BUSA committed to transparent CEO selection

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Pretoria - Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) on Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to a transparent process in selecting its next chief executive officer, while also announcing Raymond Parsons as its acting chief executive.

"In the interests of continuity and stability in BUSA, it was agreed that the Deputy CEO of BUSA, Raymond Parsons, would be Acting CEO as from 1 June 2011. He will occupy this position until a new CEO takes up his or her appointment in due course," BUSA president Futhi Mtoba said.

This follows the resignation of Jerry Vilakazi as of 31 May 2011.

BUSA expressed its confidence in Parsons to continue the work of the organisation as normal.

"There will be no interruption in BUSA's advocacy and lobbying role on behalf of business in terms of its existing mandates. At the meetings earlier this week, it was also reaffirmed that the organization is committed to a transparent process - within the governance requirements of BUSA - to appoint a new CEO," said Mtoba.

BUSA said the process of appointing a new CEO is on track, with an interview panel being mandated to interact with the recruitment agency and conduct the interviews of a short-list of potential candidates.

"We are confident we will recruit an appropriate person and will do so in a way that meets the highest standards of governance, transparency and objectivity. Due regard will be given to proper recruitment procedures," said Mtoba.

Additionally, a BUSA member submitted Mthunzi Mdwaba, the current Vice-President of BUSA, as a candidate for the position after which he offered to recuse himself as Vice-President, as well as from all other activities in that role, including from the process to recruit the CEO.

In the meantime, on closure of applications, Heidrick and Struggles are evaluating the applications received and a decision still has to be taken on the number of people to be interviewed with the assistance of a panel consisting of the President, Chairman, four Vice-Presidents and, at the request of certain members of BUSA, the chairman of the Transformation committee.

"What remains critical is the unity of our organization. As the leadership of BUSA we will continue to engage with all our members to ensure the continuous strengthening and integrity of the CEO appointment process," said Mtoba.