On Sunday close to 100 CEOs from both listed and unlisted South African companies issued the following pledge in the wake of fraud charges against the country’s finance minister.

CEO Initiative Pledge

We, the CEOs and business leaders named below, join the Government/Business/Labour initiative, and commit to:

Do the right thing; stand by what is right; and reject what is wrong.

We stand for: 

• Our Constitution and Bill of Rights, which guarantee the independence of our courts and  the impartiality of our prosecuting authority, and which create the institutions strengthening constitutional democracy in our country, such as the Office of the Public Protector
• Good Governance, by which we mean transparent, rational and evidence-based policymaking in the national interest; diligent and honest delivery of public goods and services; and a private sector that holds itself – and is held – to the highest standards of corporate citizenship, corporate governance and ethics
• A vibrant democracy, including the rights to freedom of expression and to protest peacefully under the equal protection of the law
• Fast and inclusive economic growth and job creation enabled by a stable and predictable regulatory framework for business
• Social justice and transformation so that South Africa truly becomes a country that belongs to all who live in it
• Procedural and substantive justice for all
• Inclusive growth and a prosperous South Africa for all. 

We stand against:

• Injustice, including failures to investigate and prosecute prima facie wrongdoing and any selective, malicious or politically motivated prosecutions that cannot satisfy the public interest test 
• Corruption, graft and waste in both private and public sectors
• Threats of violence and violent protest
• The damage to growth, job creation and transformation caused by policy uncertainty and by self-seeking behaviour in both the private and public sectors
• Persistent unfairness and inequity in the economy

Since the National Prosecuting Authority announced its charges against the Minister of Finance in the public arena, we consider it our right and duty to respond in public.

We stand as one for the rule of law and against the decision to prosecute the Minister of Finance on charges that are, according to the preponderance of expert legal opinion, without factual or legal foundation and not in the public interest.

We stand against the damage this has caused to our economy and to the people of South Africa, ESPECIALLY the poor. 

Signatories

Altron

Anglo American, Mark Cutifani

AngloGold Ashanti Limited, Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan

Asisa, Leon Campher

Aspasa & Sarma, Nico Pienaar

Aveng, Kobus Verster

Bain & Company Inc, Vittorio Massone

Barclays Africa, Maria Ramos

Bid Corporation Ltd, Brian Joffe

Blue Label Telecoms, Mark Levy

Business Unity South Africa, Khanyisile Kweyama

Business Leadership South Africa, Thero Setiloane (on behalf of member companies)

Black Business Council, Mohale Ralebitso

Bowman Gilfillan, Robert Legh (Chairman)

Capitec Bank, Gerrie Fourie

CEO Initiative, Jabu Mabuza (Convenor)

Chamber of Mines, Roger Baxter

Credit Suisse South Africa, Rick Menell (Chairman)

Dimension Data Middle East & Africa, Grant Bodley

Discovery Limited, Adrian Gore

Distell Limited, Richard Rushton

ENSafrica, Michael Katz (Chairman)

Exxaro Resources Limited, Mxolisi Mgojo

FirstRand Bank Ltd, Johan Burger

Goldman Sachs, Colin Coleman

Growthpoint Properties Ltd, Norbert Sasse

Hollard Group, Nic Kohler

Imperial Holdings Ltd, Mark Lamberti

Independent, Michael Spicer

Investec Bank Limited & Investec plc, Stephen Koseff

Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Nicky Newton-King

Kagiso Tiso Holdings, Vuyisa Nkonyeni

KPMG Southern Africa, Trevor Hoole

Liberty Holdings Group, Thabo Dloti

Life Healthcare, André Meyer

Lion Pride Investment Holdings Ltd, Geoff Rothschild

Mediclinic SA, Danie Meintjes

Menston Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Stanley Subramoney

MMI Holdings Limited, Nicolaas Kruger

Mondi Group, David Hathorn

Mr Price Group Ltd, Stuart Bird

MTN SA  – Phuthuma Nhleko (Chairman) and Mteto Nyati (CEO) 

Murray & Roberts Holdings Limited, Henry Laas

Nampak Ltd, André de Ruyter

Nando’s, Geoff Whyte

Naspers, Bob van Dijk

Nedbank Group, Vassi Naidoo (Chairman)

Nedbank Group, Mike Brown

Netcare, Richard Friedland

Northam Platinum, Paul Dunne

Old Mutual, Bruce Hemphill, Dave Macready and Ralph Mupita

PG Group, Charles Bromley

Pick n Pay Stores Ltd, Gareth Ackerman (Chairman)

Pioneer Foods Group Ltd, Phil Roux

Primedia Limited, Roger Jardine

RCL Foods Limited, Miles Dally

Remgro Finance Corporation Ltd, Jannie Durand

Reunert Ltd, Alan Dickson

Richards Bay Minerals, Mpho Mothoa

RMB Holdings and RMI Holdings, Herman Bosman

Rothschild, Martin Kingston

Safika Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Moss Ngoasheng

Sanlam, Ian Kirk

Sappi Limited, Steve Binnie

Sasol Limited, Bongani Nqwababa & Stephen Cornell

SEIFSA, Kaizer Nyatsumba

Shell Downstream South Africa, Bonang Mohale

Sibanye Gold, Neal Froneman

South32 Limited, Michael Fraser

Spar, Graham O’Connor

Standard Bank Group Ltd, Ben Kruger & Sim Tshabalala

Sun International, Graeme Stephens

T-Systems South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Gert Schoonbee

Telkom SA Limited, Sipho Maseko

TFG Ltd, Doug Murray

The Banking Association South Africa, Cas Coovadia

Tower Property Fund Ltd, Marc Edwards

Twinsaver Group, Garth Towell

Webber Wentzel, Christo Els (Senior partner)

Woolworths Group SA, Simon Susman

Woolworths Holdings Ltd (Australia), Ian Moir

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