Absa confirms Sello Moloko is stepping down as chair

Absa Group chair Sello Moloko is relinquishing the position, effective from July.

He intends to focus on his business interests and community commitments, the banking group said on Wednesday.

Moloko will also step down as an independent non-executive director of Absa Group and Absa Bank, effective July 15.

Longstanding Absa board member and experienced banker René van Wyk will become chair of the group and bank, subject to regulatory approval.

“The board expresses its sincere appreciation to Mr Moloko for his leadership and service during his tenure, particularly his stewardship through a pivotal phase in Absa's journey and wishes him continued success in his future endeavours,” the group said.

The changes come as Absa awaits the arrival of its newly appointed CEO Kenny Fihla, who is due to start on June 17, pending regulatory approval.

While reasons for Moloko’s premature departure were not immediately clear, TimesLIVE previously reported speculation was rife in the past two weeks that he had been entangled in an investigation by ENS, described as a whistle-blower witch-hunt by some within the bank, relating to leaks of crucial information that led to the departure of former group CEO Arrie Rautenbach.

Rautenbach left the group after a scandal relating to violations of US regulations for paying Cowyk Fox, former CEO of Everyday banking, a salary while he was a US citizen, without making concomitant social security payments that Absa could not make because Fox was not an employee of its US division. His departure was couched as early retirement.

In Wednesday's statement, Absa said Moloko, who has led the strategic work of the board, will work with Van Wyk in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition.

Moloko was quoted as saying: “I feel honoured to have worked alongside such a talented and dedicated board and with a management team that has shown invaluable resilience. The board dealt with several challenges in 2024, and as a result did work to reposition the group for a more sustainable performance trajectory which included appointing a permanent CEO and initiating the restructure of our retail operating model.”

“The challenges have got me to reflect on the demands on myself and on my time. I feel the time is ripe for me to refocus my attention on my family, my community commitments and the personal business initiatives outside the group I need to drive. This will, naturally, adversely affect my ability to devote the requisite time to a group of the scale of Absa.”

Van Wyk was interim group CEO in 2019. He rejoined the Absa board, after a cooling-off period, as a non-executive director from August 2020 and thereafter became an independent non-executive director from August 2021.

His committee memberships and chairmanships will be revised on his appointment as chair.

He is the chair of the:

• Absa Group risk and capital management committee; and
• group credit risk committee.

He is also a member of the:

• directors’ affairs committee; and
• group audit and compliance committee; and
• was a member of the board finance committee.

Van Wyk is also the former Registrar of Banks and head of banking supervision of the SA Reserve Bank, retiring from that position in May 2016.

Before that, he was with the Nedbank Group of companies from 1993 to 2011, where he occupied different positions, including executive director responsible for risk at Nedcor Investment Bank, and CEO of Imperial Bank, a subsidiary of Nedbank. 

Van Wyk holds a Bachelor of commerce, Bachelor of accounting science (Hons), Advanced Management Programme (Insead), and is a chartered accountant.

He said he was looking forward to taking up the reins as board chair “at an exciting time in the organisation’s history”.

“The organisation is well-positioned to advance its strategic priorities, and I look forward to contributing to its growth and success, alongside a strong management team,” he said.

TimesLIVE