WATCH | The 2023 Directors Event

The ninth iteration of the Directors Event, dubbed SA’s biggest board meeting, took place on June 9 — watch the recording above.

This annual leadership conference, held in association with BCX and the prestigious Sunday Times Top 100 Companies Awards, was hosted by broadcast journalist Gugulethu Mfuphi.

Pali Lehohla, the former statistician-general of SA, delivered the keynote address with BCX CEO Jonas Bogoshi providing opening remarks.

The event comprised three panel discussions. In the first, “What does social impact mean for businesses in SA?”, moderated by Gugulethu Mfuphi, the focus was on how businesses can better deliver social impact for the country.

Contributors to the conversation included: 

• Brent Lindeque, editor in chief, Good Things Guy;
• Lauren Graham, associate professor and director, Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg; 
• Mmaki Jantjies, group executive: innovation and transformation, Telkom SA;
• Nazrana Sultan, head: strategy, business and planning, Digital Frontiers; and
• Carmel Kistasamy, head: global development organisations, Pan Africa, Absa Group.

Alishia Seckam moderated the second panel discussion, “SA re-energised”, which analysed the dynamics that shape SA’s energy and infrastructure crisis.

Panellists included:

• Jacob Maroga, director, Erinite Energy and former CEO of Eskom;
• Busisiwe Mavuso, CEO, Business Leadership SA;
• John Dludlu, CEO, Small Business Institute; and
• Steven Kaplan, 2023 president, the SA Institution for Civil Engineering.

In the final panel discussion, “The hum of tech-savvy businesses and communities”, Faith Mangope moderated a discussion that looked at smart technologies that could help shape the future of SA.

Panellists included: 

• Arnold Netshambidi, CEO, Phambano Technology Development Centre, 
• Khethiwe Nkuna, responsible business executive, Accenture Africa,
• Joseph Ndaba, commissioner, Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution; and
• Zweli Vilakazi, CFO, BCX.

This article was sponsored by Arena Events.