Black professionals stage a walkout at Absa Capital after Phakamani Hadebe is overlooked
'It’s the first time we’ve seen black professionals take a stand against the overlooking of a competent black professional'
About 20 black professionals at Absa Capital staged a walkout last week when Phakamani Hadebe was passed over for the position of head of corporate and investment banking (CIB). The walkout came against the backdrop of Barclays Africa making changes to its group executive committee (exco) after the bank came under fire for its lack of transformation. Transformation in the financial services sector, or the lack thereof, has come into sharp focus of late, especially for a dearth of black talent in the higher echelons — a fact highlighted during the parliamentary hearings on the state of transformation in the sector. A Barclays Africa representative said Hadebe resigned in March, citing personal reasons. Hadebe was previously at the Treasury and has been credited with turning around the Land Bank. His sudden departure from Barclays Africa triggered management changes in the CIB. The position of CIB head was left vacant when Stephen van Coller left in 2016 to head strategy at MTN. Now ...
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