Integrated Annual Report 2011
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Reviews and reports
Board of directors
Executive directors
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Desmond Sacco Chairman BSc (Hons) (Geology) (Wits) (Unisa) Des qualified as a geologist and joined the Assore group in 1968. He was appointed to the Assore board in 1974 and, on retirement of his father in 1992, was appointed Chairman and Managing Director. In that year, he was also appointed Deputy Chairman of Assmang Limited and in 1999, he became Chairman of Assmang. He is a fellow of the Institute of Directors (IOD) and of the Geological Society of South Africa (GSSA). |
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Chris J Cory Chief Executive Officer BA, CA(SA), MBA (Wits) Chris completed articles with Alex. Aiken & Carter (now KPMG) and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1982. In 1989, he joined the Assore group as Group Accountant. In 1992, he was appointed Group Financial Director and made Chief Executive Officer in June 2004 when the roles of Chairman and Managing Director were split. He was appointed to the Assmang board as a non-executive director in 1993 and currently chairs the Assmang Audit Committee. He is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). |
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Philip C Crous Group Technical Director BSc (Eng), BCom, MBA Phil trained as a mining engineer, obtaining a BSc (Eng) degree at Pretoria University in 1975. Thereafter he joined Iscor, and in 1977 he took up a position with Assmang where he advanced to Mine Manager. In 1982, he joined Sasol as General Mine Manager and was subsequently promoted to Operations Manager at Secunda Collieries, responsible for four mechanised mines. In 1988 he joined manufacturing company Sandock-Austral as Managing Director. In 1991 he was invited to join Assore in his current position as Group Technical Director and was appointed to the Assmang board in 1992. He is a member of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) and the Institute of Directors (IOD). |
Non-executive directors
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Edward M Southey Deputy Chairman and lead independent non-executive director BA, LLB Ed was admitted as an attorney, notary and conveyancer in 1967 and practised as a partner of Webber Wentzel until his retirement as senior partner of that firm in 2006. He remains an executive consultant to the firm. He is a former president of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces and of the Law Society of South Africa. He is a director of a number of companies. He joined the Assore board as a non-executive director in January 2009, and was appointed as Deputy Chairman and lead independent director in November 2010. He is the chairman of the group’s audit and risk, and remuneration committees. |
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Robert J Carpenter Non-executive director BA, ACIS Bob joined the Ore & Metal Company Limited in 1964 and was appointed as its Managing Director in 1991. Ore & Metal is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Assore group and acts as selling and shipping agent for products produced by all the Assmang and Assore group companies. He was appointed to the Assore board in 1987 and to the Assmang board in 1989. He served as Deputy Chairman of Assore from 1993 until November 2010, when he stood down in this capacity, in anticipation of his retirement as executive director in February 2011 from both the Assore and Assmang boards. |
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Zodwa P Manase Independent non-executive director BCompt (Hons) (Unisa), CA(SA), H Dip Tax (Natal) Zodwa is a chartered accountant and was appointed to the board in October 2011. She is founder and Chief Executive Officer of accounting firm Manase & Associates. She is Chairperson of Total SA and a director of Medi-Clinic Corporation Limited and MTN Zakhele. She has served on the boards of a number of entities, among them the SA Reserve Bank, the International Marketing Council (IMC) and was Chairperson of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) |
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Don MJ Ncube Independent non-executive director BA (Econ), MSc (Mgt), DCom (HC) (Transkei), Postgraduate Diploma in Labour Relations and Financial Management Don was appointed a director of Assore on 3 May 2011 and is also an independent non-executive director of Goldfields Limited. Previously, he was an alternate director of Anglo American Industrial Corporation and Anglo American Corporation, a director of AngloGold Ashanti as well as non-executive Chair of South African Airways, Real Africa Asset Management, African Life Assurance, Sun International SA Limited, Oceana Fishing Limited and Atomic Energy Corporation. He is currently Managing Director of Vula Mining Supplies and Executive Chair of Badimo Gas. He has also been the recipient of numerous awards including IPM Presidents Award (1990), Business Day’s Business Achievement Award (1994) and Human Resources Award of Excellence (1994). |
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William F Urmson Independent non-executive director CA(SA) Bill was appointed as an independent non-executive director of Assore in October 2010 and serves on the group’s audit and risk, and remuneration committees. He is a former Deputy Chairman of Ernst & Young and has served the accounting profession as Chairman of the Accounting Practices and Ethics committees of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. He is a former Director: Surveillance of the JSE Limited and remains as a part-time consultant to the exchange with responsibility for internal audit. |
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Dr Johannes C van der Horst Independent non-executive director BA, LLD Johannes studied at the universities of Stellenbosch and Hamburg (Germany) and the Harvard Business School. He held various positions in Old Mutual from 1971 to 2002 where he was General Manager (Investments) from 1985 to 1997. In September 1997, he was appointed to head up Old Mutual’s demutualisation project which culminated in the listing of Old Mutual on the London Stock Exchange and the JSE Limited in July 1999. He served on the Assore board between 1989 and 1997, and again since January 2003 when he was appointed as an independent non-executive director and serves on the group’s audit and risk, and remuneration committees. He is also on the boards of Reunert Limited and Foord Compass Limited. He has indicated his intention to resign as independent non-executive director with effect from 31 December 2011, following a total of 17 years’ service on the board. |
