Board of directors

Executive Directors

Mark Blair

Chief Executive Officer

Year appointed
2006
Qualifications
CA(SA)

Praneel Nundkumar

Chief Financial Officer

Year appointed
2023
Qualifications
CA(SA), BCOMM, MBA

Stewart Cohen

Honorary Chairman & Co-Founder

Year appointed
1986
Qualifications
BCom, LLB, MBA

Nigel Payne

Chairman

Year appointed
2007
Qualifications
CA(SA), MBL
Other Directorships
Bidcorp Ltd
Strate (Pty) Ltd
Vukile Property Fund Ltd

Mark Bowman

Lead Independent, Non-Executive Director

Year appointed
2017

Qualifications
BCom (Finance), MBA

Other Directorships
Other Private Companies

Daisy Naidoo

Independent, Non-Executive Director

Year appointed
2012
Qualifications
CA(SA), MCom(Tax)
Other Directorships
ABSA Group Ltd
Hudaco Industries Ltd

Harish Ramsumer

Independent, Non-Executive Director

Year appointed
2023

Qualifications
CA (SA)

Other Directorships
Premier Group Limited

Jane Canny

Independent, Non-Executive Director

Year appointed
2021
Qualifications
FCG (CS, CPG, ACC)
Fellow of Chartered Governance Institute of Southern Africa
Other Directorships
The Spar Group Ltd
Hollard Group Risk (a division of Hollard)

Lucia Swartz

Independent, Non-Executive Director

Year appointed
2020
Qualifications
BA
Diploma in Human Resources Management
Advanced Management Programme
Other Directorships

Santam Limited

Tiger Brands Limited

Neill Abrams

Independent, Non-Executive Director

Year appointed
2010 Alternate to Stewart Cohen

2023

Qualifications
BA, LLB, LLM
Other Directorships
Ocado Group Plc

Richard Inskip

Independent, Non-Executive Director

Year appointed
2023

Qualifications
BCom degree, Strategic Information Technology Management

Other directorships

Hyprop Investments Ltd
Clicks Group Ltd

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Board Committees

Audit & Compliance

The committee provides independent oversight of the effectiveness of the group’s assurance and compliance functions, with particular focus on combined assurance arrangements (including external assurance service providers, internal audit and the finance function) and the integrity of the annual financial statements and, to the extent delegated by the board, other external reports issued by the group.

Daisy Naidoo Chairman

Harish Ramsumer
Mark Bowman

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Remuneration & Nominations

The committee oversees the group’s approach to remuneration to ensure fair, equitable and responsible remuneration in support of the group’s strategy. The committee is further responsible for overseeing that remuneration processes are carried out consistently and aligned to the group’s remuneration policy thus ensuring that the intellectual capital required to achieve the group’s imperatives is attracted, motivated, retained and rewarded. In addition, the committee oversees the composition and performance of the board and its committees.

Mark Bowman Chairman

Lucia Swartz

Nigel Payne

Richard Inskip

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Risk & Information Technology

The committee is responsible for assisting the board in its oversight of risk, reviewing the group’s risk appetite and risk profile in relation to strategy, reviewing the effectiveness of the group’s risk management framework and the methodology used in determining the group’s risk profile and respective responses. The committee’s responsibility is to ensure that risks and opportunities are considered and managed in a manner that influences and fulfils the setting and achievement of the group’s strategy.

To fulfil its role, the committee oversees management’s implementation and execution of effective risk management which includes mitigation responses to key risks, reducing risks to within risk tolerance, insurance cover, business resilience, IT risk management and related assurance mechanisms. In addition, the committee plays an oversight and advisory role over the group’s IT.

Nigel Payne Chairman

Daisy Naidoo

Harish Ramsumer

Jane Canny

Neill Abrams

Mark Blair

Praneel Nundkumar

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Social, Ethics, Transformation & Sustainability

The committee is responsible for fulfilling the functions set out in the Companies Act and provides oversight of and reporting on organisational ethics, responsible corporate citizenship, and stakeholder relationships. It reviews and monitors sustainable business practices and business ethics, including transformation as well as social and environmental practices, to ensure that the business achieves its strategic imperatives responsibly and ethically. This also encompasses an overview of labour practices to ensure fairness and monitoring the group’s commitment to promoting and protecting human rights.

Lucia Swartz Chairman

Daisy Naidoo
Jane Canny
Mark Blair

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Executive Leadership

Mark Blair

Chief Executive Officer

Year appointed
2006
Qualifications
CA(SA)

Praneel Nundkumar

Chief Financial Officer

Year appointed
2023
Qualifications
CA(SA), BCOMM, MBA

Commitment statement

Integrity, competence, responsibility, accountability, fairness and transparency are the key pillars for ethical and effective leadership and the starting point of good corporate governance. From the board and executive leadership to store associates, both individually and collectively, every group associate should do the right thing and display these key traits to enable delivery of appropriate outputs. Good corporate governance is aspirational and must be continuously monitored, adapted and improved. The disruptions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the strength of the board’s leadership through consistent application of and continued commitment to the group’s beliefs. This ensured the group’s strategic direction and core values were uncompromised during the unprecedented past year. Governance practices must continue to be aligned and enable value creation through the achievement of group strategy.

The beliefs of Passion, Value and Partnership (refer page 9) and as expanded on in the group’s code of conduct, is the group’s internalisation of ethics and the standard of conduct against which each director and the board is measured.

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Code of conduct

The code of conduct, which formalises the group’s stance on various ethical issues, includes and upholds the group’s commitment to human rights, equal opportunity, fair treatment, forced and child labour, environment, and anti-bribery and corruption principles.

The code of conduct is published on the group’s website and is incorporated into associate employment contracts and contractual arrangements with suppliers and other service providers. The externally facilitated KPMG FairCall hotline provides a confidential mechanism for associates and third parties to report non-compliance with the code of conduct.

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B-BBEE Certificate