Sayurie Naidoo’s appointment as finance chief of Valterra Platinum coincided with another life-changing event – finding out she was pregnant with her first child. She has been instrumental in guiding Valterra Platinum through its demerger and subsequent listing on the London Stock Exchange.
When Sayurie Naidoo was confirmed as chief financial officer of Valterra Platinum in May 2024, it marked the culmination of years of steady progression through the finance ranks and the beginning of a period of intense transformation for both her and the business.
She guided the company through its demerger from Anglo American and London Stock Exchange listing while preparing for motherhood, balancing both with discipline, empathy and a clear vision for Valterra Platinum’s future.
Sayurie, born and raised in Durban to a family of teachers, studied in Cape Town before moving to Johannesburg to join Anglo American’s graduate programme. She has remained with the company, progressing through various roles to become CFO of Valterra Platinum.
The timing of the CFO position coincided with several major life events. “The timing was perfect when I got the CFO position, found out that I was pregnant and we were de-merging. All at the same time,” she says.
Sayurie was the acting CFO for about six months, a challenge she describes as a significant learning opportunity. “Although from a career perspective it was challenging to balance everything, fortunately for me, I had a really good support structure at Valterra Platinum. Craig Miller, the CEO of Valterra Platinum was the previous CFO as well. There was a lot of confidence in me being able to do the role as a CFO,” she adds.
Creating new structures
Launching the Valterra Platinum brand has been a particular highlight for her. “There’ s been a lot of engagement with investors, lenders, creating the narrative in terms of why one would want to invest in Valterra Platinum and obtaining funding for the business.”
The demerger of Valterra Platinum was a major event. Anglo American plc announced that it had completed the demerger of 51 percent of its interest in the platinum group metals business, Valterra Platinum (formerly Anglo American Platinum), effective on 1 June 2025 and the remaining 19.9 percent was also sold down early in September.
For Sayurie, the separation involved creating new structures from scratch. She explains that she and her team had to set up their own finance structures. She needed to create standalone treasury, tax, internal audit, legal and supply chain functions.
“There are a lot of systems that we need to separate and that’s still ongoing for the next couple of months. But it’s also about ensuring stability in the organisation and still doing your day-to-day job. At the same time, ensuring that you have an organisation that’s set up for success as a standalone entity.”
Regulatory compliance was also central as they are also newly listed on the London Stock Exchange. “There were a lot of financial controls and processes that we needed to assess and make sure that we were ready to list on the London Stock Exchange,” she says.
Developing an independent identity was just as critical, so she and the executive team had to develop a strategy for a standalone company, and create the company’s purpose, which is “unearthing value to better our world”.
Ensuring operational excellence
“From a culture and brand perspective, we will always have the rich heritage of Anglo-American, but I think it’s about reinvention as well as Valterra Platinum,” she says.
Sayurie notes that at Valterra Platinum there’s more agility in the way they operate as a company and less bureaucracy.
She adds that what they want to do as Valterra Platinum is to ensure operational excellence. And for her, it's all about bringing a lot of that accountability and the decision-making back to the operations.
“We’ve actually seen the positivity this has brought to our workforce and employees are embracing this new way of working,” she says.
Valterra is also localising some services previously procured from Anglo American and as a South African company, Sayurie believes that they need to be able to use local service providers. And as a result, they’re seeing a lot of efficiencies being built in from a cost perspective.
Sayurie reflects on her working relationship with CEO Craig Miller, saying he has placed a lot of trust in her, which is also a case of mutual respect for the role that finance plays in shaping the organisation.
“You always have a voice at the table. And he’s very respectful of that. We have a great working relationship.”
Becoming resilient
On financial priorities, Sayurie is very clear, saying that for her and her team it’s all about creating value at the end of the day. And the way they do that is around capital discipline, cost competitiveness and sustaining their margins in a very volatile commodity cycle.
“We’ve delivered to date more than R9 billion of cost savings from the beginning of last year to now. It’ s really about how do you become more resilient in such a volatile environment?”
She also stresses capital allocation. “Capital allocation is very key – it is about being disciplined between investing in the business and returning cash to shareholders.”
Cost reviews have been part of the agenda and she explains that the company underwent a restructuring in 2024 where over 3,500 roles were removed. She adds they also identified that there were a lot of contractors in the business – and to date they have managed to reduce costs by cutting down about over 400 contracting companies.
Sayurie describes her leadership style as disciplined and empathetic, as she holds her teams to very high standards from a performance and accountability perspective.
Leadership and future skills
“You need to deliver on your promises. But at the same time, I am also human and empathetic. I am very intentional about developing people and making sure that all voices in my team are heard. It is about creating the space for growth and giving people ownership.”
And because of this, she sees the next generation of finance leaders needing broader skills because for her, it’s not just about accounting skills or finance skills. “It’s important that you are adaptable. You have to be able to navigate ambiguity. You have to be able to take courageous decisions and make quick decisions,” she says.
Her advice to future CFOs is simple: “Master the technical expertise. But also build some of those tools to be resilient. Be curious. Take on challenges and don’t be afraid to make decisions and lead or work in an environment that’s changing and challenging. And it’s not always about numbers, it is about people as well.”
She admits that work can sometimes be very busy with a lot of travelling and hectic deadlines. But, what matters the most for her is balancing work and family. “I prioritise discipline and balance between work and home. I exercise, spend time with family and rely on a strong support system. At work, I focus on delivering; at home, I focus on family.”
Looking ahead, she is clear about her legacy. “I want to leave behind a world-class organisation where finance is a catalyst for transformation. Linked to our purpose, it’s about creating value for our stakeholders, the industry, and South Africa – leading as a finance organisation with purpose.”
