OBITUARY: Thero Setiloane left deep footprints in SA’s business landscape

My focus in this Thero Setiloane tribute is on the significant roles he played in SA business. Thero leaves many other footprints in other areas of our society.

Setiloane’s introduction to corporate SA came as an Anglo management trainee. Anglo was ready for a wider experience of SA than its recruitment of returning Rhodes scholars. Setiloane joined Peter Matlare and Stephan Malherbe — friendships which were to last throughout both Setiloane and Matlare’s lives.

Sadly, Anglo was better at identifying young talent than deploying and keeping them in the corporation’s employ.

After Anglo, Setiloane held executive roles at Transcel (working for Saki Macozoma and Real Africa, where he worked with Donald Ncube). He returned in due course to the Anglo fold after the establishment of AngloGold, where he worked closely with Kelvin Williams in the marketing activities of this new gold company, joining the company’s young executive team.

Among his many roles in marketing, sustainability and the company’s expansion into gold production in other African countries, Setiloane served as the chair of the world’s largest gold refineries, Rand Refineries.

In all of these roles Setiloane was seeking to combine financial success with the building in the new SA of a more just society.

Nowhere was this search for successful companies that actively built better societies more evident than in his five-year term as CEO of Business Leadership SA.

Building on the foundation laid by his predecessor, Michael Spicer, Setiloane expanded the membership of this organisation to include the top 80 or so companies in the economy.

He created a council representing these companies. The diversity of the active participants in this council created a place where the urgent challenges of the day — economic, political and social — could be debated robustly and areas of possible progress identified.

Tense debates

Representing a group of companies described by a finance minister as responsible for more than 80% of corporate tax, Setiloane played a key role in the interface of business and government. He was a critical participant in the big business working group created by former president Jacob Zuma.

This large group met several times a year and provided the opportunity to both persuade and challenge government. Debates (held behind closed doors) were often tense. Where progress was made, however, was more often in much smaller task forces created by the group, which reported to it.

A good example of such a task group was the group seeking to review and reform regulation across the economy. Setiloane led business here. Government was led by then finance director-general Lungisa Fuzile. Good progress was made quickly on water permits.

Setiloane’s nature was to deal with difficult issues face to face. He rarely saw the point in media confrontations. This certainly did not prevent moments of high conflict.

I recall many such encounters with ministers, directors-general and politicians’ including some very angry meetings at Luthuli House.

I know that Setiloane’s preference for direct contact with government that was issue-based and solution-orientated gained him respect from ministers and directors-general. What Setiloane believed and said in his dialogue with our government was also what he believed and said in the boardrooms and dining rooms of the Johannesburg private sector. This consistency enabled him to play an important role in Pravin Gordhan’s reinstatement as finance minister after Zuma’s midnight firing.

Setiloane’s dislike for a public profile, his reluctance to issue serial public statements — or indeed write regular public columns — led some to question both the depth and courage of his convictions. No-one who had any real engagement with the man could entertain this.

The consistency of his beliefs, combined with his willingness to promote these beliefs face to face, led him to develop a network of trusted interlocutors that is rare in our so often polarised national debate.

At the time of his death he served as lead director of black-owned thermal coal company Thungela, as well as chairing the social and ethics committee of fertiliser producer Foskor.

He also co-chaired the public interest nonprofit organisation Citizens ZA and had recently retired from a long-term stint as a trustee of the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust.

In every role, in every relationship, in every friendship Setiloane evinced a love for our country and a deep and thoughtful desire to make it better.

At this time of great challenge and great opportunity, our country is the poorer for the loss of this man for all seasons.

• Godsell, now retired, was an executive director of Anglo American, CEO of AngloGold Ashanti and president of the World Gold Council.