Political heavyweight leaves SABMiller’s board
How will SABMiller fare without a political fixer par excellence like Cyril Ramaphosa, who decided not to seek re-election to SABMiller’s board of directors at the brewer’s up-coming Annual General Meeting on 25 July 2013?
Mr Ramaphosa, 61, joined the board of South African Breweries Limited in 1997 as a non-executive director and must be considered one of its more colourful members, being a South African politician, businessman, activist, and trade union leader.
SABMiller must have counted its blessings that Comrade Cyril, as he is known to his African National Congress (ANC) pals and fellow trade unionists, probably used his political clout to protect SABMiller from workers’ militancy, which has already cost mining companies, as the worst affected, and the state billions of rand while savaging South Africa’s reputation as an investment destination.
The official reason for Mr Ramaphosa leaving SABMiller’s board is that he was elected Deputy President of the ANC in December 2012, which many view as a stepping stone to a senior position in South Africa’s government, ahead of the general election due in 2014. This would have led to a conflict of interests, real or perceived. Fortunately, even after his departure Mr Ramaphosa will only be a phone-call away so SABMiller need not worry all that much.
As a director of SABMiller, Mr Ramaphosa received a remuneration package worth USD 130,000, according to the brewer’s latest annual report. His personal net worth Forbes estimated to be USD 675 million, which ranked him 21st on Forbes’ list of wealthiest Africans in 2012.
When Mr Ramaphosa resigns, SABMiller will, for the first time in its 118-year history, not have any South African non-executive directors on its board, local media have pointed out. The only non-executive director from Africa will be the Zambian-born economist Dambisa Moyo, who was appointed in 2009.
However, South Africans will continue to dominate the ranks of executives at SABMiller. In addition to Alan Clark, who was appointed CEO in April, the group’s ten-person executive committee includes five South Africans: Norman Adami, Mark Bowman, Tony van Kralingen, Karl Lippert and Ari Mervis.
Already speculation is rife that, when Mr Clark, 53, resigns “in several years’ time”, he will be replaced by another South African, most likely either Mr Bowman, 46, who currently heads the brewer’s Africa division, or Mr Mervis, 49, who is in charge of the Asia-Pacific unit.
Although I personally find the first part of the speculation highly premature – after all, Mr Clark is not close to retirement age – it does not take much of a brain to assume that Mr Bowman or Mr Mervis could be next in line. They already control mighty fiefdoms within the SABMiller group. SABMiller’s latest annual report reveals that Latin America, Africa and Asia-Pacific are the major contributors to group profits.
