Spar appoints IT expert as a director after SAP disaster

• Two new members of the board will focus on areas of concern that the retailing group is working on to improve

After a disastrous rollout of SAP software in KwaZulu-Natal stores, Spar has appointed a professor of computer engineering who worked as chief digital officer at PricewaterhouseCoopers Africa (PwC) as one of its two new directors.

The retailer appointed two new directors on Monday after Andrew Waller and Jane Cammy left suddenly in November after concern that the directors did not act on whistle-blower warnings about how the group’s new SAP software would be introduced.

The whistle-blower contacted Cammy in October 2021 and voiced concern about the implementation of the project in KwaZulu-Natal, its biggest region in terms of sales.

The SAP project has been called a “disaster” by chair Mike Bosman, and led to major losses as retailers in KwaZulu-Natal had to buy directly from suppliers rather than from Spar when the software was not working adequately.

The two director choices announced on Monday appear to focus on areas where Spar is working to improve, with the second director being an expert in marketing and advertising in SA and abroad.

Prof Liesbeth Botha is an electrical engineer who was professor of electronic and computer engineering at the University of Pretoria. She has a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from CarnegieMellon University.

She also worked as an executive director at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Botha was an executive director of innovation and commercialisation at the University of Stellenbosch and is a founder of InnovUS, the holding company of the start-ups and other commercial ventures of the university. Before her executive roles, she specialised in artificial intelligence, data analysis and pattern recognition, including speech and image recognition, artificial neural networks and machine learning.

Botha served as chief digital officer at PwC, where she worked for eight years until mid-2022.

The other new director is Marie Jamieson, who was CEO of the international advertising and branding firm TBWA/Hunt Lascaris in Johannesburg, after working for the firm as an international strategic planning director.

In that role, she worked in many countries around the world, and is recognised globally as a strategic planning expert, the group said. Spar said that Jamieson has vast experience in marketing and advertising in more than 60 categories, spanning a career of more than 40 years, including 10 years in fastmoving consumer goods. Jamieson also worked at Absa’s regional business outside SA for six years as head of marketing and drove the rebranding of the business from Barclays to Absa in 10 African countries.

Spar has been improving its marketing campaigns recently and trying to position itself as affordable, countering the perception that it is expensive. It recently launched a whole new campaign to emphasise its value offerings.

Spar’s board has changed considerably in the past year.

The company made headlines in late 2022 when it clashed with its biggest retailer, the Giannacopoulos Group, and experienced a breakdown in relationships with 10 emerging black retailers who accused it of racism. A forensic report later cleared it of all charges of discrimination but highlighted two fictional loans.

Former chair Graham O’Connor stepped down in January this year after controversy about his family business dealings with the group and his move from the CEO role to chair without a break, contrary to King Code IV advice. Former CEO Brett Botten stepped down in January and left the board.

Since those headlines, four other directors have left.

The new appointments have brought in reputable directors including Shirley Zinn, who worked as head of human resources at Woolworths and Standard Bank and was on the Shoprite board.

Others are retailer Pedro da Silva, who worked in senior management in SA and Russia, and economist Trudi Makhaya, who served as special economic adviser to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

DIRECTORS DID NOT ACT ON WHISTLEBLOWER WARNINGS ON INTRODUCTION OF SAP SOFTWARE