FirstRand appoints first Black woman CEO
FirstRand has announced the appointment of Mary Vilakazi as the group’s first Black woman CEO.
Vilakazi, who is currently the COO at FirstRand, will succeed Alan Pullinger in a major leadership reshuffle.
The board announced the latest changes on Wednesday.
The new appointments will be effective from 1 April 2024.
Pullinger has been with FirstRand group for 26 years, including the role of RMB CEO until his promotion to FirstRand deputy CEO in early 2015.
He became group CEO in early 2018.
The group says he will step down as an executive director at the end of March 2024 but will remain with the group full-time until the end of June 2024 as part of the handover process.
Vilakazi joined the group as COO in 2018, having worked at MMI Holdings, where she held the roles of CFO and deputy CEO.
The board said it was delighted to appoint a strong internal candidate to the group CEO role.
"As one of three FirstRand executive directors, Ms Vilakazi has worked closely with Mr Pullinger on strategy execution and has successfully led a number of key growth and diversification strategies, including the expansion and improving profitability of the broader Africa portfolio and scaling the insurance business.
“Ms Vilakazi has a deep knowledge of the strategies and operations of the underlying portfolio of businesses. She is a member of the group strategic committee, the executive committees and advisory boards of the operating businesses and the group’s financial resource management committee.
She is also the CEO of the corporate centre, a role that requires oversight of the key central functions of risk, compliance, treasury and audit.”
The board also announced that Roger Jardine will be stepping down as chairman and director of the board at the annual general meeting in November.
"Mr Jardine informed the board that he has elected to step down as he wishes to explore options to best serve South Africa, and this will require his full attention. The board thanks Mr Jardine for his invaluable contribution as a director.”
Johan Burger will be taking over from the role effective 1 December 2023.
