Pieter Engelbrecht (pictured), Shoprite chief operating officer, who has been with the Shoprite group for some 20 years, will take over from Whitey Basson as Shoprite CEO as of 1 January 2017.
Shoprite said in a statement:
"Basson's decision to retire will bring to a close a remarkable career of nearly 45 years, virtually all of which was spent with Shoprite, in which the business grew from a small eight-store chain with a value of R1m to a globally respected retailer with a market capitalisation of R114bn, and over 140,000 employees today."
Shoprite chairman Christo Wiese said Basson had spearheaded Shoprite's pioneering expansion into the rest of Africa after 1994: "He also successfully acquired and integrated Grand Bazaars, Checkers and OK Bazaars. He fully deserves his reputation as one of SA's 'retail giants'."
Basson will remain with Shoprite as nonexecutive vice-chairman.
