On Sunday close to 100 CEOs from both listed and unlisted South African companies issued the following pledge in the wake of fraud charges against the country’s finance minister.
CEO Initiative Pledge
We, the CEOs and business leaders named below, join the Government/Business/Labour initiative, and commit to:
Do the right thing; stand by what is right; and reject what is wrong.
We stand for:
- Our Constitution and Bill of Rights, which guarantee the independence of our courts and the impartiality of our prosecuting authority, and which create the institutions strengthening constitutional democracy in our country, such as the Office of the Public Protector
- Good Governance, by which we mean transparent, rational and evidence-based policymaking in the national interest; diligent and honest delivery of public goods and services; and a private sector that holds itself – and is held – to the highest standards of corporate citizenship, corporate governance and ethics
- A vibrant democracy, including the rights to freedom of expression and to protest peacefully under the equal protection of the law
- Fast and inclusive economic growth and job creation enabled by a stable and predictable regulatory framework for business
- Social justice and transformation so that South Africa truly becomes a country that belongs to all who live in it
- Procedural and substantive justice for all
- Inclusive growth and a prosperous South Africa for all.
We stand against:
- Injustice, including failures to investigate and prosecute prima facie wrongdoing and any selective, malicious or politically motivated prosecutions that cannot satisfy the public interest test
- Corruption, graft and waste in both private and public sectors
- Threats of violence and violent protest
- The damage to growth, job creation and transformation caused by policy uncertainty and by self-seeking behaviour in both the private and public sectors
- Persistent unfairness and inequity in the economy
Since the National Prosecuting Authority announced its charges against the Minister of Finance in the public arena, we consider it our right and duty to respond in public.
We stand as one for the rule of law and against the decision to prosecute the Minister of Finance on charges that are, according to the preponderance of expert legal opinion, without factual or legal foundation and not in the public interest.
We stand against the damage this has caused to our economy and to the people of South Africa, ESPECIALLY the poor.
Signatories
Altron
Anglo American, Mark Cutifani
AngloGold Ashanti Limited, Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan
Asisa, Leon Campher
Aspasa & Sarma, Nico Pienaar
Aveng, Kobus Verster
Bain & Company Inc, Vittorio Massone
Barclays Africa, Maria Ramos
Bid Corporation Ltd, Brian Joffe
Blue Label Telecoms, Mark Levy
Business Unity South Africa, Khanyisile Kweyama
Business Leadership South Africa, Thero Setiloane (on behalf of member companies)
Black Business Council, Mohale Ralebitso
Bowman Gilfillan, Robert Legh (Chairman)
Capitec Bank, Gerrie Fourie
CEO Initiative, Jabu Mabuza (Convenor)
Chamber of Mines, Roger Baxter
Credit Suisse South Africa, Rick Menell (Chairman)
Dimension Data Middle East & Africa, Grant Bodley
Discovery Limited, Adrian Gore
Distell Limited, Richard Rushton
ENSafrica, Michael Katz (Chairman)
Exxaro Resources Limited, Mxolisi Mgojo
FirstRand Bank Ltd, Johan Burger
Goldman Sachs, Colin Coleman
Growthpoint Properties Ltd, Norbert Sasse
Hollard Group, Nic Kohler
Imperial Holdings Ltd, Mark Lamberti
Independent, Michael Spicer
Investec Bank Limited & Investec plc, Stephen Koseff
Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Nicky Newton-King
Kagiso Tiso Holdings, Vuyisa Nkonyeni
KPMG Southern Africa, Trevor Hoole
Liberty Holdings Group, Thabo Dloti
Life Healthcare, André Meyer
Lion Pride Investment Holdings Ltd, Geoff Rothschild
Mediclinic SA, Danie Meintjes
Menston Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Stanley Subramoney
MMI Holdings Limited, Nicolaas Kruger
Mondi Group, David Hathorn
Mr Price Group Ltd, Stuart Bird
MTN SA – Phuthuma Nhleko (Chairman) and Mteto Nyati (CEO)
Murray & Roberts Holdings Limited, Henry Laas
Nampak Ltd, André de Ruyter
Nando’s, Geoff Whyte
Naspers, Bob van Dijk
Nedbank Group, Vassi Naidoo (Chairman)
Nedbank Group, Mike Brown
Netcare, Richard Friedland
Northam Platinum, Paul Dunne
Old Mutual, Bruce Hemphill, Dave Macready and Ralph Mupita
PG Group, Charles Bromley
Pick n Pay Stores Ltd, Gareth Ackerman (Chairman)
Pioneer Foods Group Ltd, Phil Roux
Primedia Limited, Roger Jardine
RCL Foods Limited, Miles Dally
Remgro Finance Corporation Ltd, Jannie Durand
Reunert Ltd, Alan Dickson
Richards Bay Minerals, Mpho Mothoa
RMB Holdings and RMI Holdings, Herman Bosman
Rothschild, Martin Kingston
Safika Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Moss Ngoasheng
Sanlam, Ian Kirk
Sappi Limited, Steve Binnie
Sasol Limited, Bongani Nqwababa & Stephen Cornell
SEIFSA, Kaizer Nyatsumba
Shell Downstream South Africa, Bonang Mohale
Sibanye Gold, Neal Froneman
South32 Limited, Michael Fraser
Spar, Graham O’Connor
Standard Bank Group Ltd, Ben Kruger & Sim Tshabalala
Sun International, Graeme Stephens
T-Systems South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Gert Schoonbee
Telkom SA Limited, Sipho Maseko
TFG Ltd, Doug Murray
The Banking Association South Africa, Cas Coovadia
Tower Property Fund Ltd, Marc Edwards
Twinsaver Group, Garth Towell
Webber Wentzel, Christo Els (Senior partner)
Woolworths Group SA, Simon Susman
Woolworths Holdings Ltd (Australia), Ian Moir
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Credit: CNBC Africa
