundation (NPC), which is funded by Equites and provides university students with financial aid, mentoring and real-world business experience, affords her. “This type of work is important for me because I think it’s the only way we will see structural change.

Sustained transformation starts with empowering people at a grassroots level. I learned the value of education from a young age, with parents who insisted that we focus on our studies. I have seen in my own life how education allowed me to achieve my goals,” she explains.

Sitting on the board of the non-profit that coordinates all the company’s transformation and social initiatives offers her a chance to make a difference. The foundation’s activities include bursaries for students in tertiary, building schools, funding science and maths initiatives and continuously evaluating proposals from initiatives supporting Early Childhood Development and disabilities.

Laila grew up in Cape Town, in a conservative Indian family with grandparents who owned small businesses such as corner-shops and butcheries. This abiding entrepreneurial spirit influenced her from an early age.

“It was a part of who we were,” she says.

Helping out at her grandfather’s butchery on Saturday mornings provided powerful lessons in understanding the value of work. “He didn’t need us there but wanted us to see how business works. Even though it was only a half-day job, we used to pack groceries and he would also ‘hire’ us grandkids to clean his garden, purely to emphasise that you have to work for what you get,” she explains.

Exposure to the family business was for understanding its mechanics, rather than inheriting it. As teens, she and her siblings were pushed towards academics, and were

“When I joined five years ago, we only had a footprint in South Africa, but have since grown to the UK. I am excited to see how the business evolves and want to grow with it.”

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“It’s been a balancing act of ensuring our stakeholders, including clients and shareholders, are happy, as are our staff.” told that focusing on education was what would change the trajectory of their lives, as well as that of the entire family. She cut her teeth in leadership at a young age, becoming deputy head girl and a prefect in high school, while excelling academically.

She graduated with a B.Sc in finance and accounting, along with a postgraduate diploma in accounting, both at the University of Cape Town. After completing her articles at PwC she was admitted as a CA(SA) in 2014 and joined Equites the following year as head of finance.

Smart pivots inspired by crisis It wasn’t long after she took up the interim CFO role that the Covid-19 crisis hit. The team was embarking on its year-end audit but due to the lockdown, things were vastly different. “It was the first time we had done an audit completely virtually. Fortunately, very early on we had a discussion with our auditors to figure out how to make it workable. Both sides collaborated to make it successful; through frequent catchup meetings, online folders and using technology to our advantage, and project managing incredibly well,” Laila says.

Everyday business also had to operate successfully off site. For environmental reasons, the company had gone paperless the previous year, but now had to quickly migrate to doing everything online. Ensuring staff got access to high-speed internet at home was a priority, followed by intensifying communications.

“Given that we were presented with a situation none of us had ever encountered, it was important that staff felt that there was stability and that their jobs were secure. We wanted to make sure they felt looked after to minimise stress internally because we rely on them heavily, being a small team of only 28. These measures went a long way in maintaining productivity, allowed us to complete our integrated report and keep up with routine monthly finance reporting.”

Externally, there had to be some shifts too. “Our priority is to look after the balance sheet, but with the tough times businesses have faced, some of our smaller tenants asked for relief. It’s been a balancing act of ensuring our stakeholders including clients and shareholders are happy, as are our staff.”

In recent months she has leaned in heavily on her leadership style, which she says is one that empowers people to excel. “I don’t like to micromanage. I prefer to

In on the conversation: Helping out where possible During a CFO Community Conversation, Laila said that, as the landlord of logistics assets, it was very difficult for Equites to balance its shareholder requirements at the start of Covid-19 and lockdown. “We wanted to maximise collections and protect our shareholder interests as far as possible, but we were also dealing with tenants who may have very real requirements to keep their businesses alive.”

Equites engaged with tenants to understand what they were trying to achieve and what their difficulties were and tried to come up with a mutually beneficial agreement.

“Most of those were rental relief, which assisted with their cash flow difficulties.”

The company also wanted to try and make an impact on construction companies who were engaged on its sites and offered subsidised wages for minimum wage earners over the construction shutdown period.

“Our executives also contributed a third of their salaries for three months to charitable causes of their choosing to assist with Covid-19 relief as every bit counts,” Laila said.

engage, set goals and when people achieve good results, recognise them for their efforts. I invite people to bring ideas for us to do better and be innovative; for instance our financial controller suggested using AI to capture invoices and it’s something we are piloting.”

Finding meaning in work, beyond the spreadsheet Thus far, being a CA has surpassed her career expectations. “The influence finance can have on people’s lives; with this qualification you can positively impact how the economy works, you can make people’s lives better from an individual, a company society or even globally with things like operating with sustainability in mind, which benefits everyone on the planet.” She loves how she’s able to touch so many facets of life and living.

“Being a CA develops a mindset of approaching problems and arriving at dynamic solutions. It’s a way of thinking that isn’t limited to finance or accounting but also applies to every part of life.”

The work with the foundation is the perfect arena for her to operate outside the box of finance. “I want to make it easier for kids to get access to high-quality education. I have seen the impact first-hand through one of the first recipients of our bursary, who is doing an internship with

us for six months before she starts her honours,” Laila says. “Working at Equites enabled the intern to grow from a shy, reserved young lady to someone who has found her voice and will be ready for the real working world. It is these changes that, one by one, person by person, will lead to change on a larger scale.”

At 33 years old, she wants to be able to enjoy the journey and sees room for growth at Equites. “When I joined five years ago, we only had a footprint in South Africa, but have since grown to the UK. I am excited to see how the business evolves and want to grow with it.”

Beyond the boardroom Outside of work, Laila is passionate about sustainability, “not only in the choices made in a corporate environment, but in our own everyday choices. I am very passionate about the earth and think we should be conscious of our impact on the planet.” In addition to protecting it, Laila loves to explore it. “I love to travel. I enjoy exploring big cities, such as London, New York, Hong Kong, Istanbul and going off the beaten track. Exploring Egypt and visiting the pyramids was amazing and I want to go to Machu Picchu. I like a little bit of a mix and that’s what makes the experience so invigorating.” l

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PEOPLE

EMPOWERING MEMBERS DURING COVID-19 CFO Luke Woodhouse shares that, despite the difficult circumstances surrounding 2020, Bonitas Medical Fund remains strong with good financials to back it.

I

n 2020 the global pandemic put healthcare and access to private medical aid in the spotlight. We spoke to Luke Woodhouse, CFO of Bonitas Medical Fund, about the Scheme’s financial strength during difficult economic times, the impact of Covid-19, the way forward for healthcare as well as increases and plans for 2021.

Can you begin by giving an overview of Bonitas financially over the last year?

Despite difficult trading conditions, a weak economic outlook, rising unemployment and healthcare service above inflation, we are financially solid. When we released our annual results for 2019 (in July 2020), we reported bolstered reserves of R4.3 billion.

The Fund reported a net surplus of R186.1 million for 2019 on the back of consistent and credible financial policies. This surplus will be invested back into the Fund to ensure our members continue to access affordable, quality healthcare.

It has not been an investors’ market – how did the Fund fare in terms of investments?

For 2019, the investment return was significant – R420.1 million (2018: R197.4 million). This was achieved by following a comprehensive investment strategy to maximise returns on members’ funds and to guarantee the long term sustainability of the Fund.

Was Bonitas able to achieve the 25% solvency ratio as required by the CMS? The solvency ratio was 24.9 percent at the end of 2019.

This was largely due to fast-growth during the year, with 7 758 new members joining the Scheme. The reality is that schemes that grow quickly usually experience a drop in solvency which normalises in the following 12 to 18 months.

We note that for 2021 Bonitas announced a weighted increase of 4.6 percent. Was it not possible to adhere

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to CMS’s request to keep contribution increases in line with the CPI? We worked tirelessly to find the sweet-spot between sustainability and ensuring affordability – offering plan increases from 0 percent. We took a responsible stance, with a long-term view, to ensure that our members wouldn’t have to pay the price of a low increase for 2021 in the coming years. One of our core considerations was finding ways to ensure members could get access to full healthcare cover and avoid out-of-pocket expenses and co-payments.

There were calls during the first lockdown of the pandemic for medical aids to use reserves to assist members. Did Bonitas do this, if not, why not?

The medical schemes industry is highly regulated, this means any relief we offer members has to be in line with the guidelines of the Medical Schemes Act and approved by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS).

The use of reserves in this regard is unfortunately not permitted.

Bonitas has spoken about collaboration during the pandemic – do you see collaboration being an ongoing strategy in the next few years?

Collaboration across the healthcare value chain is a critical component of our strategy. We engage regularly with the CMS, the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF), hospital groups and healthcare practitioners to ensure we make informed decisions and will continue to do so going forward.

Covid has highlighted the need for quality healthcare, what changes do you anticipate in the medical aid landscape in the years ahead? How is Bonitas addressing this?

We are looking forward to new and innovative ways of empowering members to manage their health in 2021 and beyond. Our focus is on more primary health-

“We anticipate that the 2020 financial results will show Bonitas rising above the legislated solvency requirement.” care, utilisation of preventative care benefits, digitally enabled solutions and self-help facilities for members who want access to their benefits 24/7.

We have a number of strategies for 2021.

initiatives, allows access to a virtual nurse, advice in an emergency, auxiliary and home- based care, ensuring members have comprehensive support for any condition, in any circumstance, through our virtual based model.

• Edge

• Day hospitals

We introduced a new category – Edge – driven by technology, intelligence and innovation. The new plan under this category, BonStart, is designed for economically active singles or couples, living in the larger metros.

Day hospitals result in minimum disruption to members, speedier recovery times, less risk of infection and are also a more cost effective alternative.

• Managed Care

Virtual technology is the way forward. The WhatsApp channel we introduced has the most potential. This platform is convenient for members and allows them to manage their medical aid through live chats.

The pandemic has highlighted the impact of lifestyle diseases and comorbidities on Covid-19 patients. 20 percent of our members have multiple comorbidities which means, even without the pandemic, we need a stronger focus on preventing and managing lifestyle behaviours.

• Home-based care During Covid-19, home-based care received renewed focus as it’s a cost effective delivery of care and promotes healing. Studies show that patients recover faster in their comfort of their own home.

• Virtual Care There was a positive response to the launch of the new Bonitas Member Mobile App and virtual care. This provided access to free GP consultations, not just for Covid-19, until 31 December 2020. At the heart of the model is the GP. This aligns to our care coordination

• Technology

• Mental health Is fast becoming the next pandemic and is a significant Managed Care risk. Studies show that around 20 – 25 percent of patients with pre-existing mental health issues feel they are coping badly or deteriorating due to the pandemic. We have built a resource hub – with a screening tool – to help people understand the condition and steps they can take to remain mentally healthy.

It’s challenging to be different – to innovate, disrupt – to be better. But not impossible. Our primary focus is to ensure Bonitas remains sustainable, while making quality and affordable healthcare accessible to all South Africa. l

Luke Woodhouse, CFO of Bonitas is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA) SA and holds a BCOMPT (HONS) Accounting Science degree. He has over 10 years’ experience in the healthcare sector, previously heading up finance and operational roles within the AfroCentric Group. He has a wealth of practical experience when managing technical finance matters relating to the medical scheme environment.

For more information, visit www.bonitas.co.za

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2020 THE YEAR WE REGAINED OUR HUMANITY During this year’s CFO Community Conversations, finance executives agreed that leaders need to take care of their employees’ wellbeing above all else.

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“People need to understand that the lockdown set-up is not a normal working environment and, as leaders, CFOs need to be tolerant of their employees being disrupted at home.”

Aarti Takoordeen

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hen the Covid-19 hard lockdown was announced in March 2020, CFO South Africa rethought the way they bring finance professionals together, especially during such difficult times. As a result, the CFO Community Conversations were born and took place every Wednesday evening via Zoom. During these conversations, which proved to be a necessary collaboration and relaxation tool for CFOs, those in attendance discussed the challenges they were facing as Covid-19 impacted businesses across South Africa and the world.

In one conversation, headline speaker Ralph Mupita, MTN Group CEO and 2019 CFO of the Year, said: “Covid19 has profound implications not only for health and humanitarian impacts, but long-term economic and structural changes for businesses and societies.”

The impacts and changes were not all negative, however, and the CFOs also highlighted some of the positive things they learnt from the pandemic.

Ensuring the wellbeing of your people While maintaining business sustainability and liquidity was a pressing concern on CFOs’ minds during Covid19, they all agreed that leaders need to take care of their stakeholders and ensure the safety and well-being of their workforce by keeping in touch during the crisis.

“As we go through change, growth is inevitable,” Barloworld group FD Nopasika Lila said. “As leaders, we are trained and experienced to manage people and situations in tested environments.”

During one of the Community Conversations, CFOs agreed that one of the most important lessons they had learnt during lockdown was that it is important to be conscious of and safeguard the mental state of employees.

“People need to understand that the lockdown set-up is not a normal working environment and, as leaders, CFOs need to be tolerant of their employees being disrupted at home,” said one CFO, who preferred not to be named.

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“The lockdown has also encouraged people to take initiative and be more creative.

People showed that they were willing to step up and take action to help their companies.”

Ralph Mupita

JSE CFO Aarti Takoordeen said that she has been reading a lot about mental illness and how lockdown has influenced that. “We have to be a lot more understanding of our colleagues' living circumstances, which allows for our own growth as managers.”

The lockdown has also forced CFOs to step into cheerleading roles, having to motivate their teams during these sombre times.

Douglasdale Dairy CFO Bradley Wentzel said a big part of his job during hard lockdown involved giving his team pep talks in the mornings after driving to work on quiet roads.

Hatch Africa CFO Craig Sumption added that “no one has a definite answer about what’s going to happen next, and it makes people nervous, so you have to motivate them. You also have to be sensitive towards people.

Not everyone is working from home comfortably and we need to be aware of that and not put undue pressure on them.”

The lockdown has also encouraged people to take initiative and be more creative. People showed that they were willing to step up and take action to help their companies.

Verimark CFO Bryan Groome agreed, saying that he has seen the increased enthusiasm for innovation coming from his team. “Everyone is trying to think of new ini-

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tiatives, trying to say what we can do differently and thinking about what we can do next,” he said. “I think after lockdown we are going to see a lot of new great ideas being implemented in companies.”

People-friendly politics In another CFO Community Conversation, Aarti talked about people-friendly policies being introduced at the JSE. She explained that because people have been forced to recognise and become more empathetic of their colleagues’ personal circumstances as they dial into their homes, the JSE has had to come up with new policies and practices to support these learnings.

The exchange has implemented initiatives like “No-Meeting Wednesdays”, where colleagues are allowed to block their diaries out every second Wednesday and not accept any meetings. The JSE also has HR entries in their diaries for online yoga, virtual meditation, fitness sessions and various other initiatives that help employees tackle some of the challenges that have arisen out of the pandemic. “These have really allowed our employees to equip themselves with the right tools during these challenging times. It really challenges traditional thinkers, because the results of those types of initiatives have been that we have a much happier and more productive workforce,” Aarti said.

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Ashley Francis

“At Standard Bank we have quite a number of people-friendly policies,” said Standard Bank head of finance, retail and business banking Tendani Sikhwivhilu. “One of these was that the organisation introduced special leave to help employees set up their kids’ schooling arrangements and to help them adjust to the new circumstances we were in because of Covid19 and lockdown.”

Benefits for the business Walter Leonhardt, the financial director of Coca-Cola Beverages SA, said that his management team believes that by caring for their people to the best of their ability, the profitability will follow.

Competition Tribunal head of finance, Devrani Moonsamy said that proceeding with daily outputs through online meeting platforms, digital signatures and other technology available has allowed the company to completely digitalise. “A good thing is that we will continue to work digitally.”

Noloyiso Mhlubulwana, the financial director of Tsebo Facilities Solutions, outlined the importance of different areas of the business working together towards a common goal. "We had to adjust and work closely with HR, in order to support our employees. We've been working with employees, working with clients to keep them

Walter Leonhardt

motivated during these tough times. We’re trying different things to be supportive to clients and employees and staying on top of that cash flow."

Niniza Sithole, head of finance shared services division at Rand Water, said that the loss of travel time opens up new opportunities. “People who haven’t been stuck in traffic are less tired. They can be more creative in their productivity, and devote more hours to the work that they are doing. Covid-19 is forcing us to think outside the box. And not just about your company, but South Africa as a whole.”

Two months into lockdown, former University of Cape Town CFO Ashley Francis believes that after Covid-19, there’s no going back. “I’ve come to realise that I don’t want to go back to how things were,” he said. “Ten weeks have changed my lens in terms of how I see the future.

I’m excited about the new normal and the business aspect of it, with new thinking and innovative ideas.”

It will be fascinating to look back on this time from the future, and to assess whether the changes, understanding and humanity that were unlocked when global business leaders were under enormous pressure to deliver results and support their teams, truly did change the world for the better. To hear the reflections these CFOs share, it certainly seems that this will be the case. l

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PEOPLE

AN ACCOUNTANT

WITH A BIG SOUL Education, Training and Development Practices SETA CFO Nonhlanhla Mona-Dick is dedicated to working in the public sector, and takes her inspiration in hope and empathy from Maya Angelou. By Victoria Williams

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FO of the Education, Training and Development Practices (ETDP) SETA , Nonhlanhla Mona-Dick is at the forefront of closing the critical skills gap in South Africa.

She oversees the finance function of an organisation that issues 11,000 bursaries each year.

“As a CFO of a public entity, I play a role in protecting the entity’s reputation by ensuring that we are delivering on our mandate and abide by the laws and regulations set out for public entities. I’m also giving back to my country working for an organisation in the training and education space,” says Nonhlanhla. With 141 employees, the ETDP SETA has offices in each province, and Nonhlanhla leads a team of 20 people across finance and supply chain.

She says that she has experienced the most professional growth from working in the public sector. Her other public sector experience includes working in the office of the Public Protector, the Auditor-General of South Africa and at the Central Energy Fund (CEF), a state-owned diversified energy company reporting to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.

She also spent several years in auditing but doesn’t regret the move into a finance leadership position. “A CFO is a powerful person within an organisation. They have a bird’s-eye view of what is going on, including per-

“A CFO is a powerful person within an organisation. They have a bird’s-eye view of what is going on, including perspectives into operations, governance and compliance.”

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spectives into operations, governance and compliance.

They’re no longer known as simply the numbers people,” says Nonhlanhla.

Nonhlanhla’s first CFO role was an acting position at the CEF. She had just turned 29. The role turned out to be a 14-month stint before a permanent CFO was appointed.

“Although I didn’t have the experience, I told myself I could do it. I am incredibly grateful to the leadership who showed an interest in me during my time with the group. I have really benefited from mentorship,” she comments.

The Covid-19 impact The ETDP SETA’s revenue is R1.1 billion in a good year.

She learnt of a new risk to the organisation in April when the President announced that employers would be given a four-month payment holiday for skills development levy contributions.

Nonhlanhla describes this pronouncement as a ‘huge setback’, as skills development levies account for more than 50 percent of revenue for any given financial year.

“We are a sector that is directly impacted by this and we were not consulted prior to this announcement. We will struggle to fully deploy our mandate as our resources will be stretched quite extensively for the foreseeable future,” she comments.

The organisation’s core activities are rolling out training and development programmes aimed at the education, training and development (ETD) sector. These tend to be large, in-person gatherings of between 50 to 100 people.

A hard lockdown followed by strict social distancing protocols has meant that this training is impossible. Then, the shifted university and school timetables have cut into the times when the EDTP SETA typically conducts training.

For Nonhlanhla, the worst part of the Covid-19 financial distress was the impact on the organisation's training

“My mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style.”

providers. “Many of the smaller companies did not make it and others retrenched staff to stay viable. So, many of the surviving companies will struggle to adapt to the new normal,” she says.

Nonhlanhla anticipates a shift to online training following global current trends, although it may take time for the industry to catch up. “Not a lot of providers are equipped to offer online training – there are lots of business opportunities to go digital,” she adds. Nonhlanhla expects that 2021 will be a recovery year where the organisation will take stock of its current initiatives and plot a new way forward.

Lessons from Maya Angelou Nonhlanhla is an admirer of the late American author and poet Dr Maya Angelou. Dr Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, published in 1969, tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.

Dr Angelou's early adulthood experiences included fry cook, sex worker, nightclub performer and a correspondent in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonisation of Africa. She is also recognised for her anti-apartheid activism.

Nonhlanhla admires how Dr Angelou turned her life around, recovering from trauma including a childhood rape and time spent as a prostitute. “Dr Maya Angelou is one of the greatest poets and writers of our time. Her life story is about hope and not giving up despite the obstacles. She was a child who never felt valued grow-

ing up in a racist United States, who through courage and determination, carved out a place for herself,” says Nonhlanhla.

The greatest lesson that Dr Angelou has taught her is empathy, something that she incorporates into her daily life as a leader. “I’m an accountant with a big soul. I believe in people and give everyone a chance to prove themselves. I’m good at listening and take a while to judge a person,” she comments.

Nonhlanhla’s favourite quote from the author is “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style.” This quote sums up her life purpose.

Nonhlanhla has read all of Angelou’s books. She is an avid reader and book collector who likes nothing better than looking for new books with her children each month.

An interest in money Nonhlanhla grew up in Kanyamazane, a township near Nelspruit. From a young age she knew she wanted to work with money. “At six years old my mother and I used to dress up to go to town to cash my mother’s salary cheque. I liked how the bank tellers looked and I wanted to work at a bank. Later in high school, I got the idea to become a chartered accountant. From that point on, I never entertained any other idea,” she says.

She completed her B.Com in accounting sciences from the University of Pretoria while obtaining her B.Compt Honours from Unisa. She is a qualified chartered accountant. l CFO MAGAZINE • CFO.CO.ZA

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LEADERSHIP

CFO AWARDS

CELEBRATING WORLD-CLASS FINANCE IN AN EXTRAORDINARY YEAR The 2020 CFO Awards was one to remember as CFOs gathered to celebrate the nominees and winners who have shown exceptional leadership in their organisations.

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n 25 November, 140 finance professionals gathered in-person for the first time since Covid-19 lockdown was announced in March 2020, to celebrate the 2020 CFO Awards nominees and winners. Guests donned their smart tuxedos, gorgeous gowns and face masks for the ceremony, which was held at the Polo Room in Inanda under strict Covid-19 regulations.

The night was a celebration of “world-class finance in action” and recognised CFOs for stepping up as the financial stewards of their organisations.

The attendees were treated to cocktails, sushi canapes and bubbly, along with social-distanced conversations on the veranda overlooking the polo field before entering the ballroom where the awards ceremony, known as the “Oscars of finance”, was held. The room was decked out in black and white, and accented with daylilies, succulents and candles.

World-renowned comedian Loyiso Madinga, the South African correspondent for the Daily Show with Trevor Noah, kicked off the event as the master of ceremonies. He quipped that the best thing about 2020 is masks – allowing all South Africans to show off their beautiful eyes – before handing over to CFO Enterprises MD Joël Roerig.

Highlighting the importance of the awards, Joël said that the event was a salute to notable achievements in the finance industry. “Tonight is a celebration not just of our exceptional nominees, but also of South Africa’s finance professionals as a whole. You continue to demonstrate that our professionals can stand shoulder to shoulder with those who are driving and supporting business around the world,” he said.

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The 2020 CFO Awards nominees included: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Angela Pillay – FD at Sasfin Ashley Francis – CFO at UCT (Until August 2020) Bernardt van der Linde – FD at Curro Holdings (now COO) Bryan Groome – FD at Verimark Cheryl-Jane Kujenga – CFO at Adcorp Holdings (Until May 2020) Dion Mhlaba – CFO at RH Bophelo Dorette Neethling – CFO at Adcock Ingram Holdings Elisa Mkhize – CFO at Clinix Health Group (Until July 2020) Euan McNeil – CFO of MEA at Flight Centre Travel Group Innocent Gumbochuma – CFO at QCTO Jason Quinn – group FD at Absa Group Keith Gibson – group CFO at Netcare Mark Godfrey – CFO at Spar Narriman Taliep – finance executive at V&A Waterfront (Until October 2020) Nishlan Samujh – group CFO at Investec Norman Basthdaw – CFO at Sun International Rhett Finch – CFO King Price Insurance (Until June 2020, now Deputy CEO) Riaan Koppeschaar – CFO at Exxaro Resources Risto Ketola – group FD at Momentum Metropolitan Holdings Rivasha Maharaj – CFO at Afgri Group Holdings Shabeer Khan – CFO at the DTI Ted Willcox – CFO at PepsiCo SSA Tsholofelo Molefe – group CFO at Telkom (Until December 2020) Tsundzukani Mhlanga – Executive Director: Group Finance Italtile (Until June 2020) Xolani Mbambo – CFO at Grindrod

2020 CFO Awards sponsors Principal sponsor of the 2021 CFO Awards was once again Deloitte, which has been consistently backing the Oscars of Finance and handed out three awards on the evening. Other awards sponsors were Workday, PwC, Standard Bank, SAP Concur and CaseWare Africa (A division of AdaptIT).

The event was also supported by CFO South Africa's associate partners Coupa and Jaguar Landrover.

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Joël then handed over to Deloitte Africa’s new board chair Ruwayda Redfearn, who underlined Deloitte’s continued support of the awards as a sign of the firm’s commitment to South Africa’s finance community.

“I have missed the collective energy of some of the smartest minds in finance. We are here to celebrate you. CFOs play a role in driving the company’s strategy in South Africa and beyond our borders. They’re also involved in the digital transformation of their organisations. CFOs are no longer bean counters, but rather bean planters who watch their ventures grow.

The CFO Awards are an important moment to celebrate excellence.”

And the winner is...

In 2020, there were 25 nominees, a record number for the CFO Awards, from a range of listed, private and public sector companies.

The big winner of the night was Absa group FD Jason Quinn, who walked away with the prestigious CFO of

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the Year Award. He also won the Strategy Execution Award and the Moving into Africa Award. “I am truly humbled to receive this award. Thank you to Joël and the team at CFO South Africa. I’d also like to thank my team at Absa, as well as my wife and kids,” said Jason.

The Department of Trade and Industry CFO Shabeer Khan was also a big winner, receiving the Young CFO of the Year Award, the Public Sector CFO Award and the Compliance & Governance Award. He acknowledged his finance team and the minister for the support that enables him to succeed. “It is such an honour to be recognised by the finance community.

It’s especially amazing to win the Public Sector CFO Award, especially in such a difficult year.”

Tsholofelo Molefe, who was the group CFO of Telkom at the time, was awarded the High-Performance Team Award and the Finance Transformation Award. In her acceptance speech, she acknowledged the work of the CFO South Africa team for the finance community. “Thank you to CFO South Africa for keeping us

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Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

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The 2020 CFO Awards judges • • •

• interested through our Community Conversations. Thank you to my team, I certainly wouldn’t have done it without them. When I recruit,

• •

I always look for people who are better for me.”

Adcock Ingram CFO Dorette Neethling, who was not able to attend the event, won the Transformation & Empowerment Award, and King Price Insurance deputy CEO Rhett Finch, who was CFO at the time of his nomination, received the Finance Transformation Award.

• • •

Stepping into the future

•

In keeping with the night’s theme of “world-class finance in action”,

•

futurist, global speaker and business strategist at Futureworld Craig Wing presented the keynote address on how world-class organisa-

•

tions are preparing for a technology-enabled future.

The CFOs in attendance were rapt as Craig delivered his rapid-fire presentation. While the aim of the evening was fun and celebration, it’s clear that the audience came away with something to think about

• •

Aarti Takoordeen – CFO JSE Limited. Young CFO of the Year 2014 Ben Marx – Head of the Department of Accountancy at the University of Johannesburg Brett Tromp – CFO Discovery Health. Young CFO of the Year 2015. Winner: High-Performance Team Award 2015 Christine Ramon – Interim CEO AngloGold Ashanti. CFO of the Year 2018 Christo Els – Senior Partner Webber Wentzel Claudelle von Eck – Founder Brave Inflexions.

Former CEO of the Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa Herman Bosman – CEO RMB Holdings and RMI Holdings Kevin Black – Audit Partner Deloitte Africa Leon Crouse – Former CFO Remgro and Vodacom. Winner: CFO Lifetime Achievement Award 2016 Luvuyo Masinda – Head Global Client Coverage Standard Bank CIB Mary Vilakazi – Group COO FirstRand. Nominee CFO Awards 2017 Ramasela Ganda – CEO Avis Rent A Car Southern Africa. Public Sector CFO of the Year 2017 Simon Ridley – Non-executive Director Standard Bank, former Group FD. CFO of the Year 2014 Victor Sekese – CEO SNG Grant Thornton

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Photos: Patrick Furter

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The

CFO

with staying power On 25 November, Jason Quinn was declared CFO of the Year in a socially-distanced ceremony at the Polo Room at the Inanda Club. Georgina Guedes caught up with Jason (over MS Teams) to find out more about Absa’s successful separation from Barclays, and where the bank is headed next.

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LEADERSHIP

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ason Quinn’s career has been characterised by a series of decisions to stay the course – choices that have mostly worked out for the 2020 CFO of the Year. From his parents’ decision to stay in South Africa, to his working at EY while studying accounting, to a long career at Absa, Jason’s history has always been about resilience and staying power.

His family moved to South Africa from Ireland on the back of a work opportunity and although they thought this was only a temporary move, they’ve never left. Jason was born here and feels thoroughly South African.

He matriculated at 16, having started school at the same age he would have had his family still lived in Ireland, because they intended to return home at some point. He remembers his parents explaining to the school that he was “quite big and pretty smart” so he should be able to keep up with the older kids. Jason initially intended to be a doctor and so, to learn a bit about the career choice, he spent some time with a doctor friend of the family, who revealed to Jason that none of his five children had become doctors because they knew they would permanently be on call and have to deal with many tragedies. He recommended that Jason become a lawyer or an accountant like his children.

So, Jason opted for his second choice, which was accountancy. Again, he visited a friend of the family who advised him of the multitude of career paths open to CAs and suggested he go straight to work at an audit firm and do his studies part time. Jason was attracted to the expedience of this route and, as an opportunity had arisen at EY, he quickly became a young, if somewhat overworked, CA. “I wouldn’t recommend it,” Jason says. “It’s true that it’s quicker doing your articles at the same time as studying, but it’s tough to work full days and then study at night and attend lectures on Saturday. It does teach you a few things early on, like extreme focus on time management. But it’s a pretty tough path, and the drop-out rate was quite high. I don’t even think the firms offer it anymore.”

To maintain some kind of balance, he played golf and rugby, but looking back, he feels he would have enjoyed the varsity social scene.

He stayed on at EY, but his journey with the firm took him to working with the London office, coordinating Investec’s listing on the London Stock Exchange. He then moved on to EY San Francisco for almost three years, and came back to South Africa as a partner in

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“In every role, I try to think of what 'excellent' looks like in that role and work towards achieving that outcome at as great a pace as I can within the firm’s context.”

2005. Then, in 2008, he joined Absa as the treasurer of the Retail and Business Bank, then moved into core finance as the group financial controller, before becoming CFO of the Retail and Business Bank, after which he was appointed as the group head of finance, and then the finance director from 2016.

While he acknowledges that having only had two employers in a 30-year career by the age of 46 is unusual, he says that the opportunities at each firm are what kept him engaged. “At each firm, there were massively different opportunities and roles throughout. If I think of EY, here in Joburg, London and San Francisco, I was in changing roles in different parts of the firm, and in then five different roles at Absa. It wasn’t deliberate. I didn’t say to myself, ‘I want to have only two employers,’ but in every role, I try to think of what 'excellent' looks like in that role and work towards achieving that outcome at as great a pace as I can within the firm’s context. And then I proactively work out with the firm what the next step is.”

The Covid-19 crisis In early 2020, Jason and Absa’s new CEO Daniel Mminele were on one of the last flights back into Joburg before lockdown was implemented. They’d been launching the Absa brand across the African continent, with the last stop in Ghana. While they made it safely back into the country, that was basically the end of the face-to-face interactions between the group FD and the new CEO. “We spent the first quarter together and then like everyone, we had to adapt. We were just joking the other day that little did we know when Daniel started in mid-January that this is what our year would be like. There was a problem in Wuhan. It didn’t even cross our minds it would impact us materially.”

When asked what his lockdown experience has been, Jason says, “It’s been hard.” He says that “hard” is a bit of a soundbite for the year 2020. “Before this I didn’t

“I’ve never seen GDPs move like that, or equities move 40 percent in a month on a big listed bank like that.”

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know much about Microsoft Teams or Zoom as I have always been a great believer in ‘in-person’ meetings.

We used to have conference calls and video conferences with Barclays but we were usually all at the office. Now, I haven’t used my mobile phone to phone anyone or been in a conference call in ages, it’s all on Teams and Zoom.”

He says that having worked with a relatively stable finance team in Absa for a few years, the collaboration is high. So, in switching to working from home, it was easy to keep on interacting because they could lean on their past experience and strong relationships. But while the team was sound, the pressure was on.

“I found the cadence over the last year very, very high.

Normally, it’s fairly rare for me to work consistently on weekends unless there is a crisis. Unfortunately, quite early on in lockdown, we found ways to disrespect each other’s personal time – because we knew everyone was available. We had to consciously rebalance at some point after the second quarter and stop scheduling calls on Saturdays and Sundays.”

Despite the challenges Covid-19 presented, Jason

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believes that he, and Absa, have navigated the crisis really well. “We’ve made the right calls based on the information available and have focused on proactive and ongoing conversations with regulators and investors while keeping the board constantly abreast of the issues.

When lockdown was eased, Daniel and Jason started meeting for coffee or distanced in studios to do market updates together. Despite their challenging first year together, Jason speaks highly of Daniel.

“He’s a great guy. He’s very diligent and brought with him a sense of calm. There was no panic in the crisis.

He just got us stuck into things we needed to get better at. We’re in a period of refreshment of our strategy.

“When you are as big and systemic as us, you have a role to play in keeping the economy going.”

LEADERSHIP

“We were just joking the other day that little did we know when Daniel started in mid-January that this is what our year would be like.”

And although every bank in the world is saying that, it’s different for us because we have new opportunities around our cost base and can leverage off the ‘change’ expertise we built as part of the separation from Barclays. Now that the Barclays separation is done, we can lift our head and look at the landscape to see what else we can focus on – so from that perspective, it’s an exciting time.”

A CFO with integrity Jason believes that the most important thing, personally and professionally, is to have integrity. “Especially in the finance community, when you are the FD, people want to know that everything you stand for in terms of financials and disclosures has the right level of integrity behind it.”

This has been particularly important this year, when the bank has had to communicate with shareholders around the value of financial instruments or bad debt provisions. “As Absa, we have gone with the approach to be transparent around any judgements we’ve made, so that if our shareholders agree with our assumption, they’ll know what they are getting. If they disagree, they also know how we’re building our case. We’ve shown them how we’ve valued the books, but we could be wrong. If we are wrong, they have the points to make their own calls.”

He says that this is relevant in a year that’s full of uncertainty, with, for example, GDP starting at 1.5 percent up, then 10 percent down, then back up to eight percent, then to nine, then down to seven. “I’ve never seen GDPs move like that, or equities move 40 percent in a month on a big listed bank like that.”

Jason is extremely proud that during Covid-19, Absa launched the industry’s largest customer relief programme. “If our customers’ accounts were paid to date before Covid hit in Q1, they could benefit from a three months’ payment holiday. A lot of our customers took that and we received a lot of compliments that their bank was there for them when they needed us. A lot

of people lost income over that time, so if they didn’t pay us, at least they had cash to live. And now that it’s mostly come to an end, most of those people are now paying us again. And those who took the money and saved it are still saving with us, so that’s worked out well so far.”

Jason and his team have been busy modelling multiple scenarios for the next three years. For the first time ever, they’re going back in the second quarter to recalibrate assumptions in case they’ve changed. “When you are as big and systemic as us, you have a role to play in keeping the economy going. We’ve built playbooks this year for what we would do when things got better or worse in different scenarios.”

Jason is also quick to confirm that the recognition he received through this award is really testimony to the excellent finance team that support him at Absa and that it is their dedication and collaboration that should be recognised.

Family and leisure Jason is married to another CA, who he says got better marks than he did at school and varsity. They were married in 2002, and have three daughters. Lizanne Quinn is a hedge fund specialist, but hasn’t worked professionally in the last couple of years because she is focusing on their daughters – Naomi (15), Josie (13) and Millicent (11).

Jason has kept up his passion for golf, and plays on most weekends. On family holidays, he gets up in time to tee off at 5am, so that he’s home in time for the rest of the family to wake up. “It’s not right to go on a family holiday and be gone all day,” he says.

In the working week, he’s a dedicated member of the 5am club as well, and starts his day with a light run or walk with his dogs (they have three), then gets home to help start the girls’ day before, in normal times, doing part of the school run. His working day starts at 7.30am, and he’s usually home by 7pm. Despite his early mornings, Jason confesses to being a bit of a night owl as well, and stays up reading (business books, sports biographies and fiction) until about 11.

He makes up for lost sleep with naps on the weekends and on holiday.

While lockdown was extremely demanding, he says that everyone’s uncomplicated schedules meant that they could cycle and golf together as a family. “It was a hard time, but I will look back fondly on things like this.” l

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The Barclays separation While the CFO Awards judges’ scoring is confidential, Jason’s win in the Strategy Execution category is a clear indicator that his work on Absa’s Barclays separation contributed to his overall win. He was involved right from the beginning as head of the negotiating team together with Maria Ramos and then with oversight of Barclay’s four-year-long operational separation from Absa, which was completed at the beginning of June 2020.

The original commitment that separation from Barclays would be executed in a capital- and cash-flow-neutral manner was delivered.

“When Barclays decided to separate, we knew we needed to do it in an orderly way. The finance team were very closely involved in negotiating the separation. We executed two very material bookbuilds, in corporate actions that saw Barclays shareholding reduce from 62 percent to 15 percent shareholding, and R38 billion was traded overnight between Barclays and the new shareholders. This was the largest corporate action amongst emerging market banks globally in recent times.”

Jason explains that the negotiation of the separation was a huge piece of work. The old Absa was largely a retail bank. Barclays bought a majority stake in 2005, and then an investment bank, Absa Capital, was created in the mirror image of Barclays Capital. The next landmark transaction was Absa’s acquisition from Barclays of its other businesses across the continent for R18 billion. All of this resulted in significant connectivity particularly in Absa Capital and the business outside SA. “We didn’t want the minority shareholders to have to pay to separate all of this out,” says Jason. “So we went into significant detail to explain to Barclays that for us to replace what we had would cost a lot of money. We went backwards and forwards for some time, and in the end, we got a good deal for all stakeholders. Barclays contributed just under $1 billion to enable separation, so that the various group wide technologies and capabilities that we utilised could be replaced and for us to re-brand the group.”

He is relishing the opportunity to take Absa forward with the leadership team under the new CEO Daniel Mminele. “It’s a great opportunity. We’re becoming more cloud based, more digital, we have been there for our customers when they have needed us. We have navigated the crisis well so far with a strong focus on capital and liquidity preservation and balance sheet coverage which will all stand the group in good stead while the crisis prevails and set us up well for new opportunities once the crisis is behind us.”

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RESTORING

POWER

Calib Cassim is the CFO who is responsible for putting Eskom back on track and undoing a legacy of corruption within the power utility. By Victoria Williams

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“We are dealing with both an operational recovery and a financial recovery.”

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alib Cassim was appointed Eskom CFO in November 2018 after serving as acting CFO from July 2017. He also serves as a director of Eskom Enterprises, Escap and Eskom Finance Company. In his current portfolio he is responsible for real estate, security and the price application for electricity prices to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa).

Calib works 12-hour days with a weekly schedule that tends to involve back-to-back meetings. On Saturdays he tries to avoid his laptop, but Sundays he prepares for the week ahead. He is also mindful of working towards monthly and annual deliverables as well as anticipating future scenarios believing that “a leader must see what is coming around the corner”.

Calib has spent over 19 years working at the power utility including several years leading the regulation department. He appreciates his current role for the broad scope it affords him. “This is not a typical finance role as finance and operations are so intertwined. I enjoy the challenge of contributing to Eskom, and more importantly, to the country. This is not an easy job, but having the support of the board and the government helps us navigate the waters,” comments Calib. Across the company, there are approximately 870 people working in finance.

In its last set of financial results released in October 2020, Eskom posted a R20.5 billion loss with revenue at R200 billion and sales 1.29 percent lower than 2019 due to poor economic conditions and constrained electricity capacity. CEO André de Ruyter noted that the power utility had paid attention to its capital and operating expenditure, coal inventory optimisation, revenue recovery initiatives, and increased international revenues. The cash-strapped state-owned enterprise’s debt stands at roughly R453 billion.

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LEADERSHIP

“One can’t believe all the negatives and assume that all of Eskom’s more than 40,000 employees were corrupt.”

Putting Eskom back on track Eskom, established in 1923 to serve the mining sector, is in the top 20 power utilities in the world by installed generation capacity. It generates more than 90 percent of South Africa’s power and 40 percent of the electricity on the continent.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged to split Eskom into three entities for generation, transmission, and distribution to make it more efficient. The company is on track to separate transmission by December 2021 and to split generation and distribution by December 2022. Eskom has already set up three separate divisional boards to tackle issues related to the different parts of the business.

Calib believes the next two years to be critical as management works towards the plan to unbundle and restore the company to sustainability. “We are dealing with both an operational recovery and a financial recovery. We also have to work towards a greener energy mix to decarbonise the industry going forward."

André has explained the company’s strategy through a series of roadshows and now weekly staff video calls.

Calib says that employee engagement and buy-in to the strategy has been good. He values André’s private sector experience and how he challenges the status quo. “Being from the outside, he brings new ideas. He likes the details, and he questions why we do what we do. We have had to rethink many of our processes thanks to his input.”

Undoing a legacy of corruption Calib has instituted several new controls and processes since he took on the CFO role. Within a week of being in the position, a suspicious contract came across his desk. He refused to sign it and it was later identified as a state capture transaction.

A Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has begun to uncover the scale of corruption and mismanagement at Eskom.

The SIU had already made 5,512 referrals to Eskom to date to institute disciplinary proceedings.

Calib acknowledges that it is difficult to read about the company’s past in the media and is conscious that reports about Eskom come with a dose of public scepticism. He also recognises that Eskom has an impact on millions of citizens’ lives and media scrutiny

is necessary. “It’s important to listen to what the critics say and accept criticism. On the other hand, one can’t believe all the negatives and assume that all of Eskom’s more than 40,000 employees were corrupt. You’ll find that 99 percent of all employees are loyal and dedicated,” says Calib.

A passion for business Calib grew up in Overport, Durban, and completed his BCom at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and his honours at Unisa. He is a qualified chartered accountant and holds a master’s degree in business leadership (MBL). At school he enjoyed maths and accountancy. The 1980s television show, Dallas, with Texas oil tycoons and deal making inspired Calib to enter the business environment.

For Calib, success in finance requires both healthy selfesteem and ethics: “The most important thing is to believe in your own ability. People can tell when you don’t believe in yourself. Secondly, you need to have strong values and morals. These are worth standing by and even worth losing a job for.”

He believes that his greatest strengths as a leader is his calm temperament and ability to keep his emotions in check. “I like to listen first before commenting. I appreciate criticism and seldom lose my calm. I’m a straightforward character – what you see is what you get.”

Making the most of free time Calib is the father of 10-year-old twins and a 12-yearold – he spends most of his free time with his family.

He describes himself as a morning person and he likes to wake up before the rest of the family to watch the day break.

He likes to watch sports including soccer, cricket and rugby. During lockdown, he began playing tennis in the evenings. When he has the time, he enjoys getting stuck into a book about leadership.

“I don’t have a role model, but I do enjoy studying leaders through the books I read. I learn about their leadership qualities and try to take elements from all of them and apply them into my own life,” he says. l CFO MAGAZINE • CFO.CO.ZA

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XX TECHNOLOGY

10

QUESTIONS FOR PIETER VAN DER WESTHUIZEN

Life Healthcare Group CFO Pieter van der Westhuizen shares how a strong work ethic, perseverance, teamwork, experience and agility have been instrumental in weathering the Covid-19 storm. By Puseletso Mompei

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ife Healthcare group CFO Pieter van der Westhuizen didn’t expect he would have to lead South Africa’s second-largest private hospital operator through the biggest health crisis in recent times when he was appointed as acting group CEO in addition to his role as the company’s group CFO in January 2020.

Pieter joined President Medical Investments in 1999, which became part of Afrox Healthcare. He served in various roles within the finance department of Afrox Healthcare and played a significant role in the company’s delisting in 2005. In 2010 the company relisted as Life Healthcare.

Pieter was appointed as group CFO in 2013 and served as Life Healthcare’s acting group CEO from 17 January 2020 to 31 August 2020.

hat influenced your choice 1 W of career?

I grew up in Pretoria and realised that I wanted to become a chartered accountant at an early age. I had a natural knack for logical subjects like maths

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and accounting and made the choice following a career-based assignment at primary school. Further cementing my decision was seeing my father, who was a bank manager, thrive in a corporate environment.

Initially, I wanted to work in banking, but during my articles, I very quickly realised that the healthcare industry was more appealing to me as an environment that both challenged and excited me.

2

What is a recent challenge you had to confront?

It was not long after I was appointed interim acting group CEO in addition to the group CFO role that Covid-19 hit and I had to lead the company through an unprecedented crisis. As a healthcare company, we have been in the frontline of fighting Covid-19 and so our challenges during this period have been very different from other industries.

As if a pandemic were not enough to deal with, we were the victim of a brutal cyber-attack that effectively took our IT systems down for 30 days.

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“I envisage an increased focus on environmental, social and corporate governance matters due to the impact of the pandemic on communities.”

3

staff in all countriesin in which we operate. I am proud and humbled by the dedication and professionalism our staff managed during this crisis.

To ensure patient and staff safety first and foremost.

That meant rapidly putting in place appropriate proactive and reactive responses to unfolding events, as and when the need arose. What is very important in the healthcare industry specifically is to have a caring and empathetic approach when executing your role, at any level and within any faculty.

As the CFO, the overarching goal from a finance perspective has been to ensure liquidity and solvency during the Covid-19 period and beyond. In addition, a huge priority was to ensure that all relevant employees had the ability to work remotely, with proper equipment and connectivity. This was followed by making certain that formal feedback sessions were scheduled to track the team’s daily and weekly progress against varying degrees of challenges.

What were your biggest concerns when the pandemic started?

4

How have you approached the various business priorities you had to address?

As the CEO the focus was on ensuring appropriate protocols were implemented to ensure patient and staff safety in addition to regular communication to all key stakeholders on the actions taken during the pandemic, as well as to provide motivational messages to all our

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The finance team increased the regularity of the financial forecasting and scenario analysis to reflect the changing environment as Covid-19 raged on. Since it was business unusual, I constantly updated the business on the actions required to adapt to the new and very fluid working environment in the operations and increased communication to inform teams of what is happening in the business, as well as updates on projects on the go.

LEADERSHIP

We also set clear targets to conserve cash to ensure the sustainability of the organisation and put in measures to monitor the achievement of these targets regularly and take immediate corrective actions, if the need arose.

With the cyber-attack, the team immediately had to switch over to manual systems and make alternative arrangements to enable communication between the various teams.

5

What helped you during this time?

The pandemic tested all leadership teams in the world differently. As an organisation, one of our biggest strengths is the number of long-tenured employees within the group. This assisted during the crises we have faced recently because these individuals have a clear understanding of the business issues and how to deal with these, even in unprecedented circumstances.

6

Looking ahead, what do you think the future holds?

I expect changes relating to monitoring and sustaining performance in a remote work environment, as well as the increased utilisation of technology to assist in a more efficient work environment and to create the framework and ability for remote delivery of one’s role.

Calculating the financial impact of Covid-19 on the group and determining the run-rate of the impact will be significant challenges, specifically, what operational cost/revenue will remain even if Covid-19 is not around anymore. Most notably we will have to look closely at its broader impact on the economies we operate in and the resultant impact on healthcare funding, inflation and salary expectations.

I envisage an increased focus on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) matters due to the impact of the pandemic on communities where we operate and the requirements of the various stakeholders.

7

What is your approach to challenges?

Most business problems do not have a clear-cut and immediate solution. You need to collaborate with experienced leaders in other areas of expertise such as HR and marketing to reach consensus on the way forward. Our organisation had unique challenges during this year, and I think as a team, we have done exceptionally well to manage both the pandemic and the unexpected cyberattack.

8

What are the personality traits that have helped you succeed in your career?

Honesty, transparency, a strong work ethic, independent thought and persistence in getting to the bottom of any potential problem have been my guiding principles.

I have also been fortunate enough to work for and with a number of exceptional leaders and experts in their respective fields. I have learnt a lot from them and each one has contributed to my growth and my accomplishments. I think being humble and collaborative as a colleague, and later in my career, as a leader, have been helpful in my career.

9

What is your biggest professional accomplishment to date?

Even though it has been extremely difficult, a standout professional accomplishment so far has been shouldering the responsibility of leading the Life Healthcare Group as acting group CEO and group CFO through the initial phase of the pandemic. It was immensely challenging but also extremely rewarding.

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How do you unplug from work?

I believe in a balanced approach to life and outside of work. I love all sports but specifically watching rugby and football, and am a big fan of the Liverpool football team. I like playing golf and socialising with friends. I also love art; especially painting building landscapes using watercolours.

I am blessed to have a loving wife who has been my rock in supporting me throughout my career. Our two wonderful kids are my pride and joy. l

“As a healthcare company, we have been in the frontline of fighting Covid-19 and so our challenges during this period have been very different from other industries.”

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LEADERSHIP

Steering the SABC to

INDEPENDENCE As the CFO of the SABC, Yolande van Biljon is part of the team responsible for steering the embattled public broadcaster back to financial sustainability. She chatted to Victoria Williams about some of the challenges she’s facing on her journey to independence.

Y

olande van Biljon joined the SABC as CFO in June 2018, motivated by the opportunity to improve the financial management of the public broadcaster. “Some people are just made for these sorts of roles. I’m just not suited to working at a commercial entity. At the SABC I can contribute to our society at large. The SABC reaches half of our population on any given day,” she says.

Despite her affinity for the role, she describes her first two years at the broadcaster as demanding, as the organisation struggled to overcome a legacy of governance failures and maladministration. In 2019, this legacy left the SABC battling to pay suppliers and staff, and the SABC faced a real chance of “black on air”.

Government stepped in with a R3.2 billion bailout, paid in tranches and earmarked for pre-defined categories of utilisation. The funds enabled the broadcaster to pay its outstanding bills and initiate its turnaround.

Despite this tough time, Yolande believes that she has seen more wins than losses during her tenure at the SABC. One of these wins includes seeing a performance-management culture rolled out within the organisation. She is also part of the executive team executing a plan to restore the organisation’s sustainability and remove dependence on state bailouts. Nonetheless,

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there is still much work to be done to revitalise the 84-year-old broadcaster. “The current business model is outdated. We are about ten years behind when it comes to digital transformation,” she adds.

The SABC’s turnaround plan has three main elements: dealing with the legacy and governance issues; looking at regulatory and policy issues, and commercial and operational issues. This plan also includes disposing of non-core assets like under-utilised property to generate cash. Improving financial governance has been a major focus for Yolande: “Our goal is not just to attain a clean audit but to create the right culture and systems to entrench good corporate governance.”

The turnaround plan has been successful so far.

According to an opinion piece by SABC group CEO Madoda Mxakwe published in the Sunday Times this past August, the SABC board and executive team have already achieved over 50 percent of the aims of the turnaround plan, in just nine months of the 36-month implementation period. The broadcaster reduced its losses from R1.7 billion in 2017 to R444 million in 2019.

Requirements of the role In her position, Yolande also oversees supply chain management, logistics and real estate for the SABC.

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LEADERSHIP With these responsibilities, she is in charge of a staff complement of 250, of which 150 belong to the finance team. She has 15 direct reports and is averse to micro-management. She believes in instilling a culture of self-motivation where senior finance team members operate as CFOs of their business units.

On a daily basis she is involved with supply chain matters, innovations and, together with the team, investigates new digital and commercial opportunities in support of the turnaround of the SABC. As with other state-owned enterprises, reporting consumes a healthy chunk of her time. Cash-flow management, especially during Covid-19, is also a high priority.

Working at an SOE is not without its trials. “It’s hard not to be distracted by the broader challenges facing SOEs including the noise and media articles. Other challenges include retaining key talent and operating within the constrained finances that we have available,” Yolande explains.

The evolving finance role Since she joined the SABC, Yolande has introduced technology into the finance department to automate certain processes. Her colleagues have embraced automation and digital transformation. “The traditional finance role is disappearing, and it’s never coming back.

I believe that the finance professional of today needs the skills and knowhow to translate the numbers into a vivid picture and story that will resonate with non-financial colleagues. They also need to be confident and comfortable engaging with technology,” she says.

She expects her team to be involved in understanding the financial profitability levers at the organisation.

This includes analysing the financial performance of different TV channels and radio stations – right down to the level of a radio slot or television programme. This provides the real, forward-thinking intelligence to the organisation, necessary to support effective financial transformation.

A public mandate The SABC is mandated by the Broadcasting Act to provide programming that is varied and comprehensive

“It’s hard not to be distracted by the broader challenges facing SOEs, including the noise and media articles.”

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to meet the needs of all South Africans. During the first 26 years of democracy, the SABC delivered universal access and local programming in all south African languages. For example, SABC Radio has a more than 70 percent share of all adult radio listening in South Africa, which translates to 28.1 million adults listening to SABC radio stations that broadcast in all 11 official languages, weekly. Radio remains a critical source of information, news and entertainment for millions of South Africans that have limited access to other forms of media.

Yolande strongly believes that there is a need for a platform to enable a national discourse and promote human development. With the increasing global dominance of social media, streaming and pay-TV, the need for independent, publicly owned media is essential.

“The SABC has an important mandate and provides an essential service. We need to remain relevant. We need to operate competitively in an evolving digital landscape, whilst delivering on our mandate of providing a range of compelling, informative and entertaining programming via television, radio and digital platforms.”

The SABC’s major revenue streams are advertising, TV licence fees and sponsorships. The broadcaster is not funded by the state, except for a 3 percent revenue grant intended for educational programmes. The television licence fee of R265, on which the SABC solely relies to develop all local content on both TV and Radio, has remained unchanged since 2013.

The way forward won’t be smooth sailing. The SABC has been affected by shrinking advertising budgets, non-payment of TV licences and negative publicity. Digital media channels such as social media, and streaming services are draining revenue away from traditional platforms. The costs of sports rights, which are key to the SABC transmitting sport of national importance to the public, have been escalating far beyond inflation, and have become impossibly difficult for the SABC to afford.

The SABC also faces fierce competition from subscription TV and on-demand services and newer streaming entrants such as Netflix and Showmax. As data becomes cheaper, streaming content will become more accessible to more South Africans. Recently, Netflix has also moved into creating local content.

Broadcasting in a time of Covid-19 It took four days for most of the SABC’s workforce to move off-site when lockdown was announced. For many employees, this was their first taste of online meeting tools such as Zoom and MS Teams. While it took some time for the organisation to adjust, Yolande says that there have been many success stories from

“Our goal is not just to attain a clean audit but to create the right culture and systems to entrench good corporate governance.”

lockdown: “We have a simply phenomenal team who have come forward with suggestions and simply did what had to be done. The strength and resilience of our colleagues has been very inspiring.” The SABC continued to execute its mandate without interruption and almost entirely off site. More so since its role in this time was particularly critical.

With the only means of connecting among staff being online, communication became more important than before. “Management has kept the communication channels open. We’ve adapted reasonably well to new technologies – continued communication and catching up with team members online on a regular basis became the norm,” says Yolande.

While an estimated 75 percent of the SABC is working from home, providing the news and remaining on air however still requires that some employees must come into the office or travel to cover a story. The pandemic also ushered in a difficult time for journalists, who have had to execute their responsibilities in new ways – while also often at increased risk of exposure to the virus.

A loner by nature, Yolande has coped well with lockdown conditions. She credits regular exercise as the reason she has managed so well.

A career in public service Yolande is no stranger to working in the public sector. As the CFO of the Road Accident Fund, she was part of the team executing a turnaround strategy. Soon

after she joined, she realised that the organisation had a huge funding shortfall. Her work involved changing the way the organisation dealt with treasury and cash management.

As the CFO and a member of the executive team of Denel Dynamics, she contributed to the turnaround of the defence technology company. When she left the organisation, she could report industry acceptable financial results, strong internal controls and a healthy orderbook.

Her private sector experience includes financial management positions at ITI Online, Topmed Healthcare Distributors and the group CFO role at the GladAfrica Group of Companies. She began her career as an auditor at BDO Spencer Steward.

She holds B Com (Accounting), B Compt (Hons), B Comm (Hons) and M Comm (Taxation) degrees and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1996.

Making time to unwind Yolande believes it's vital to balance a job with a life outside work. To relax she enjoys going to the gym or taking a run in the suburbs. “I love running in the spring where I am surrounded by fragrances and colour.” She also spends time with friends and family and likes to eat out. Her favourite magazine to read is Popular Mechanics and she enjoys political intrigue and crime fiction. She also looks forward to a time when she can travel once more. l

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2020 THE YEAR THE AUDITS WENT

VIRTUAL

Many CFOs have had to carry out their scheduled audits virtually when the Covid-19 pandemic forced everyone to work from home. These are some of the lessons they’ve learnt. By Kate Thompson Davy

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here’s a famous quote attributed to US businessman Norman Ralph Augustine about the reach of auditors. He reportedly said: “Twothirds of the Earth's surface is covered with water. The other third is covered with auditors from headquarters”. And while Augustine might have been poking fun, in 2020 auditors were in the air, in the wires, and in their homes all at once.

Here, in discussion with CFO South Africa, six top financial and audit professionals walk us through their shift to virtual and remote audits in 2020.

Into the rural areas Nico Esterhuizen is the global CFO of humanitarian and development organisation Joint Aid Management (JAM) International. He told us “a virtual audit is no joke and tough on resources!”

Even in a normal year (AKA not 2020), he explains, the nature of their operations makes for difficult audit

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processes. He says: “Our key operations are in some of the most rural areas in Africa. Although we have a country office in each programme country (with at least one finance manager) our actual operations happen in areas such as refugee camps. For example, in Uganda, we operate in the Imvepi Refugee Settlement. Given this, source documents often originate at these camps or settlements. This means to track and to get hold of these documents is difficult.”

They usually fly the source documents back to the country office, where they would be stored at warehouses, and scan them for virtual storage in a central database, he explains. “If we have access to reliable internet at any of the camps or settlements, we use flatbed scanners to upload source documents to a central database for our global support office, based in Johannesburg, to review while the original source documents make their way to the country office.”

Covid-19 flight restrictions, thus, introduced a whole

new set of challenges in getting original docs to where they needed to be. “Furthermore, as our auditors, based in Mauritius, cannot travel either they have placed additional requirements on us as part of the audit standards requirements, including appropriateness and sufficiency. Our teams are working much harder due to the volume of audit queries, while grappling with the travel and lockdown restrictions.”

He continues: “We also had positive Covid-19 cases at some of our offices, which meant we had to postpone the audit for a short while, but fortunately, we have been using cloud-based email and other similar solutions for a while so we are able to work remotely, internet connection permitting.”

To mitigate some of the challenges, JAM appointed additional temporary accountants, bookkeepers and admin officers on site, to assist with scanning, uploading, and filing documentation, plus “a team to review the scanned documents in terms of completeness and readability, which are then placed in a central repository which our external auditors access".

The shift to these processes has also meant an uptick in communications. Nico says they now have weekly to daily meetings with the auditors to report on progress and plans. Thankfully, at the time of interview, they’d managed to get most of the audited financial

statements for the various JAM entities signed off, and the others are making good progress.

Also on the JAM International team is Christian Campbell. Chris is the GM for Finance, and adds that the audit firm carrying out the current exercise is a new firm, appointed by JAM in 2019. He explains that the intention at that time was to partner with auditors who could navigate the complexities of virtual audits, as well as being knowledgeable about the industry as a whole.

“They have to do walkthroughs and testing of controls in place to be able to determine the suitability and operating effectiveness of the controls during the period under review. To be able to rely on the evidence obtained, the auditors must be comfortable that the audit evidence is complete and accurate. This is a daunting task for both the auditors and us as the client,” he says.

To Chris’s mind, the biggest challenge for the global support office was “to connect with the team members in the different branch offices who have various other day-to-day activities which sometimes interfere with the planned audit activities, and – moreover – to keep them engaged, positive and productive.”

To keep staff motivated, Chris says, they made sure to

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resolved, and communicated with all affected parties with specific instructions and deadlines. Efficiency, commitment, professionalism, dedication and role clarity were paramount,” Ashley says.

Ashley says his was an oversight role in the process, having already empowered his team members to execute against their KPAs. It fit with his existing leadership style.

Nico Esterhuizen

have team leaders on site, and to create an environment where staff felt comfortable expressing their concerns.

Staff efforts needed to be acknowledged openly and regularly, and they took care to connect with people about their welfare beyond the work tasks at hand. Plus, Chris says, just providing some much-needed snacks and refreshments from time to time helped.

He adds: “I just want to echo that the virtual auditing has indeed been very challenging, but it has been a growth process for the team. Interestingly, despite the challenges, the audit is going smoothly and team members are in high spirits. This is, he argues, because of constructive teamwork and regular weekly meetings with JAM leaders like Nico and others.

Hitting the ground running Ashley Francis is the former executive director for finance at the University of Cape Town (UCT). In September 2020 he took up the role of CEO of Safricang Group. He spoke to CFO South Africa before the move, having just completed a virtual audit for the university.

And the results? “We received an unqualified audit report in keeping with prior years. We also received compliments and accolades for improvement in certain areas. Our results were released on 30 June and were among the best results in many years, with the strongest balance sheet ever in the history of UCT." Having a shared service centre for finance was instrumental in their success, as it allowed for things like working from home, remote audits, and a paperless environment.

While the reporting wasn’t difficult, forecasting in uncertain times was a little more problematic, he says.

“It’s the uncertainty of the future that impacts me the most.” Still, Ashley says was proud of the strength of their financial structure and cash availability.

The process taught him that anything is possible, and “that change is inevitable and not a train smash,” he says. Plus, “our shared services initiative was spot on and timeous.”

“If you picture a bowl full of marbles, this tool lets us slice and dice these, organise them into different categories, spin them around, and through that you begin to see the outliers, the anomalies.”

His team hit the ground running in March when the lockdowns kicked off. Luckily, Ashley says, they did not require any new software. Instead, they focused on an efficient collaboration with their audit firm, EY.

UCT’s new executive director of finance, Hardy Maritz, says that the “Overriding things we did were constant communication with our teams and our audit team. We were also fortunate to have an audit management team who knew us and our business well, and some of them had also had to work remotely with us through student protests in the past.”

“We amplified our regular meetings with the auditors, made a list of all the outstanding matters, determined how and when the outstanding matters would be

“‘Fees must fall’ and student protests taught us how to work flexibly and remotely. In fact, in 2016/7 Ashley and I made the call to move our entire finance team to

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“We did face a few challenges as it was a new process to lots of the people involved.” laptops … This also paid dividends in moving off-site this time around as we did not have to start swapping out computers.”

He continues: “Additionally, as Ashley has said, we have always empowered our team leads to do what they have to in order to get the job done. If they need help, insight or resources, let us know what you need, but getting it done rests with you. So the role we play is to mentor, support and develop our [reporting] lines while giving them the space to be creative and do what they do best.”

He concludes: “But it was very clearly a two-way street – great team on our end and a great team on EY’s end too.”

Mirroring the in-person audit processes Trevor Mvundura is the CFO at TB and HIV Investigative Network (Think), a non-profit non-governmental organisation located in Durban, South Africa. As an NGO, he explains, they manage international funding from several other organisations including USAid, MSF (Doctors Without Borders), Janssen Pharmaceuticals, CDC, and Global Fund.

“We normally have funder audits on top of our normal external audits. So, during the lockdown, we did a lot of funders audits and reviews, and we are busy with external audits which are also virtual. We did manage to complete all our funders audits and verification.

Our external audit did take an extra few months to complete, because we refined some of our internal reporting process. Working virtually meant we were able to revisit all our virtual processes and systems, and took time to improve them. The auditors presented the audit report virtually to the board, and they reported that it was a success with no audit findings, but they did recommend our technology advance as an organisation.”

The first step, he says, was “to establish a reliable communication channel and platform as some of the auditors are based in the USA and Europe. Think uses Microsoft Sharepoint, Teams, Outlook, Planner etc, and we had to ensure that our auditors are on the system with us to ease the sharing of information and communication.”

Trevor Mvundura

As an NGO, Think had received a donation from Microsoft of the complete Microsoft 365 software suite and platforms. “So, when Covid came, the whole organisation was already working online.”

Teams was their primary comms tool, and they set up a group to include all accounting officers, auditors, and project managers. “Then we created a Sharepoint access where all documents required for verification were loaded and could be accessed by the team instantly.”

Upfront they also had to establish “standard procedures and controls to ensure we have guidelines during the process”. “It was a bit hard considering we did not have any information or process done before to base it on. In the past, they always came to SA and spent a few weeks reviewing everything. So, to make it easy and seamless, we kind of mirrored what we would do if they were around physically, including granting guest access to all our finance software and the organisation’s Sharepoint (with limited access).”

Spending the time upfront for proper setup was essential, he says. “If this part is not done properly by all parties then it will be hard to go through the audit as it addresses the communication, access of information and also meeting times and time difference. Preparation for a virtual or remote audit is key to a successful outcome.”

They also had to take care to meet all local and global data privacy requirements, and establish a method on how records would be “pulled” and shared.

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involved as I feel that technology can make all these tedious processes easy, and I am a fan of a paperless audit and finance departments.”

The end results were a success despite the challenges, Trevor says. “We did face a few challenges as it was a new process to lots of the people involved.” And loadshedding and managing time differences didn’t help matters. “Now that we have started on the [virtual audit] process, I don’t see why we should stop going forward. We could improve in streamlining the process, and also learn from others. I see future audits done virtually across the whole world.”

Quite a standard virtual audit Riaan Koppeschaar

“The virtual auditing has indeed been very challenging, but it has been a growth process for the team.”

“It is understood that confidentiality and controlled distribution of documents is a concern for the audit firm, so file sharing with read-only access is important.”

Exxaro’s CFO Riaan Koppeschaar takes us through a full rundown of their extraordinary audit on page 48.

In addition, he explains their process here, saying: “The review of the interim results was performed virtually by our external auditors. There were no contact sessions with the auditors, only virtually meetings that were held (using Microsoft Teams). Detailed planning and due dates were communicated before the review started.”

“Our auditors implemented a virtual platform to which all deliverables to the auditors were uploaded. This was visible to the full audit team, as well as the Exxaro reporting team. The auditors also had access to our systems to extract data as required.”

In addition to setting up meetings and linking in all the appropriate staff for the audit, they had to set up a virtual tour of facilities and sites. This is all included in the audit plan and agenda.

Although this was a virtual review, he says the process was “quite standard”. “The main changes were instead of the face-to-face interaction, we used Microsoft Teams to discuss accounting matters and, secondly, the required documents were uploaded onto a secure system implemented by the auditors.”

“A risk-based assessment should also be applied to define the needs of the facilities tour, including which areas are essential if a complete tour is not feasible,” Trevor says. Only after all of that can the audit process properly start.

Riaan calls the review a success, and sings the praises of the internal team and audit team who worked together to “resolve matters timeously” and were “very innovative and proactive in planning for the virtual review”. This, he says, also broadened their IT skills and knowledge.

As CFO, Trevor not only got involved in drafting the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the audit, but also in determining the training the team needed and in internal control. “After my finance managers got the hang of it, it was easy to liaise with auditors to get information through and have channels to communicate with them easily. These included sometimes sharing screens on Team’s chat to ensure the whole team understands. It was easy for me to be

“All reviews and approvals were done electronically, including the audit committee and the board meeting to approve the interim results,” he says, and “we will definitely continue using technology to enhance the way we do our reporting.”

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What the auditors had to do On the audit side, Natalie Terblanche is a partner at

PwC and director of audit technical and methodology at PwC. Her team has been beating the virtual audits and technological transformation drum – so to speak – for a while, and believe firmly in the benefits (like transparency and efficiency) that it can offer.

Despite this, she isn’t a “techie”. “What I am able to do is take difficult concepts and make them accessible to everyone. One of the tasks that I have is showing staff that technology doesn’t mean coding or inventing artificial intelligence. It means doing pretty much what we’re doing here today – engaging using a technology platform – and experiencing enhanced efficiency because of it. I would say I’m an advocate of efficiency.”

Among the tools she rates are those that can be used to store, encrypt and authenticate data. PwC started introducing clients to new tools over the past decade, starting with Aura, which is their audit software. In the intervening years, they’ve released several interactive and digital tools, including PwC Connect, which is a collaboration tool. In addition to encryption, it offers dashboarding. Then there is Halo, which Natalie describes as “data analytics on steroids”.

“It helps us to look at all transactions from different angles. If you picture a bowl full of marbles, this tool lets us slice and dice these, organise them into different categories, spin them around, and through that you begin to see the outliers, the anomalies.”

PwC’s own digital adoption is advanced, which helped them make the changes they needed to make internally during lockdown too, Natalie explains. They had long since removed phones in favour of VoiP calls, and equipped staff with the devices they needed to be mobile and connected. “What we were less prepared for is how you might coach someone if you have less face-to-face contact, how you support them in this time of massive external and internal pressures while still meeting the deliverables.

“Between March and now, we have definitely changed subtle things. We have found really great ways of collaborating and using time more efficiently, ways of making sure that our clients also know where we are, when we are expected to be on site. And balancing that expectation – now that we're on the level one alert [at the time of interview] and can be on site – when it makes better sense for us to be working remotely without the disruptions the office introduces,” she says.

PwC, and Natalie’s team, have also been proactively liaising with legal teams to keep staff up to date on

Natalie Terblanche

pertinent digital debates and shifting best practice – things like unpacking the difference between electronic versus digital signatures, and understanding when one or the other is appropriate and acceptable.

In her experience, Natalie says, most clients were ready and willing to make the necessary shifts. Some had more questions than others, but generally speaking she found it was often the IT team on the client side (rather than the finance team) who needed the most information and reassurance regarding privacy and encryption, for example.

On the more advanced end of the scale, the global PwC network is also using tools like drones for remote site and stockpile inspection, and the use of data analysis to flag things like fraud and irregularities. Natalie is personally quite excited about the potential of tools that enhance data extraction or harnessing. She says: “If you ask me, in the next five to ten years, data and harnessing data, sifting through that data, is going to become critical to the success of any business, as well as making sure that they can protect that data, store that data and understand what that data is telling them in order to make sound business decisions.”

If she was advising a client early in their digital transformation journey, Natalie says, she’d encourage them to invest in future-ready cloud storage: it’s a risk mitigation strategy that can also unlock value. Choose your cloud storage for the future, she advises, not for your current requirements. l CFO MAGAZINE • CFO.CO.ZA

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MAKING THE CASE FOR

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION When Jen McDonald took over the reins as Deloitte Africa CFO in 2017, she embarked on a journey to integrate the company’s finance function. But she quickly realised that this couldn’t be done without a digital transformation. Now she finds herself advocating for clients. By Caylynne Fourie

J

en McDonald was appointed as the CFO of Deloitte Africa in 2017 and has been in the role for just over three years. In 2017, Deloitte had recently defined its global and Africa 2020 strategy, as well as its Africa Finance strategy. “The vision statement for finance was ‘to be a world-class finance function’ and the goal I set was to deliver a world-class, relevant service that makes an impact that matters to the organisation’s strategic goals,” Jen says.

At the same time, Deloitte had just finalised its Africa integration, which was the merger or combination of 14 practices across Africa into one firm called Deloitte Africa. The integration set the landscape for a finance transformation, as well as a digital transformation journey.

However, starting on this journey wasn’t going to be easy. At the time, Deloitte also had completely different and disparate IT systems across the continent, from its ERP and CRM software to expense management and payroll systems. “ For Jen, this meant that the finance and operational transformation for the Africa member firm needed to be underpinned by an ERP and digital transformation. She put her hand up to lead the project.

Photos: XXXXX

Project Moja The Deloitte Africa digital transformation project was called Moja, which means “one” in Swahili. “We wanted to implement a common platform that would set the playing field for the future and help us standardise, integrate, digitalise and automate those end-to-end business processes and move Deloitte Africa forward in operat-

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ing successfully as an integrated firm across Africa,” Jen says.

The organisation started by upgrading its existing CRM system in South Africa and deploying it to all the countries across Africa in which it operated. Then, Deloitte Africa implemented a suite of SAP cloud solutions along with BlackLine to support its balance sheet reconciliation process for Africa. In addition, the implementation of SAP Analytics Cloud as a BI visualisation and dashboarding tool, is in progress.

Part of this programme was Project Tetris, which was the finance transformation project, as well as a master data strategy project, which helped the company determine how it could manage its master data as a firm from a strategic and operational point of view.

“We had a cloud-first strategy and chose public cloud solutions for most of what we laid down in terms of solutions architecture,” Jen explains. “This meant we had to move to a software-as-a-service model within what SAP calls their ‘Intelligent Enterprise’.”

Jen points out that what was interesting about Deloitte Africa’s journey was that they were the first organisation to implement the suite of cloud solutions from SAP. “We made a conscious, strategic decision to walk this two-year journey with SAP, knowing that we would be the first and that some of the solutions we were laying down were immature at the beginning of the journey,” Jen says.

Deloitte’s consulting practice was the lead implementation partner that also supported a co-innovation of the solution with SAP through the implementation. “This has strategically placed our Deloitte Africa SAP consulting practice as market leaders in the SAP public cloud space.”

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TECHNOLOGY

She notes that, “As a CFO, I am privileged to have that level of skill and expertise in my own organisation, because they were really at the coalface with business through the journey.”

At the start of 2020, Deloitte Africa won the SAP Global Innovation Award, which recognised the groundbreaking journey it had taken in co-innovating this public cloud solution in the software-as-a-service space.

Now, Deloitte runs an integrated finance function across Africa with six core functions that form part of the restructuring: 1. An Africa shared service centre for operational finance, focusing on high-volume transactional activities.

2. An Africa business partner structure directly supporting the business leadership.

3. An Africa reporting team, addressing consolidation requirements, as well as all management and global reporting requirements.

4. An Africa tax team which focuses on tax compliance and risk across all the different jurisdictions.

5. An Africa centre of excellence which houses all Deloitte Africa’s strategic projects in the office of the CFO and COO, and other specialist centres.

6. An Africa regional leadership arm with all the regional CFOs that focuses on regional relevant finance matters.

Reaping the benefits “Digital transformation, finance transformation and automation is something I’m passionate about because, ultimately, it’s going to make business better, more efficient and bring about other benefits like cost optimisation,” Jen says. “Our own transformation journey has come with some enormous benefits.”

This year was the first time Deloitte Africa reported its year-end results on the new single integrated platform.

Jen explains that the visibility she had into the numbers and what was happening across the business and continent was incomparable to previous years. “The level of insights was unparalleled to before in terms of business performance, cash management, liquidity and working capital.”

There are a number of financial processes that have been centralised, automated and harmonised including cost allocation runs, provision for bad debts, and foreign currency valuations. “All our inter-company and month-end closure processes are now managed through a central team which has reduced our period close and reporting by two days across the continent to just six working days. ”

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Employee experience has improved with an optimised, paperless, digital expense claim process, freeing employees from paper-based manual tasks, as well as digitized and mobile interfaces for leave and employee management

Leading through the challenges As a leader, Jen believes it’s important to celebrate successes, but to also recognise where things could have gone better. “The platform that we’ve implemented is a game-changer for the future, there’s no doubt about that, but an implementation project of this size, scope and geographical spread was definitely not completed without challenges.”

One of the biggest challenges Deloitte Africa faced was change management, particularly in one of the models they implemented of the S4hana cloud. “It required quite a significant amount of time investment for our practitioners to learn and adapt to the new systems.” To mitigate this challenge, the company is currently running an optimisation programme to close the remaining user experience gaps and to complete the analytics and dashboarding portions of the programme.

Digitally gearing up for Covid-19 With the onset of Covid-19, the return on investment on the systems Deloitte Africa had implemented became apparent almost immediately. As a finance function, Jen and her team seamlessly moved into a virtual delivery model.

She explains that, even though Deloitte’s global CFOs had been doing scenario modelling for economic downturns for quite some time before Covid-19 in order to be prepared for situations like this, no one really anticipated the depth and breadth of Covid-19.

“When we went into lockdown, our most critical focus areas were cash management, liquidity and business performance,” Jen says. “We immediately set up a business performance PMO.” From a professional services point of view, the whole business had to adapt and change to delivering solutions virtually, including its audit division. “It’s been amazing to see some of the virtual tools that our client-facing organisation has developed and laid down to support this change of business,” Jen says.

She points out that there are certain things they’ve done in towards the end of last year that they didn’t think were possible, such as a 100 percent virtual delivery of services for many of their clients, including a full ERP cloud implementation for a client in Botswana.

“We had a cloud-first strategy and chose public cloud solutions for most of what we laid down in terms of solutions architecture.”

What it means to be a leader Speaking on behalf of all CFOs and business leaders, Jen explains that the weight of leadership’s responsibility and the role that it plays in an organisation was really put in the spotlight during this time. “What we do and the way we manage our business and finance has an impact on people and on society. As leaders, we have to make the right decisions and keep doing the right things.”

She says she often wrestles with herself about what it means to be a leader. “For me, a great leader is bold.

They don’t necessarily do things the same way they’ve been done before and they’re not afraid of challenges, or to challenge the status quo.”

Jen also believes that good leaders not only have a vision, but that they are able to take that vision, convert it into strategic goals and inspire those around them to execute on the vision.

What’s next?

As of September, Jen has been transitioning into a new role as a director within the Deloitte Consulting practice to drive the market and delivery strategy for large-scale business transformation projects, similar to the one she’s done in her role as CFO. “While the Moja project has been challenging, what it did do was grow a passion inside of me to help our cli-

ents and other CFOs to take the same journey and to transform their own businesses,” Jen says. “Many CFOs are embarking on similar journeys, but what became very clear to me on the journey was that you need a partner you can trust and rely on. Deloitte Consulting does that.”

Integrating home and work life As a wife and mother of two girls, Emma (seven) and Charlotte (five), Jen says that she doesn’t believe there’s a perfect recipe for balancing work and life. However, if there’s one thing Covid-19 has shown her, it’s that work and life should be integrated. “The girls have really adapted to us working from home and they understand a little better what we do,” she says.

Jen tries to include the girls in her work. When they run into the study after school, she takes two minutes to say hello. If she’s on a call, she’ll ask if they want to listen in and give them one of her earphones. If she is busy writing something, she’ll read some of it to them, even if they don’t understand.

She said that, initially, having everyone at home was quite challenging. Emma has just started Grade 1 and between her Zoom classes and Jen’s Zoom meetings, it was difficult to juggle their schedules. However, she says that her husband, Bryan – who is a structural engineer – has been a “great support (pun intended)”. l

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NEW TOOLS FOR

OLD JOBS FD Riaan Koppeschaar explains how Exxaro used drones during Covid-19 lockdown level 5 for remote stockpile assessment in tricky mining locations. This is one example of the company’s broader adoption of technology, with Riaan’s finance team embracing the power of digitalisation. By Kate Thompson Davy

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C

FO South Africa spoke to Riaan Koppeschaar, finance director of the listed mining powerhouse Exxaro Resources, after their latest results came out mid-2020. It was a stellar year for them, with group revenue increasing by 18 percent to R14.1 billion during the six months ended June 2020 [see highlights box on page 36].

Their results – as well as the fact that they were able to report on time despite the Covid-19 pandemic – tell a story of resilience despite the hardships of 2020. Key to enabling that resilience is digital agility, as their compiling, reporting, and audit – undertaken at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown – had to shift entirely online.

Distributed teamwork Like so many professionals in 2020, Riaan’s finance teams were working from home. This transition was largely smooth, he says, but it did help that Exxaro leased some 800 routers and made these available to staff to enable them to be reliably and consistently accessible online.

Another “help” was that Riaan’s own leadership style lends itself to remote working. Riaan says he believes firmly in the capability of his team – arguing that “most of them could step in for me as needed”. With this confidence, he didn’t feel the need to micromanage them, or to “clock-watch”. His staff also know their deliverables and are self-motivated, he explains, so between their proactivity and his feedback, they soon settled into the new remote work paradigm.

Naturally, not all employees want to work remotely indefinitely, and not everyone’s home circumstances are conducive to it either. There were tech and hardware challenges, some of them – like loadshedding – are beyond their control.

A final consideration is the fact that remote work simply isn’t everyone’s style, Riaan says. “When you’re all working from your homes, you might be better able to focus, but there’s less casual communication, less collaboration.” Working from home, he suggests, can mean less of that intangible team connection – like bouncing ideas back and forth, and supporting each other. What some experience as space, others experience as isolation, so there really is no cookie-cutter solution.

In light of this, they scheduled regular meetings and check-ins using video conferencing tools like Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business. As Riaan previously told CFO Magazine sister site MandA.co.za, “The team became creative in finding ways to get tasks completed in different ways and during flexible hours, depending

on personal circumstances.”

Preparation is key Riaan’s team had thankfully embraced the power of technology prior to this disaster. They’d been managing the migration of their data and accounting tools to SAP, Oracle's Hyperion, and cloud options in the preceding four years. This meant that a significant amount of the groundwork had already been covered, which allowed them to pivot quicker in the face of need.

This is part of a broader Exxaro digitisation programme from which they hope to achieve various things. As explained in the results report for the same period: “We continue to roll out the integrated operations centres across all our operations to enable the visualisation of the value chain. The increased visualisation of the overall value chain, as well as data-driven insights gained from our operations, will highlight inefficiencies and will enable improved in-time decision making relating to safety, productivity improvements and cost performance.”

“By shifting to the cloud, your tools and information are accessible wherever you are,” explains Riaan, “So we are able to compile the financials while working remotely, and then our auditors – PwC – are able to extract the data they need too.”

Regarding the audit specifically, Riaan explains: “As this was interim results, we had an external ‘review’ and not a full audit as you have for full-year reporting.

The review of the interim results was performed virtually by our external auditors. There were no contact sessions with the auditors, only virtually meetings that were held using Microsoft Teams.”

In order to best manage this, he says, detailed planning and due dates were communicated before the review started. “Our auditors also implemented a secure virtual platform to which all deliverables to the auditors were uploaded. This was visible to the full audit team, as well as the Exxaro reporting team. As mentioned, the auditors also had access to our systems to extract data as required.”

New tools for old jobs Exxaro is deeply associated with coal, but also has minerals and renewable energy in the mix, including the Amakhala Emoyeni Wind Farm Project and the Tsitsikamma Community Development Wind Farm Project. These had to be added for physical asset valuation, but travel had been restricted under level 5 lockdown. Here again, Exxaro’s proactive approach to digital transformation proved to be a boon, as they

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“Mining often takes place in locations that are sometimes dangerous, for various reasons.

When we can’t risk sending people in, drones are used.”

had previously brought in the use of drones for remote stockpile assessment in tricky mining locations.

Lessons from this came in handy as the country – and the globe – shutdown in early 2020.

“Mining often takes place in locations that are sometimes dangerous, for various reasons. When we can’t risk sending people in, drones are used to take photos of – for example – coal stockpiles.” Technology is used to create a “digital twin” of a mine or location, and this data then feeds into planning, forecasting, and other logistical and financial processes, and likewise it can be used to assess turbines and other plants in situ on wind farms.

Another adjustment that needed to be made was moving board meetings and the like to a virtual environment. This necessitated the creation of digital board packs and materials, all delivered in time, as well as tools for efficient online meeting management. This kind of move is always met with a mix of responses that also require stakeholder management: some board members are more “old school” and prefer paper, others have been itching to shift entirely electronic for a while. Either way, with Covid numbers climbing, digital became the only path – for the board, and all office staff.

The future of accounting work Does the success of this virtual reporting mean they’ll be closing up the office for support staff in future? Not likely.

“Although we expect to go back to the office eventually, this experience of working from home has demonstrated that it can be done. I do believe it will translate into much more flexibility for employees and

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teams in future, and we will continue to use technology and look for ways to be innovative,” he adds. But, as much as he and the team embraced and thrived with remote work, Riaan still believes it is the creative and insightful elements of reporting and accounting that make all the difference.

This is why, Riaan explains, he doesn’t see a future in which people are excluded from the accounting function completely, even as we continue to work more and more digital and technological tools into it.

“Tech still can’t write a report,” he explains. “It can extract and crunch the numbers, but at the moment it can’t really provide the level of insight we need. It can’t connect the dots.” Furthermore, it can’t manage the relationships, it doesn’t come to the table with the context and a grasp of stakeholder management that Riaan’s team does – remotely or face-to-face.

For that extra magic, Riaan still looks to his team: “What we learnt is that during a crisis, our teams pull together working towards a common goal.” And there’s no software swap for that. l

Financial Highlights • Interim dividend of R2.3 billion or R6.43 per share down from R3.09 billion or R8.64 per share • Consolidated group core Ebitda increased by 40 percent, mainly as a result of the higher revenue • Headline earnings were down 24 percent to R3.3 billion from R4.34 billion, mainly due to the accounting of non-controlling interest of R1.22 billion, which equated to basic headline earnings per share of R13.21 per share from R17.30 per share

Food for thought Innocent Gumbochuma’s restaurant shifts his focus away from finance The Quality Council for Trades and Occupations CFO Innocent Gumbochuma realised his dream of owning a restaurant. While he borrows from his public sector finance skills and competencies, he says that running a restaurant is a completely different occupation – and lets him unleash his creativity. By Caylynne Fourie

“I never used to like shopping, but it is a skill you acquire when working in the restaurant industry.”

Q

uality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) CFO Innocent Gumbochuma has been living in Equestria, Pretoria, since 2008 and over time, got familiar with the local watering holes. One of these venues was then Sunset Steak and Grill Lounge. After seeing it change hands a couple of times, Innocent decided to buy it when it was put up for sale in 2015.

Learning how to shop

“I’ve always wanted to own a restaurant where I could go after a stressful day at work to loosen up and do something completely different,” he says. He slowly started renovating and redesigning the restaurant, pushing most of his own financial resources into the restaurant to get it up and running.

Owning a restaurant has also taught Innocent how to shop. “I never used to like shopping, but it is a skill you acquire when working in the restaurant industry.”

He rebranded the restaurant to Sunset Lounge, to represent the people passing on their way home from work who come in for sundowners, and it started operating under his management on 1 June 2015. For Innocent, it’s been a dream come true. “It’s a small restaurant, but I have so much joy in it.”

Innocent has also successfully managed to grow the restaurant’s revenue by 300 percent.

The restaurant offers fusion-style foods, specialising in grills and chicken. On the menu, you can find a mixture of traditional South African meals like tripe and samp, as well as meals like prawns and chicken schnitzel. “The people who live in the area are middle-class people, but when they want their traditional foods, they have to go to the townships, which is quite far. So we brought home back to the people in the city,” Innocent says.

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Coming from a public sector environment, Innocent implements the same practice of comparing three quotes before choosing a supplier. He gets his food stock from four to seven different suppliers and supports local small businesses for the restaurant’s needs, including gas and ice.

He tries to involve his three daughters, Karen (13), Ivana (11) and Nicole (4), in the restaurant business and takes them along when he needs to fill stock orders at times so they “have an early understanding of business and hopefully they will develop some entrepreneurial skills.”

The impact of Covid-19 In March, when the president announced a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19, restaurants had to close shop with almost no warning. “I had to throw out a lot of the stock in the restaurant, which turned into a loss. But because just-in-time food management is such an important thing here, I didn’t lose as much as some other restaurants might have.”

Before Covid-19, the Sunset Lounge had a staff complement of nine people. In order to cut costs, Innocent reduced the staff headcount to five at the restaurant.

He explains that he had to think of innovative ways to

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survive, including finding new ways to drum up business. “When level 3 lockdown was announced we had to adapt our model to include takeaway services.”

He bought two scooters for deliveries and started running delivery requests through the restaurant’s website and social media pages. But as the demand grew, Innocent had to respond to all the inquiries that were coming through on the social media platforms while still juggling his job at the QCTO. “It was becoming too much. So, I decided to register with Mr Delivery and Uber Eats, who managed all of that.”

However, he says that things are not the same as they were before Covid-19. “Even now, as lockdown restrictions have been eased, people are still not comfortable to come and eat and drink like they used to.”

Because of this fear, combined with curfew and social distancing restrictions, the restaurant isn’t attracting the foot traffic it used to. “We are supposed to close at 2am, now we’re closing at 12am [at the time of the interview]. That takes away a large part of our customer base.”

During the earlier levels of trade restrictions, when the restaurant closed at 10pm, all the money they made during the day would go to operational costs. “But I’m proud that we are still operational, because quite a number of places in the area have closed down because of Covid-19.”

New year, new Sunset Lounge Innocent is in the process of giving the Sunset Lounge a complete facelift to try and broaden its customer base by attracting premium clients. He says that, after the hard lockdown, the restaurant started to look a bit worse for wear, as they weren’t able to maintain it the way they used to. “At the moment, people are looking at the place and the image doesn’t correspond with the value of the food. So, I want to revamp the building.”

After visiting a couple of other restaurants and taking notes about what worked and what he would like to implement in his own restaurant, Innocent went to one of his friends who works in construction to ask for

“I wanted something that I could have total control of, be independent and break all the rules.”

advice. The friend referred him to someone who could make the furniture he wanted and introduced him to a designer and architect who could draw up the plans he needed.

The renovations were to begin in November, but Innocent has had to delay them to keep the business running. “With the time we lost during Covid-19, we can’t afford to be closed for the time it takes to renovate.”

One of the key designs Innocent has changed is to install a counter area with power points where people can sit and work during the day. “Because of Covid-19, people are working from home. It will be a nice change of scenery for them.”

Public vs Private sector Innocent explains that running a restaurant is a completely different experience from working in the private sector. “The public sector is very rule-based and you can’t always implement your own ideas with ease. I wanted something that I could have total control, be independent and break all the rules.”

He says that, in finance there is a rule that you can’t do creative accounting. “There’s no such thing as creative accounting as you have to account based on facts and figures.” But when you own a restaurant, you have to be creative to make it work.

Innocent says that, despite all the many stresses that comes with working in the public sector, it’s more stressful to run your own business. “It requires a higher level of commitment and care, and the direct impact of its failure falls on you.”

He adds that, when money gets tight at the restaurant, there are still employees’ salaries and other major costs to cover, and you have to come up with the money yourself.

Innocent says that, at some point, he will leave the public sector and focus on other business interests. But for the time being, he still has passion for the profession and would want to move into the private sector to gain different experiences. “As an accountant, I am very risk averse. Everything is calculated and you always have to think of ‘what if something goes wrong?’”

He explains that the restaurant has complemented his work and decision making at the QCTO, as well as helped him to cope with the pressures. “I’ve learnt how important patience and tolerance are, because sometimes you have to deal with people that get intoxicated, who have bills and refuse to pay.” l

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Finance Indaba Network

LAUNCHED

Finance professionals from across South Africa logged onto their computers to join the launch of the virtual Finance Indaba Network during a time when the entire country had to observe social distancing and isolation protocols.

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n 15 October, thousands of finance professionals streamed into the gamified conference and expo for the first-ever virtual Finance Indaba Network. The Finance Indaba, which is normally held at the Sandton Convention Centre once a year, was reinvented as an online event to adhere to lockdown regulations.

Through a unique collaboration with the online conference virtuosos from Vfairs, the full-day event offered a gamified experience with leaderboards, exciting scavenger hunts and incredible prizes.

Impact Sessions The event boasted 10 Impact Sessions in which worldclass speakers and finance professionals shared their insights into some of the trending topics in the finance industry.

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The first session, titled “The Year Everything Changed”, kicked off early on the day with Vodacom group CFO Raisibe Morathi, University of Johannesburg CFO Nolwazi Mamorare and Momentum Corporate CEO Dumo Mbethe, who discussed how leaders are spearheading the new world of work after Covid-19 disrupted business, possibly forever. On page 68, these executives revealed how they weathered the Covid-19 storm and how their businesses will never be the same.

In another session, Tsholofelo Molefe, Telkom CFO at the time, Afgri CFO Rivasha Maharaj, and 2020 CFO Award winner Adcock Ingram CFO Dorette Neethling revealed that support, EQ and mentorship are critical for the success of women CFOs. All three women agreed that relationships are a powerful ingredient for success. Tsholofelo has leaned on a sponsor, mentor and leadership coach trio over the years.

Dorette has enjoyed meaningful professional relationships for over 30 years, and said, “You don’t belittle yourself by asking for advice. Have someone trusted who can show you your blind spots, someone who can be frank with you.”

Rivasha is passionate about mentoring young women, which she described as a humbling experience because the environments her mentees grow up in are tough, with peer pressure, lack of engagement from teachers and no role models. She believes the best mentee-mentor relationships are ones where there is space to listen and encourage, but not give answers, and be with someone who can be brutally honest with you.

In his session, Professor Mervyn King advocated for a title change for CFOs to chief value officers, arguing that, in addition to managing and understanding the financial position of a company, it is the CFO who

is responsible for creating value in the business. Read more on page 68.

In one of the sessions, DRDGOLD CFO Riaan Davel, Barloworld CFO Nopasika Lila and Standard Bank CFO Sibusiso Xaba stressed how important it was for companies to have sufficient liquid assets during times of crisis.

In another session, Cybersecurity expert and founder of Cybersec Nathan Desfontaines, EOH group FD Megan Pydigadu and Bidvest Insurance FD Alastair Petticrew explained that protecting your business from a cyberattack takes vigilance from everyone in your company. Nathan pointed to the uptick in the number and scope of cyber-attacks in the last few months to illustrate the pervasiveness of the challenge. Megan and Alastair both shared their journeys to raising awareness of cybersecurity risks in their companies.

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FINANCE INDABA SPECIAL SECTION

Gamified fun In between sessions, attendees had the opportunity to take part in a scavenger hunt that saw them win one of three R5,000 cash prizes and a signed copy of Altron CEO Mteto Nyati’s bestselling book, Betting on a Darkie. To win the prizes, attendees had to look for ten Diamond Partner logos hidden in the auditorium and exhibition hall. The winners were: City of Joburg finance manager Asma Sheik, MSF Southern Africa FD Zanele Mokatula, and National Treasury CA trainee Kholofelo Mello.

Attendees also earned points for attending the live Impact Sessions, watching a demo at an exhibition stand or downloading a playbook, which was calculated on the live leaderboard during the event.

The Leaderboard winner and winner of the R10,000 cash prize, an exclusive invitation to the CFO Awards and a signed copy of Mteto Nyati's book was Nico Pretorius, head of external reporting at Standard Bank.

In second place was TW Profile Services financial controller phindile Majikijela, and in third place was Jaco Grobbelaar Accountants accountant Marizane Meyer.

Partner engagement The event also offered virtual, live engagement with CFO South Africa’s partners, including Diamond Partners SAP Concur and Workday; Platinum Partner 66

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Coupa; Gold Partners ACCA, Automation Anywhere with TreasuryONE Automation, CaseWare Africa, CIPC, Oracle, Sage and Quick Consols; and Silver Partners BlackLine, College of Chartered Accountants, Dimago, EnterpriseWorx, Fasset, IIA SA, Kalon Venture Partners, Konsise, Sanlam and SoluGrowth.

However, the networking opportunities didn’t end there.

Registrants for the Finance Indaba Network launch event automatically gained entry to weekly webinars with content matter experts and finance leaders, regular Network Conversations, as well as a trusted environment where finance professionals could ask questions, share thoughts and make professional connections.

“The event showcased the best of what the finance profession has to offer, both in terms of thought leadership and presence of service providers. It was an event that showed why CFO South Africa’s flagship event, the Finance Indaba, will continue to be a permanent fixture in the calendars of finance practitioners, regardless of whether it is hosted virtually or in person,” said Joël Roerig, managing director of CFO South Africa.

As the Indaba drew to a close, thousands of attendees logged off from an outstanding virtual event, with their knowledge broadened, their networks expanded and their careers enhanced by the inspirational content and powerful interactions with their peers. l

FINANCE INDABA ONLINE

AFRICA’S BIGGEST VIRTUAL CONFERENCE AND EXPO Accelerate your knowledge, network and career.

• • • • • •

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1 APRIL 2021 REGISTER NOW finance-indaba.co.za

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SPEARHEADING

THE NEW WORLD OF WORK

During two important Impact Session at the 2020 Finance Indaba Network virtual launch, leading executives shared their triumphs over the challenges of Covid-19 and explained how CFOs have become chief value officers instead of beancounters.

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uring the opening session at the launch day of the 2020 Finance Indaba Network, Vodacom group CFO Raisibe Morathi, University of Johannesburg CFO Nolwazi Mamorare and Momentum Corporate CEO Dumo Mbethe shared their views on the challenges of working through Covid-19, and the learnings that will shape the workplace of the future.

For Raisibe, the virtual workplace offers more pros than cons. One of these advantages is how a virtual environment can flatten the distance between leadership and employees. “A digital workplace allows you to connect with many more people than you ordinarily would,” she said. “Location is no longer important. An employee no longer needs to penetrate through management levels to reach a leader within an organisation.”

One thing is clear, while the post-Covid-19 workplace will not look the same in every industry or company, the workplace will not return to where it was before the crisis.

Raisibe believes this is a time for leaders to lead with empathy and consider the different environments from which employees are working. While she held the position of CFO at Nedbank, she kept in regular con-

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tact with her 900 finance team members through a WhatsApp group.

“The virtual environment doesn’t take away the importance of leadership. Leaders still need to motivate their employees. This is a time to show people that we really care,” said Raisibe. Raisibe also made personal contact with every employee who tested positive for Covid-19.

She noted that the new flexibility of remote working makes it possible to recruit talent from anywhere in the country and to be a more attractive workplace to people put off by commuting.

Taking a health check Dumo doesn’t foresee a situation where all employees work from home or from the office. Rather, he predicts a hybrid approach where employees come to work for part of the week. “We can’t stay away from the office forever – we still need to connect in-person to build company culture. We are already seeing working hubs emerging where a group of employees meets to work in a coffee shop,” he said.

For Dumo, the mental health of both clients and employees is a major concern. According to the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), roughly one in four women and one in five men will have an episode of depression in their life. Remote work can increase feelings of isolation and loneliness, and managers of virtual teams should try to combat that by fostering connection and belonging. “The blurring of work and home boundaries is stressful for employees.

This is compounded by the financial pressures that they may be facing,” Dumo added. He noted that calls to the SADAG doubled during the lockdown.

To combat stress in the workplace, the company has introduced “no-meeting Wednesday”, with no meetings after 1pm and insists that employees take their annual leave.

A new kind of university life For Nolwazi, the Covid-19 pandemic was a real test of the organisation’s business continuity plans. The University has 50,000 students and a staff complement of 5,000.

“Our goal was that the academic year must not be lost and that no student should be left behind. Fortunately, we began investing in blended learning some time ago.

This meant that we were able to open the academic term only one week later than the calendar. We are also able to complete our academic year, which is unusual compared to other universities,” said Nolwazi.

The university negotiated discounted data rates for students and leaned on corporate sponsors for lap-

top donations. “We accommodate some of the poorest students in the country. We could not let them be disadvantaged due to a lack of data or computer equipment,” she said.

Nolwazi predicts that universities will evolve to offer continued value to students. “We expect that a hybrid model of contact and online learning will emerge. We will need to cost this model differently. We must also compete for students with international online universities. The digital world makes these studying options open to local students.”

From a personal perspective, balancing a full-time job and supervising school work schedules was difficult for Nolwazi. She predicts that companies will be more open to flexible work arrangements and she believes that parents will benefit. “A more flexible approach provides an opportunity for mothers and fathers to spend more time with their children. This is a huge win for society,” said Nolwazi.

The CFO of the future Leading corporate governance expert Professor Mervyn King motivated for a “rebranding” of the CFO into the chief value officer (CVO) during another hugely popular Impact Session.

Arguing that in addition to managing and understanding the financial position of a company, it is the CFO who is responsible for creating value in the business, he pointed out that, “Successful businesses have moved away from creating profits for shareholders to focusing on long-term value creation. In the C-suite, it is the CFO who drives this.”

The CVO role must ensure that all relevant aspects of value creation and destruction are accounted for and communicated to boards, management, and external stakeholders,” said Prof King. “Key to this is advising companies on public interest issues and sustainability.

“The CVO also has to report all assets available to the company and this includes natural assets. They need to report to the board on the financials and the non-financial aspects, including the company’s impact on the economy, society and environment.”

Prof King said he believes that the time is right for one set of integrated reporting standards, as the many competing versions create ‘confusion and clutter’ for accountants. This past September, the five global organisations that specialise in sustainability and integrated reporting standards announced that they would be creating a comprehensive approach to corporate reporting.

They acknowledged that the complexity around sustainability disclosure has made it difficult to develop a comprehensive solution for corporate reporting. l

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Photos: Patrick Furter

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“I want the children to have access to books. They must take the books home and enjoy them.”

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CFO CARES Senele Mbatha supports his community’s children

Discovery Vitality CFO Senele Mbatha is passionate about providing a safe and nurturing environment for the young children of Osizweni in KwaZulu-Natal, where he grew up.

By Victoria Williams

S

enele Mbatha grew up in the township of Osizweni and finished his matric at Madadeni, just outside of Newcastle. He describes himself as a free-range, proper township boy. Senele, who qualified as a CA(SA) in 2007, always dreamt of giving back to his home community. “Where I come from is semi-rural. There was no library and no career guidance. All I knew is that I wanted to work for a bank.

Education changed my life. I want to provide the same opportunities for other children. There are lots of bright kids who just need a chance,” he says.

Life in Osizweni is tough. Many parents work in textile factories in Newcastle and leave home at

5am only to return in the evening at 7. Often, children live with their grandparents while their parents earn a living in Johannesburg. It is not uncommon for children to grow up without a father figure. Many young children spend their days unattended – leaving them vulnerable to abuse. “Times have changed.

There are incidences of alcohol, substance abuse and child trafficking in the community. It's just not safe for children to be unsupervised,” says Senele.

The importance of hope In 2013, Senele’s mother Thobina Mbatha, still a ‘young’ and active 65-year-old, had the idea of opening a care centre for young children

ranging from six months old to six years old. These are vital years for children’s development and form the basis of intelligence, personality, social behaviour and capacity to learn and nurture oneself as an adult. By the age of five, almost 90 percent of a child’s brain will be developed. Despite the importance of early learning, in South Africa, 80 percent of children from the ages of three to six are not in accredited early childhood development schools.

The centre, to be named Thembalethu, which means ‘our hope’ in Zulu, would provide a safe, warm and stimulating environment for children. They would learn the foundations of reading and writing taught by qualified teachers. They

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“Food inflation in recent months has been a real concern.” would also benefit from two decent meals served during the day.

To get the centre up and going, Senele’s mother called on him and his siblings to assist with raising the sponsorship to build the centre and kit it out. As the funding materialised, the Thembalethu vision came to life. After first operating from a church, the centre opened its doors in 2013 and in 2016 it was registered as a non-profit.

Today the centre employs three teachers, kitchen staff and a gardener. Thobina is also active in the day-to-day operations of the centre. Parents contribute R60 per child each month, which pays for the teachers, although the government has promised to pay for the teachers in 2021.

About 70 children are enrolled at the centre. The NPO is embedded in the community, with most of the trustees being parents.

While the centre has not been fully open during the Covid-19 pandemic, the kitchen was still operational during the hard lockdown to ensure that the children had access to daily meals. “Food inflation in recent months has been a real concern.

Thembalethu was an important lifeline for these children – for many this was the only food that they would eat in a day,” says Senele.

His regular involvement with the centre includes doing the monthly management accounts, providing advice on how to spend the centre’s money and providing ongoing financial sponsorship from his salary. Whenever he can get away, he spends a weekend with his mother to check in on how she is doing. “Going

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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home is always emotional for me. Lots of students come back to visit the centre and express gratitude for the positive contribution it has made in their lives,” says Senele

Raring to go with reading According to The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, an international comparative reading assessment, eight out of every ten children in South Africa cannot read at a comparable level to others their age. South Africa placed last out of the 50 countries surveyed. Early childhood is the ideal time to develop the basic skills for reading fluency, and the degree to which children acquire language skills and become motivated, habitual readers is a strong predictor of future academic success.

Senele plans to build up a library for the centre’s children. His colleagues at Discovery Vitality and others in his network have already supported this cause by donating books. “I want the children to have access to books. They must take the books home and enjoy them. There is a John Rohn quote that says, “Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary,” says Senele.

For Senele, going back to his roots is a humbling experience. “When I grew up, I never really realised we were poor. There was always someone worse off than we were. It's not unusual for someone to borrow R10 to buy bread. Can you imagine not affording bread at R10? My success story is thanks to hard work, a lot of luck, many people in my community who believed in me and a lot of grace.”

Sanele’s achievements show that he clearly has a lot of ambition and focuses on moving forward. But his support of the children’s centre shows that he’s not afraid to look back at where he came from, and do his best for the next generation of the community that supported him. l

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FROM THE MD

VUCA LESSONS T hanks to the merciless lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic, you and I have started 2021 with a much-improved idea of what volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity really means.

What we know is that in times of crisis, the focus on agility, short-term changes and long-term vision increase. And as a consequence – in plain language – it’s damn near impossible to keep all the balls up in the air at the same time.

Community Conversations, the multi-faceted Finance Indaba Network and of hosting a safe, heavily adapted edition of the CFO Awards in November.

The survivors and thrivers all have something in common though: They do the right thing and they focus on their purpose. Having said that, we’re in the much-mentioned same-storm-different-boats scenario and if you’re a hotel chain doing the right thing is not necessarily going to avoid a lot of pain. And not everything is clear cut, which is the A in VUCA that optimistic strategists sometimes forget.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank outgoing community manager John Deane and wish him the greatest of happiness and success in the next part of his life, in the UK. John’s been a friend and family member to the CFO SA team and we will miss him dearly! We also really look forward to working with the new CFO community manager, Brian Chivere, who you’ll all be getting to know very soon.

For CFO South Africa, last year meant an extreme focus on our core: building executive communities that facilitate knowledge sharing, networking and career opportunities. We’re extremely proud of the success of the online

Joël Roerig CFO South Africa managing director +27 76 371 2856 jroerig@cfo.co.za

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Of course, we’re hoping to bring together CFOs during faceto-face events again soon, but we’re also extremely excited to apply all the learning from last year and get to know ever more CFOs, make ever more connections and provide top-notch learning through webinars, online conversations and the – yet to be revealed – Finance Indaba Academy.

INVEST IN YOUR PEOPLE

AND BOOST YOUR SUCCESS

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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 the 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) » All issues of CFO Magazine delivered to your desk » Support the CFO South Africa community » Exclusive invite to all CFO Summits » Exclusive invite to CFO Awards » Exclusive invite to CFO Day » Bi-weekly newsletter » Finance Network Indaba VIP team invite » Up to 12 CPD Hours per person

CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP INVESTMENT:

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Terms and Conditions CFO South Africa reserves the right to decline memberships.

2021 CALENDAR 1 April 2021 Finance Indaba Online 13 May 2021 CFO Awards 22 June 2021 Cape Town Summit 4 August 2021 Women’s Dinner 7 October 2021 Finance Indaba Live 10 November 2021 CFO Day Community Conversations twice a month and weekly Finance Indaba Network webinars (Online)

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

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