I had the previlge of delivery closing remarks at the 10 Year’s Celebration of the outgoing CEO of SIOC-CDT SA, a remarkable and astute gentleman called Vusani Malie, and these were my remarks, or a rather a skeletal version of them since I spoke in between my own written speech:
Societies fail or succeed based on the decisions of its leaders…an extract from the book “Why Nations Fail…the origins of power, prosperity and poverty” by D. Acemoglu and JA. Robinson.
The Upington Town story…(at this point I tried to explain, using the book’s analogy, how my hometown of Warrenton is an “economic contrast” of the town called Upington in the ZF Mgcawu region, despite the fact that the two share the same natural resource, which is the Vaal River, which as you may know, forms a confluence with the Orange River in the small town of Douglas before it proceeds to flow towards Upington)
The Trust is where it is today because of the decisions taken prior to your appointment as CEO (structural change and delivery model) and later by the decisions you made as the leader of the Trust in your capacity as the CEO and Trustee.
You took over the reigns of the Trust when leadership across all sectors of our society was under serious scrutiny, from a moral and ethical perspective. Added to that, you had a difficult and complex task of transforming the Trust into a true vehicle for change, for the benefit of the communities it is mandated to serve.
Fast forward to today, you leave the Trust not only with your head held high, because throughout your tenure as CEO, you have never been found wanting when it comes to your moral and ethical conduct. But not only that, you also leave the Trust in a healthy state financially, it terms of its capacity to deliver on its mandate, in terms of its public image and reputation, and to a great extent, in terms of its future prospects.
This is the legacy you leave behind…and I’m certain that it is this legacy that will help propel the Trust to greater heights, the heights at which it will allow us to reimagine community development, and give it a totally different meaning.
“It’s hard to leave behind the comfort of the familiar, but the magic lies in the unknown, because it that that gives one an opportunity to chase their dreams and create new legacies.”
On behalf of the rest of the staff and our stakeholders, I would like to thank you for the wonderful contribution you’ve made to the Trust, and by extension its beneficiary communities. Thank you also for the contribution you’ve made to our development as professionals and individuals.
We wish you all the best in your future endeavours, we are confident that wherever your path leads you, you’ll create more meaningful legacies.
I thank you…
National Director of Wealth Planning at Comerica Bank
2moI am honored to serve again on the judging panel (this may be my 10th year). It is a fantastic group of industry experts. It has been exciting to see evolution of the industry and new ideas. Thank you Family Wealth Report Rachel Fokes and Stephen Harris