New chairman for Metropolitan
Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu, formerly special economic adviser to President Thabo Mbeki, has unanimously been elected chairman of Metropolitan with effect from 1 June 2007.
Prof Nkuhlu, who joined the board in March, succeeds JJ Njeke who has been acting chairman of the financial services group since the death of Eric Molobi in June 2006.
Group chief executive Peter Doyle said, "Wiseman's legendary abilities, both as a businessman and as an academic, are an immeasurable asset. We are already deriving great benefit from his acumen and insights at both a strategic and an operational level."
Amongst his many accolades and achievements, Prof Nkuhlu has been actively involved in the advancement of black accountants and other professionals for over twenty years as well as serving as economic adviser to the president for five years from 2000 to 2005.
"The first African to qualify as a chartered accountant in South Africa in 1976, Wiseman has always been a role model for aspirant black CAs in this country. He was certainly an inspirational figure during my student days," says Preston Speckmann, group finance director.
Transformation at both a national and a corporate level has always been high on Prof Nkuhlus priority list and he is looking forward to contributing to ongoing change and development at Metropolitan.
Metropolitan's board is already one of the most representative in the country, with a 60%/40% split between black and white directors. In addition, three out of four of the groups executive directors are black. The mix of skills and experience of board members is subject to ongoing scrutiny so as to ensure, amongst other
things, that "the balance between financial and non-financial expertise is maintained."
"JJ has done an excellent job of 'filling in' for Eric for the past year a truly daunting task. We are deeply indebted to him for the masterly way in which he stepped into the breach.
CV of Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu (63)
B Com, CA (SA), MBA (New York)
In addition to his formal academic qualifications, Prof Nkuhlu is the recipient of four honorary doctorates, three of commerce, from the Universities of the Free State, Pretoria and Stellenbosch respectively, and one in economic sciences from the University of Cape Town.
Amongst the highlights of his academic career were his professorship of accountancy at the University of the Transkei and his five-year tenure as principal of the university. His extensive business experience includes establishing his own auditing firm, WL Nkuhlu & Co in 1978 after a year as an audit partner with Hoek &
Wiehahn. This was followed by five years as audit partner at Wiehahn & Meyernel from 1984 - 1989. In partnership with three colleagues he founded Worldwide African Investment Holdings in 1996 and two years later took over the Bank of Transkei from ABSA to establish MEEG Bank.
He was president of the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants for two consecutive terms of office (1998 - 2000) while simultaneously serving as the first chairman of the Council on Higher Education from 1998 to 2002. Through his leadership of the council Prof Nkuhlu played an important role in the repositioning of higher education in the post-apartheid era. In 1990 the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (ABASA) presented him with a special merit award for his active involvement in promoting the accounting profession amongst black people while in 2004 the University of Fort Hare
established the Nkuhlu Centre of Accounting in his honour.
Wiseman has served as a director of many leading industrial and financial services companies in South Africa, including BMW, JCI and Western Areas, Tongaat Hulett, BarlowRand, Standard Bank, Old Mutual and MEEG Bank. He was a director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa from 1983 - 1993, and chairman from 1993 to 2000. From 1992 - 1996 he served as chief executive of the Independent
Development Trust and at the same time chaired the Black Management Forum (1992 - 1995).
In 2000 he resigned all directorships to join the Office of the President as economic adviser to President Mbeki, a position that he held until 2005.
In his capacity as economic adviser, Prof Nkuhlu was closely involved in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), serving as the first chairman of the steering committee and the chief executive of the secretariat. Post-NEPAD he resumed his directorship of Old Mutual, which he subsequently resigned in
October 2006, and took up directorships at Virgin Active, Eastern Cape Development Corporation (chairman), AngloGold Ashanti, Datatec and Bigen Africa Consulting Engineers (chairman). He established Pan African Capital Holdings in July 2005 and was appointed chairman.
In 2006 he accepted the chairmanship of Kagiso Trust Investments.
