Who is going to be the CFO of the Year 2015? It is up to the impressive panel of judges to decide who will climb the podium of the Summer Place on 14 May 2015 and receive the prestigious award. The 15 captains of industry (and a professor) will largely base their judgement on the interviews with the 28 nominated CFOs. Yesterday, we kicked off the interview process and just like last year, it is an enormous privilege for me as editor of CFO South Africa to witness these in depth conversations between some of the most influential and interesting leaders in the country.
The first CFO to be interviewed was Fikile Mhlontlo, Group Financial Director at Denel, the state-owned aerospace and defence technology group. On behalf of the panel of judges Rob Otty, Managing Director of law firm Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa had made his way to the Denel head office in Centurion. Mhlontlo gave us a fascinating overview of the continuous balancing act between stakeholders and commercial and public interests that Denel is engaging in.
Our second appointment yesterday was in Midrand at fleet management firm MiX Telematics, with Rob Otty again present. Chief Financial Officer Megan Pydigadu has been nominated for the second year in succession. After the initial excitement about the company's dual listing and the subsequent disappointing performance on the New York Stock Exchange, Pydigadu has helped the South African company to weather the storm and find the road to success and growth again.
The last interview partner of the first day was André Broodryk, Group Financial Director at JSE-listed waste management group Interwaste. The member of the panel of judges present was professor Ben Marx, Vice-Chairperson of the Accountancy Department of the Faculty of Economic and Financial Sciences of the University of Johannesburg. Broodryk has helped turn a fast-growing, but at times loss making,
enterpreneurial company into a growth pearl that wants to be the biggest and best in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
This morning we met Rofhiwa Irene Singo, the ambitious CFO of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) in Pretoria. The members of the panel of judges present were Asher Bohbot, founding CEO of IT success story EOH and Carel Smit, Executive Committee member at our principal sponsor KPMG. Last year we spoke to Singo about her remarkable career and her plans for the future. She prides herself in the title CFO Clean Audit.
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