To the outside world, Sarah Visagie was a partner at law firm Bell Dewar & Hall (BDH). But those inside the firm knew that she was a junior partner and not an equity partner. This was largely because she felt unable to commit herself to earning the same fee targets as the other equity partners (all of whom happened to be men) on account of her family commitments and the ‘shorter’ hours she spent at the office. However, it had really hurt last year when a junior partner who was younger than her had leapfrogged her to the position of equity partner. The hurt had taken her by surprise – she had not expected to react in that way. How much worse would it be this year when yet more junior professionals rose above her?

No. Pages: 13 

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n July 2008, Brian Bruce, chief executive of the 106-year-old construction, mining, engineering and manufacturing giant Murray & Roberts, had been at the helm for eight years. His leadership has resulted in a steady and remarkable change in the character of the group, as well as its fortunes. At the time of his appointment in July 2000, the share price had slumped 96% to 300 cents on the JSE Limited. In his words, “the company was dying.” Bruce embarked on an extended initiative, to reposition the group in the construction economy of South Africa and the world. Eight years later, Murray & Roberts is South Africa’s leading construction company and a major global player in its field.

The group jumped to 48th position in the Financial Mail Top Performing Companies in 2008, up from 57th position in 2007. This monograph examines Brian Bruce’s leadership style and philosophy.

This document contains information and data not available in the abridged version.

No.of pages: 19

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In July 2008, Brian Bruce, chief executive of the 106-year-old construction, mining, engineering and manufacturing giant Murray & Roberts, had been at the helm for eight years. His leadership has resulted in a steady and remarkable change in the character of the group, as well as its fortunes. At the time of his appointment in July 2000, the share price had slumped 96% to 300 cents on the JSE Limited. In his words, “the company was dying.” Bruce embarked on an extended initiative, to reposition the group in the construction economy of South Africa and the world. Eight years later, Murray & Roberts is South Africa’s leading construction company and a major global player in its field. The group jumped to 48th position in the Financial Mail Top Performing Companies in 2008, up from 57th position in 2007. This monograph examines Brian Bruce’s leadership style and philosophy.

No.of pages: 13

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In September 2014, Calum McCracken, chief executive officer (CEO) of Next Generation Network Telecommunications (Pty) Ltd (NGN Telecoms), met with his partners to discuss the company’s Kenyan dilemma.

Doing business in Kenya had proved to be far more challenging than in any other country. Among other challenges, the company had to deal with fraud and negotiate from scratch with a new telecommunications operator, without success. This ended in a struggle to renew its Communications Commission of Keny (CCK) licence. No licence meant no trading and the company eventually had to withdraw from the country.

Years had passed since the company’s first entry into Kenya, but McCracken felt the time was right for another attempt. What should the partners consider to avoid the challenges of the past?

No of Pages: 18

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“We cannot just sit by and do nothing!” said Sebastian Olofsson to his uncle, Dan Olofsson, a Swedish IT billionaire and owner of a private game reserve in Hluhluwe (northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). It was February 2003, they were both at the reserve and Sebastian had just returned from a guided tour of the vicinity that had exposed him to the dire poverty in the area and the human suffering there caused by HIV/AIDS.

Olofsson concurred. He had been thinking the same thing for some time. He had bought the land for the lodge in 2002, initially as a private retreat for his family and friends. He was now thinking of developing it as a commercial venture. He had been deeply affected by the need in the area, but what was it that he could do to make a difference?

No.of pages: 6 pages

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It was nearing the end of March 2005. Dolly Mokgatle had surprised the nation by resigning as chief executive of South Africa’s rail utility, Spoornet, at the beginning of the year, only eighteen months into her five-year contract. The press had speculated wildly about the causes of her resignation. The words of the new Transnet CEO, Maria Ramos, had been particularly cutting. “We want people to be committed and work hard,” she had said. “There is no space in Transnet for ‘half measures’.”

Before Mokgatle had taken up the post at Spoornet, she had felt that everything that had happened in her life and career to date had led her to that position. She had led a very successful change process in the transmission division of South Africa’s electricity utility, Eskom. It had not been easy for her to resign from Spoornet. Now, almost three months had passed since her decision to leave and she felt that she needed to take stock of the lessons that she had learnt about leadership, management and herself from this experience.

No. Pages: 25 

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Enos Banda, the CEO of Eskom Enterprises, a subsidiary of state-owned electricity utility Eskom Holdings, considered the offer he had just received from financial services firm, First Africa, asking whether he would consider taking becoming CEO of the firm.

First Africa was one of the leading mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisors in South Africa. With its strong commitment to developing Africa, and black Africans in particular, the firm’s philosophies dovetailed strongly with Banda’s personal mission.

However, Eskom Enterprises was implementing a restructuring process that Banda had initiated, and, if successful the organisation promised to be instrumental in developing the rest of the African continent – again a goal with which Banda identified. Should he take the talks with First Africa further, or should he see the process at Eskom Enterprises to its conclusion?

No. Pages: 18 

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Foschini Group’s (FOS) Shani Naidoo was in excellent spirits when she walked out of a two-day group strategy meeting in October 2009. As managing director for group human resources (HR) since 2005, it was evident that the changes that she and her team had implemented had successfully made HR a critical part of Foschini’s overall business strategy. In pursuit of their vision to get rid of the company’s silo mentality, the HR team had introduced a totally new, centralised HR model. Despite the shake-up, Naidoo believed there was still a great deal more that needed to change. She did wonder, however, if she might have gone too far.

No.of pages: 18

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By April 2009, Hollard Insurance had been in Arcadia, its new building, for a little over three years. A key motive behind the move had been to draw all Hollard employees together, so as to sustain and reinforce a common culture and facilitate communication across business units. Now, Hollard’s CEO, Nic Kohler, had a few things to consider: had the new building had an impact on Hollard’s culture, and on balance; had this been positive; and should he now move the company’s call centres to a smaller town, where competition for talent would be less intense? This might improve employee retention and better enable the company to invest in its call centre employees. At the same time, it would lower the salary bill. But would it also alienate the call centre employees, who provided a critical interface with Hollard’s customers? If Hollard did decide to move them off-site, what should he do to minimise the potential negative effects of doing this?

No.of pages: 11

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It was October 2007 and more than 13 years had elapsed since South Africa’s first non-racial, democratic elections. Social entrepreneur Reverend Spiwo Xapile sat in his immaculate office at the J L Zwane centre, located on the corner of NY2 and NY7 in Gugulethu. He reflected with pride on what he had built up over the past 17 years. His congregation had grown from a handful of people to over 2000 members, and the centre attached to the church ran a number of programmes which benefited the Gugulethu community at large.

While much of the funding for the running of the centre and the church came from Christians elsewhere in the world, particularly the USA, local businesses had also donated large amounts of money to build the centre in the early 2000s. In addition, a very important relationship established early on with Stellenbosch University had been vital to the success of the centre. Yet Xapile believed that business and previously disadvantaged communities were still not speaking the same language as each other, nor were they understanding one another properly.

He pondered a number of important questions: how to create the right environment for meaningful dialogue to take place between business and communities, how to develop the skills within his own community that would ensure the sustainability of the centre, as well as the question of succession and grooming a new leader to take over from him when the time arose.

No.of pages: 17

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By 2004, Laurie Dippenaar had been at the helm of FirstRand, one of the largest financial services groups in South Africa, for six years. He was chairman of two of the companies within the FirstRand group the Momentum Group Limited and Discovery, both of which operated in the life and health insurance market.

In early 2004, Discovery had come up with an idea for an investment product that was a paradigm shift away from what was currently offered in the market and Dippenaar believed it had huge potential. The immediate question was whether to allow Discovery to proceed with its new product, as it would compete directly with the products offered by Momentum. The real issue was that FirstRand had two horses in one race, and he wondered whether the current situation was sustainable.

No. Pages: 20 

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It was September of 2005. Brian and Mike Coppin had founded Fruit and Veg City 11 years ago and knew that over the past 11 years they had done an excellent job of translating the mission of the organisation into action. They had sustained success and growth by delivering quality fresh produce at the right price to their identified markets, and they had done so by ensuring continuous innovation and exceptional service. However, they could see that there had been a change in the industry. Market needs had evolved and there were a variety of opportunities under consideration.

In order to achieve their vision of 200 profitable stores by 2010, the Coppins were keen to experiment with a number of segmentation and store concepts and wondered whether these would be as successful as their existing business model had been. In order to build the brand globally, which concept would work best? But, in particular, could they be sure that their recipe for success would continue to be the right one, and would their methods of leading managers, workers and franchisees keep working as well as they had in the past?

No. Pages: 20 

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In Lechabile, a small black empowerment IT company, a two-fold strategic issue had to be resolved: how the numerous growth opportunities that presented themselves should be managed; and how options for achieving growth should be evaluated. Concomitant with this, the number of employees was increasing. Management felt that a formal performance management system was needed that would be in keeping with their culture of empowerment.

No.of pages: 19

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In 1998/1999, the Legal Aid Board faced closure because of a contingent liability of more than R600 million for legal services delivered by private practitioners to the organisation’s clients. Since then, through three phases of transformation, under two board chairmen and three chief executive officers, the Legal Aid Board has turned itself around. It has received unqualified audit reports from the office of the Auditor General since 2002 and it has extended its services to represent the accused in approximately 400 000 matters per year.

Now, in 2008, the organisation is ready for its next challenges: improving employee morale, expanding access to justice for all and working with stakeholders to instil confidence in South Africa’s legal system. The challenge for the board is to identify the right approach to taking the organisation into the next phase.

No.of pages: 7

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On the evening of 6 October 2002, ‘Mr Fix-It’, Peter Flack, who was a partner in Coronation FRM, a firm of corporate turnaround specialists, hurried back to his hotel after dinner.  It was the night before his testimony at the hearing into the collapse of LeisureNet, a company with the majority of its interests in the fitness industry, and he wanted to prepare properly for the next day.  LeisureNet had been placed under provisional liquidation exactly two years previously, with contingent liabilities of almost R1 billion.  Flack, in his capacity at the time as acting CEO, had been involved in making that final decision to close down the company – a decision that had a ripple effect on the lives of thousands of people.

No of pages:  27

Maanda Manyatshe, CEO of the South African Post Office, put the phone back in its cradle. He had just been speaking to a few of his prospective colleagues at MTN South Africa, the cellular network company he would soon be joining. MTN SA was the second largest cellular operator in the country. He would be tasked with growing the South African operation. It was only one of a number of offers he had received, and it was not the most attractive package he had been offered. But, as he prepared to continue discussing the launch of several new electronic mail products, he wondered whether he had made the right choice.

No. Pages: 16  

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Under Mark Lamberti’s leadership, mass retailer, Massmart’s turnover had exceeded R20 billion in turnover for the first time in its history in 2004. It had a watershed year in terms of numbers as no mass merchant in the history of South Africa had achieved the return on sales that Massmart had in that year. Lamberti had been at the helm of Massmart since he founded the company in 1990. But now, bearing in mind his desire not to renew his employment contract as CEO when it expired in 2007, Lamberti was concerned about how to facilitate a seamless leadership transition while retaining the talent and maintaining the motivation of his exceptional management team.

No. Pages: 24 

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It was January 2005, more than one year after Mavuso Msimang had accepted the position as CEO of the State Information and Technology Agency (SITA). In its five years of existence, SITA had experienced tumultuous times and had been accused of poor service delivery, mismanagement and corruption. In 15 months Msimang had laid the groundwork for a turnaround and he believed that SITA was now finally on the road to recovery. Still, there was some way to go before the organisation was functioning optimally. Was he on the right track, he wondered.

No. Pages: 19 

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It was Monday 14 May 2001. Nedcor chairman, Chris Liebenberg, was facing spiralling criticism of an incentive scheme that the organisation had introduced for top executives. Nothing he had done so far had stopped the negative publicity. In reality, it seemed to have made it worse. Since the end of April, when details of the scheme had been released in Nedcor’s Annual Report 2000, the press had lambasted the company and the scheme almost daily as an example of poor governance and greed.

No of pages:  28

In January 2008, the black-owned Pamodzi Investment Holdings (PIH) was at a crossroads, as its chief executive officer (CEO), Ndaba Ntsele, sat down with his board to discuss how to finance the growth of the business. Ntsele and co-director, Solly Sithole, had founded PIH’s predecessor, Pamodzi Property Developers, and grown it from nothing in 1979 to a multi-million rand concern, using only debt finance and working capital.

PIH, founded in 1997 to take advantage of the opportunities presented by black economic empowerment (BEE) deals, had followed the same funding strategy. But Ntsele wanted to grow PIH into an organisation comparable in size and stature to Anglo American or Bidvest, and he was not sure that PIH could achieve these aims using the same strategy as in the past.

The board was, therefore, considering whether or not to list the company and, if not, how they could raise the funding necessary to achieve the strategic goals of the business.

No.of pages: 25

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Pravin Gordhan, Commissioner of the South African Revenue Services (SARS), had managed to improve tax collection substantially over his six years of office, whilst also managing to keep changing the institution internally. He was proud of the leadership role he had played in making such a complex public organisation operate efficiently.

He knew, however, that large organisations increasingly perceived SARS to be overplaying its hand. In his view the key to improving the level of tax compliance – which was only at the 50% mark – was to enhance mutual trust, but he wondered what was the most effective way of doing this.

No.of pages: 8

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In November 1998, Rob Angel experienced a major challenge. As CEO of Engen, he had spent almost a decade working on the transformation of the largest South African oil company into a successful, empowered organisation. Petronas, a Malaysian state-owned oil company, had recently taken over Engen. Engen was considering a merger with Sasol Oil, a South African state-owned oil company. Both Petronas and Sasol, adhered strongly to the old command and control leadership culture. In addition, it was planned that a considerable percentage of Engen would be transformed to a black empowerment company. This presented a different dimension of South African culture. Rob Angel considered how he could maintain Engen’s culture of empowerment after the Petronas take-over.

No. Pages: 20 

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In April 2010, Siza Mzimela was appointed as chief executive officer (CEO) of the government-owned South African Airways (Pty) Ltd (SAA). She was the seventh CEO to be appointed since 1993. As far back as 2007, the South African government had issued the airline with an ultimatum – ‘get your affairs in order or you are on your own’. Yet the airline was still in a financially disastrous position. Mzimela knew that she had to come up with a workable strategy for SAA, and wondered what the organisation had to do to turn itself around.

No of Pages: 13

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On 7 May 2019, Steinhoff International, a global retail group based in Stellenbosch, South Africa, published its delayed Annual Report for 2017. The report detailed the results of the company’s investigation into a tangle of accounting irregularities and governance failures that had led to the delay and resulted in the resignation of the previous chief executive officer (CEO) Markus Jooste on 6 December 2017, an 80% plunge in the company’s share price over the following two days and the need to restructure debt of more than €10.4 billion (R166 billion). Since these events, the company had put in place numerous measures to prevent such a failure in the future, but the question for Heather Sonn and the rest of the supervisory board, of which she was the chairperson, remained: how could fraud of such massive proportions have happened in the first place? How could she and her fellow supervisory board members at the time have missed it?

No. Pages: 35

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Matome Modipa, executive chairman and founder of the Sebata Group of technical engineering and management consultants, enjoyed coming to work. His offices in Midrand, near Johannesburg, had an open and friendly feel, and the pervading ethos reflected the African philosophies of ubuntu and letsema that he had worked hard to instil in the organisation. Sebata had enjoyed steady growth since its inception in 2006. Now, in October 2013, the company was on the cusp of further expansion, and Modipa wondered how he was going to keep these philosophies alive at Sebata.

No of Pages: 19