Standard Bank’s CEO and CFO have announced their retirement dates, while the Sars commissioner’s extended tenure is coming to an end.
Being the executive of a major entity comes with set rules, one of which is a timeline for when you must relinquish your seat and give the next best man, or woman, the opportunity to take it to greater heights.
The Standard Bank Group has started searching for a new CEO and CFO as the current leaders prepare to retire. The same goes for the South African Revenue Service (Sars), where the commissioner’s term is coming to an end.
Standard Bank announced on Thursday that its CEO, Sim Tshabalala, and CFO, Arno Daehnke, will retire by the end of 2027.
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Standard Bank’s retirement age
The bank’s board decided to increase its retirement age for executives from 60 to 63 in June. However, this will not apply to Tshabalala and Daehnke. Tshabalala is set to turn 58 in December and will be 60 when he retires in 2027.
Tshabalala has been at the helm of Standard Bank since 2013 and as a board member, he will have a say in who succeeds him. Daehnke joined Africa’s largest bank by assets in 2016.
Some have speculated that 58-year-old Kenny Fihla left Standard Bank, where he was deputy CEO, to lead Absa because Standard Bank’s retirement age would have prevented him from becoming CEO. Absa’s retirement age is also 63.
Standard Bank’s succession plan
“While we have extended the retirement age for future executives aligned to local and international trends that reflect longer and more productive working lives, it is important to maintain clarity and certainty in our current leadership transition plans,” said Standard Bank Group chairman Nonkululeko Nyembezi.
“Sim and Arno’s contributions over more than a decade have been instrumental to Standard Bank’s growth and resilience. This approach ensures we honour those plans while preparing the next generation of leaders.”
The bank has nearly always appointed CEOs from within, apart from the appointment of Robert Stewart. This has fueled Tshabalala’s view that his successor must come from within.
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Sars commissioner to vacate seat
Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter is set to vacate his leadership position in about eight months, following a two-year extension to his initial term.
Business Times reported it has seen an internal e-mail from Kieswetter to Sars staff that addresses speculation about his departure, labelling them as “unhelpful and potentially undermines the hard work and progress made to date”.
He added in the email that he, Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana and President Cyril Ramaphosa are in talks about how to handle the transition.
“When President Ramaphosa requested that I stay on beyond the end of my five-year contract, as I communicated around February 24 2024, I agreed to this request because of my deep commitment to South Africa and indeed the well-being of Sars,” he said.
Kieswetter was appointed commissioner in 2019. His contract was set to come to an end in April 2024, but was extended for an extra two years in February 2024.
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