A-LISTERS | Walking the talk in a room full of SA’s top business leaders

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Forget the repo rate, what do four reserve bank governors chat about when they get together?

“We are talking about walking. Exercising. Not about monetary policy,” answers Ebson Uanguta, the governor of the Bank of Namibia when I interrupt the animated conversation he is having with his peers Emmanuel Maluke Letete (Central Bank of Lesotho), Phil Mnisi (Central Bank of Eswatini) and Lesetja Kganyago, the South African Reserve Bank governor.

We are standing on the terrace of the Four Seasons The Westcliff Hotel in Joburg which, fittingly, is a short jog from Westcliff Stairs, the favoured spot for Joburg fitness enthusiasts to burn calories.

Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago, Central Bank of Lesotho governor Emmanuel Letete, former finance minister Trevor Manuel, Bank of Namibia governor Ebson Uanguta and Central Bank of Eswatini governor Phil Mnisi at the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies event at the Westcliff Hotel. Picture: Masi Losi However, this quartet of central bankers were not there for the step counts but to attend an event perched at the top of the ladder when it comes to powerbroking affairs, the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies knees-up on Thursday evening.

It was our guv, Lesetja, who “got this surprise that I must present myself here” (more on that later), extending the invite to his fellow central bankers in the Common Monetary Area who were in town for a regular monetary meeting.

The lanky, personable and razor-sharp economist later explained to me that an inclination to brisk walks was an essential part of the job.

“A long brisk walk softens up things — by the time we come back, we are fresh and we can apply our minds to policy. An unfit governor can be a very dangerous governor,” said Lesetja.

Moving to a couple nearby who are also well versed on our financial system: former finance minister Trevor Manuel and his wife Maria Ramos, recognised as one of the world’s most powerful business leaders and economists.

Former finance minister Trevor Manuel and his wife, Maria Ramos, group chair of Standard Chartered PLC, at the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies event at the Four Seasons hotel. Picture: Masi Losi Who holds the purse strings, I wonder, turning the conversation to domestic monetary matters.

“We’ve never had a single disagreement ever,” answers Trevor.

“Me,” blushes Maria, the former Absa CEO now group chair of the London-based Standard Chartered global bank.

Onto someone who is the most recent to fill Maria’s shoes at the red bank, Kenny Fihla, who initially studied mechanical engineering.

Absa CEO Kenny Fihla with his team after he was named Businessman of the Year at the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies event. Picture: Masi Losi “Engineering provides you with mental models you can apply anywhere,” explained the Absa CEO, who first earned his stripes in the early 2000s when he, along with then city manager Khetso Gordhan, managed to make a dent in turning around Johannesburg’s finances.

Into the grand ballroom with its glass leaf chandeliers and jacaranda-inspired wallpaper where notables including Telkom Group chief exec Serame Taukobong and his wife, Lati Taukobong, BCX acting CEO Hasnain Motlekar and Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes take their seats.

Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes and his partner, Kazia Mitchell, during the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies event at the Westcliff Hotel. Picture: Masi Losi Starters of roast orange and beetroot salad with goat’s cheese, pickled onion and pea shoots are served before our now veteran awards host, Gugulethu Mfuphi, steps on stage to greet us and introduce Sunday Times editor Makhudu Sefara.

“It is very rare in our country for a company to be able to put together an event of this nature, bringing together the calibre of people you have in this room,” the editor points out.

Telkom has played no small part in the smooth running of our elections since 1994, and when Serame takes to the stage to address us on behalf of the night’s sponsor, Telkom subsidiary, BCX, he acknowledges this paper’s milestone of 120 years in print this year.

Telkom Group CEO Serame Taukobong speaks at the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies event. Picture: Masi Losi “To stay part of the country’s life for more than a century takes more than longevity. It takes a willingness to keep earning your place through every change in which South Africans live, read and argue,” says the telco head.

Serame’s speech is peppered with many head-nodding moments, but the one which stayed with me was when he reminded the captains of industry present that “one of the hardest parts of leadership is the period between a decision and the proof that it will work. It’s the stretch where the investment has been made but the returns haven’t arrived.”

On to shining examples of leadership and our Reserve Bank governor is recognised with the lifetime achievement award.

In his address, he recalled receiving a “protest award” — 2017 Business Leader of the Year, which he interpreted as a “hands off our institutions” warning to the state capture forces of the time.

“Achievement in public service is never ours alone. It rests on the trust of the people we serve, the dedication of those with whom we serve and the institutions that hold us together,” the governor said in his acceptance speech, inviting his deputy governors to join him on stage to accept the honour with him.

Kenny Fihla was named business leader of the year.

Sunday Times editor Makhudu Sefara hands over a certificate to Pan African Resources CEO Cobus Loots, whose company was named number 1 during the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies held at the Westcliff Hotel. Picture: Masi Losi The honour of first place in the Top 100 went to gold miner Pan African Resources, with CEO Cobus Loots accepting the acknowledgement. If you had made an initial investment of R10,000 in the company on September 1 2021, and held onto those shares, they would have been worth the tidy sum of R101,128 at the end of August.

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