Lewis Group has a unitary board structure consisting of six independent non-executive directors and two full-time executive directors.
The board is confident that it has a well-rounded combination of knowledge, skills, experience, diversity and independence to effectively fulfill its governance duties and responsibilities.
COMMITTE
KEY
AC
AUDIT
NOM
NOMINATION
RC
RISK
SET
SOCIAL, ETHICS AND TRANSFORMATION
REM
RUMERATION
| BOARD | ||
| C | Chairperson | |
| INV | By invitation |
- Board of directors
- Executive management
- Company secretary
Board of directors
Hilton Saven
Independent non-executive chairperson
BCom (Hons); CA(SA)
Committees
Appointed 2004
Appointed as the chairperson in 2017
Expertise and experience
Corporate governance, strategy and finance.Hilton is an experienced company director and chartered accountant. He is the former chairman of Mazars South Africa, an international accounting firm, as well as the former chairman of Praxity Alliance, an international alliance of accounting firms.
Specific contribution to the board
Hilton’s extensive experience in corporate governance, strategy, accounting and finance supports the board in fulfilling its statutory obligations and financial oversight responsibilities. He performed these roles over a number of years for both listed and large private companies.
Prof. Fatima Abrahams
Lead independent director
BEcon (Hons); MCom; DCom
Committees
Appointed 2005
Appointed as lead independent director in 2021
Expertise and experience
Human resources, remuneration and ESGGFatima is an academic, experienced company director and a registered industrial psychologist. She is an emeritus professor at the University of the Western Cape, having also served as Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.
Specific contribution to the board
Fatima has served as a non-executive director on the board of large listed companies, particularly in the retail sector. She built up extensive business experience over the years, particularly in the areas of remuneration, human capital and ESG, and has added substantial value to the board in these areas. She performed similar roles for other listed and unlisted entities over a number of years.
Adheera Bodasing
Independent non-executive director
BA; LLB
Committees
Appointed 2017
Expertise and experience
Legal and compliance.Adheera practised at two of South Africa’s leading law firms where she specialised in intellectual property law, gambling law and financial sector law and policy. She headed the legal division of the National Treasury before starting Polarity Consulting which provides legal guidance and advisory services to local and international businesses in highly regulated industries.
Specific contribution to the board
Adheera engages regularly with parliament and the various financial sector regulators which allows her to advise the board on current and proposed regulations and policies impacting the business. Her broad understanding of the business’ legal and regulatory framework also enables her to contribute on matters relating to regulatory compliance as well as other legal aspects.
Brendan Deegan
Independent non-executive director
BCompt; CA(SA)
Committees
Appointed 2022
Expertise and experience
Accounting, finance, governance, assurance and riskBrendan is a former partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in South Africa. His roles at PwC included head of the South Africa and Africa audit/assurance practices, chairperson of the Africa governance board and head of the global internal audit practice. He was involved with and advised many large multinational companies over a number of years.
Specific contribution to the board
Brendan serves as a non-executive director of Lewis Group and Monarch Insurance Company Limited. He is an experienced accountant and former auditor with expertise in financial reporting, leadership and governance, and assurance and risk.
Daphne Motsepe
Independent non-executive director
BCompt; MBA
Committees
Appointed 2017
Expertise and experience
Finance, banking, governance and leadershipDaphne was formerly the chief executive of card and unsecured lending at Absa Bank and also served as managing director of Postbank. She previously served as a non-executive director of Investec Bank, Highveld Steel and Vanadium, Edcon, Mercantile Bank, Woolworths Financial Services, Rand Mutual Assurance and Thebe Investment Corporation.
Specific contribution to the board
Daphne’s experience includes serving as chairperson of remuneration as well as social, ethics and transformation committees of other boards and serving as a member of the audit, risk and nominations/directors affairs committees.
Tapiwa Njikizana
Independent non-executive director
BCompt (Hons); CTA, CA(SA); JSE Registered IFRS Advisor
Committees
Appointed 2019
Expertise and experience
Accounting, financial reporting and consultingTapiwa is an executive director at W.consulting SA (Pty) Limited. He previously served as a non-executive director on the board of Iliad Africa Limited and Mercantile Bank Holdings Limited.
He was recognised for his contribution to the consulting industry receiving the “Top Consulting Professional” at the Sanlam South African Professional Services Awards. Tapiwa held roles in leading industry bodies and committees including being a member of the Accounting Practice Committee of SAICA, and a member of the Financial Reporting Investigation Panel of the JSE.
Specific contribution to the board
Tapiwa is an experienced non-executive director with expertise in the financial services sector, including experience chairing audit and technology committees for other entities, as well as experience on the remuneration and nominations committees of Lewis Group.
Johan Enslin
Executive director and chief executive officer
Committees
Appointed to the board 2009
Expertise and experience
Operations, strategy and governanceJohan has 32 years’ credit furniture retail experience. He joined Lewis Group as a salesman in 1993 and rose rapidly through the ranks, holding positions including branch manager, regional controller, divisional general manager, general manager: operations and operations director of Lewis Stores. He was the chief operating officer responsible for the retail operations of the Group prior to his appointment as chief executive officer.
Specific contribution to the board
Johan is the chief executive officer and an executive director of the Group, and has a wealth of retail experience gained through all stages of the economic cycle.
Jacques Bestbier
Executive director and chief financial officer
BCom (Hons); BCompt (Hons); CA(SA)
Committees
Appointed to the board 2018
Expertise and experience
Accounting and financeJacques is an experienced chartered accountant with a background in short-term insurance, banking and retail. He joined the Group in 2012 and served as general manager: administration prior to his appointment as chief financial officer
Specific contribution to the board
Jacques is the chief financial officer and an executive director of the Group.
Executive management
Johan Enslin
Executive director and chief executive officer
Expertise and experience
32 years of serviceJohan has extensive credit furniture retail experience. He joined Lewis Group as a salesman in 1993 and rose rapidly through the ranks, holding positions including branch manager, regional controller, divisional general manager, general manager: operations and operations director of Lewis Stores
He was the chief operating officer responsible for the retail operations of the Group prior to his appointment as chief executive officer in 2009.
Jacques Bestbier
Chief financial officer
BCom (Hons); BCompt (Hons); CA(SA)
Expertise and experience
13 years of serviceJacques is an experienced chartered accountant with a background in short-term insurance, banking and retail.
He joined the Group in 2012 and served as general manager: administration prior to his appointment as chief financial officer in 2018.
Waleed Achmat
Human resources director
BA Hons (Industrial Psychology)
Expertise and experience
8 years of serviceWaleed is an experienced human resources practitioner with a background in mining, retail and education.
He joined the Group in 2017 as the human resources director. He is responsible for driving and managing the implementation of both strategic and operational human resources throughout the business.
Rinus Oliphant
Operations director
Expertise and experience
27 years of serviceRinus has 27 years’ experience in credit furniture retail. He joined the Group in 1998 as a salesman and rose through the ranks, holding positions including branch manager, regional controller and divisional general manager of Lewis Stores.
Rinus was appointed as the credit director in 2014 prior to being promoted to operations director in 2017. He is responsible for the retail operations of the Group.
Executive management
Marisha Gibbons
Company secretary
LLB; LLM
Appointed 2022
Expertise and experience
Legal and corporate governanceMarisha is an admitted attorney. She joined the Group from Quantum Foods Holdings Limited where she worked as the company secretary and head of legal for four years. She completed her articles in the corporate commercial department at ENSafrica and served as a legal advisor for two years at Lactalis SA (formerly Parmalat SA).