From the managing director

The morning after a fantastic CFO Dinner in Cape Town in August, my colleagues asked me – after they had seen some photos – why everyone seemed to be laughing so much. What could we possibly have been talking about that was so uplifting and entertaining to CFOs of such serious businesses as TFG, Distell, Oceana, Woolworths, Curro and others? Surely, times are tough?

It made me reflect again on the power of community, with its well-documented benefits including knowledge, connections, inspiration, resources and support. There is also a direct pressure/stress release that comes with the discovery, over a good glass of wine, that fellow CFOs battle with similarly stubborn colleagues, corporate conundrums and great unknowns. For people who make it their business to be in control, a shared sense of vulnerability can make all the difference for their mental wellbeing.

Still, it was a bit of a miracle that the dinner was such an upbeat affair, given the negative picture the CFOs had painted in our prep calls: colleagues and consumers are leaving for Australia, economic prospects are poor and tech is killing jobs. The penny dropped when one of the CFOs said to me: I wonder what my colleagues are doing, personally and with their businesses, to make this country a better place?

So that, I told my colleagues of the fantastic CFO SA team, is what we were talking and smiling about (and about a few other things, see page 64). We heard how real people in real businesses are contributing to real change – and many professed to double their efforts outside work hours as well.

Under the banner CFO Cares, this magazine has started to highlight some of those stories. Discovery Health CFO Brett Tromp and his wife Candice kicked off in Q1 with their support for the Orient Hills Day Care, Capitec’s André du Plessis spoke about his Community Keepers project and PPC’s Tryphosa Ramano took us to Hillbrow with the NPO Time for Change that she supports.

For many reasons, I am very grateful and excited that this issue features the CFO Cares story of Bowmans CFO Jo-Ann Pohl (page 78), in which she explains why and how she supports the Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa. Through her career, which took her from Ubank to Standard Chartered to Telesure to Bowmans, I have always considered Jo as the number-one fan of – and contributor to – the CFO community, with an unashamed drive to connect and share. If this article hasn’t convinced you of the power of community, please arrange a coffee with Jo and she’ll happily explain – much better than I ever could.