Trading Places
BASIL Read, the mining, development and engineering group, has appointed Pieter Marais financial director and Richard Simpson managing director of Basil Read Civils.
Simpson is the operations director of Basil Read Civils, working on Eskom’s Medupi project, having joined the group from AvengGrinaker-LTA in 2012. He has, among other qualifications, a bachelor of applied science (hons) civil engineering from Queens University, Canada. He is a member of the South African Institution of Civil Engineers, a chartered engineer and member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in the UK.
Marius Heyns, the CEO of Basil Read, said: “Richard brings with him the kind of experience required to meet the challenges currently being experienced in South Africa’s civil engineering sector.”
Marais has a BCom (hons) from the University of Johannesburg and is a chartered accountant. He spent 10 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the assurance division, following which he completed his chartered financial analyst exams and spent three years as a sellside equity analyst at Investec Bank.
Before joining Basil Read as chief financial officer-designate in January 2012, Marais headed the group enterprise resource planning implementation and management information projects at AngloGold Ashanti.
Lester Peteni, Basil Read Group chairman, said: “Pieter’s appointment is a strategic step towards the further growth of the company and his experience will serve us well into the future.” GIJIMA, an IT company, has appointed Sindi Zilwa an independent nonexecutive director and a member of the audit and risk committee, and Tommy Edmond a nonexecutive director and member of the remuneration and nomination committee.
Zilwa is co-founder and CEO of auditing firm Nkonki and is an independent nonexecutive director of Aspen Pharmacare Holdings, Metrofile Holdings and Discovery. She was the youngest woman to win the Businesswoman of the Year award.
Edmond qualified as a chartered accountant and has been CEO of Tourvest since 2003.
“These appointments show the confidence Gijima has in the market. Our board has taken a decision to recruit new members who are current CEOs of major companies,” said Robert Gumede, the chairman of the board of Gijima. MARK Stewart will be appointed interim CEO of accounting firm BDO SA to replace long-standing CEO John Spencer, who is retiring. Stewart will fill the position until it is filled permanently at the end of the year.
Stewart has been the managing partner of the BDO Durban office since 2000 after serving his articles with the firm and becoming a partner in 1991. He has also served on BDO’s executive committee since 2000.