Board of directors

David Nurek (61)
Dip in Law, Grad Dip Company Law
Independent Non-executive Chairman
Chairman of the Nomination Committee Member of Risk, Remuneration and Transformation Committees
Appointed July 2004

David practised as a commercial attorney at Sonnenberg Hoffmann Galombik for over 30 years, ultimately serving as chairman. He joined Investec Bank in 2000 and took up the position of Regional Chairman Western Cape, Investec Group. He has been associated with the Lewis Group for over 20 years. He was appointed non-executive chairman of Lewis Stores in 2001 and chairman of Lewis Group in July 2004. His directorships include Clicks Group, The Foschini Group and Sun International.

Fatima Abrahams (48)
BEcon(Hons), MComm, DComm
Independent Non-executive Director
Chairperson of the Transformation Committee Member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committees
Appointed September 2005

Fatima is a senior professor in Industrial Psychology at the University of Western Cape (“UWC”) and a registered Industrial Psychologist with the HPCSA. She is also the chairperson of TSiBA Education, a non-profit, private higher educational institution. She previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at UWC and as chairperson of Victoria and Alfred Waterfront Holdings. Her directorships include The Foschini Group and Clicks Group.

Zarina Bassa (46)
BAcc, CA(SA)
Independent non-executive Director
Member of the Audit, Risk and Remuneration Committees
Appointed October 2009

Zarina is the CEO of Zarina Bassa Investments and executive chairman of Songhai Capital. A former partner of Ernst & Young, she joined the ABSA Group in 2002 and was an executive director and a member of the bank’s executive committee, with accountability for private banking. Zarina is a non-executive director of Kumba Iron Ore, Vodacom South Africa, Sun International, Oceana Group, the National Business Initiative, the Financial Services Board and Woolworths Financial Services. She has also previously chaired the Public Accountants and Auditors Board and the Auditing Standards Board and has been a member of the JSE’s GAAP Monitoring Panel.

Les has over 30 years’ experience in financial management within the retail industry and has been the financial director of the main subsidiary, Lewis Stores, since 1989. Prior to joining the group Les spent five years as the financial director of AMC Classic. Les has served as a director of the group’s insurer, Monarch Insurance, for 15 years and was appointed chief executive officer of Monarch in 2008.

Johan Enslin (37)
Chief Executive Officer
Member of the Transformation Committee
Appointed as director in October 2009

Johan joined the Lewis Group as a salesman in 1993. After several promotions he was appointed General Manager Operations in 2002 and three years later Operations Director of Lewis Stores. He was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2007 with responsibility for the retail operations of the group. Johan was appointed Chief Executive Officer designate in November 2008 and assumed his current position in October 2009.

Sizakele (Za) Marutlulle(43)
MA (Sociology)
Independent non-executive Director
Member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committees
Appointed October 2009

Sizakele has been in the media and related industries for over 17 years and has held senior positions internationally and locally at SA Tourism, Herdbuoys McCann-Erickson, and various agencies. She founded multi-cultural communications and marketing consultancy, Moonchild, and is currently CEO of Grey SA. She is a non-executive director of Rhodes Food Group, a member of the Institute of Directors of SA and sits on the council for Vega School of Brand Communications.

Hilton Saven (58)
BCom, CA(SA)
Independent Non-executive Director
Chairman of Audit and Risk Committee
Member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committees

Appointed June 2004 Hilton has been in the accounting profession since 1975 with Mazars. He is chairman of Mazars South Africa and serves on the group executive board of Mazars International. He is chairman of the Praxity Africa/Middle East region and serves on the governing council of Praxity, a global alliance of independent accounting firms. He is also the non-executive chairman of Truworths International Limited.

Alan Smart (66)
Non-executive Director
Member of the Risk, Remuneration and Nomination Committees
Appointed as a non-executive director in 2009

Alan served as the Chief Executive Officer of the group from 1991 until his retirement in 2009. He has continued to serve on the board in a non-executive capacity. Alan joined Lewis in 1969 and held various financial and operational positions, including Credit Director (1981 to 1984) and Joint Managing Director (1984 to 1991). He also served on the board of GUS Canada, a retail furniture group and oversaw a turnaround programme.

Ben van der Ross (64)
Diploma in Law
Independent Non-executive Director
Chairman of the Remuneration Committee
Member of the Audit, Risk and Nomination Committees
Appointed June 2004

Ben practised as an attorney for 18 years and continues to consult for Van Der Ross Motala attorneys. He is a former director of the Urban Foundation, a director and later deputy CEO of the Independent Development Trust, and subsequently acting CEO of South African Rail Commuter Corporation Limited and CEO of Business South Africa. He was a commissioner of the Independent Electoral Commission for the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994. Ben’s directorships include Naspers Limited, FirstRand Limited, Pick n Pay Stores Limited, MMI Holdings Limited and Distell Group Limited.