Names like Tokyo Sexwale and Patrice Motsepe have become national currency through their mega-star status in the business and BEE world. The name Hixonia Nyasulu flies a little lower under the radar, but is no less influential in South African business.
Sasol’s new chairperson, appointed more than a fortnight ago, is a veteran board representative for international and local companies and, as she says, ”an entrepreneur”. But it was one of Nyasulu’s past BEE-related investments that got the Sasol board in hot water, hours after announcing her as its chosen leader.
The Public Investment Corporation slammed the petro-chemical giant for appointing Nyasulu, who has a 1,275% investment in the company’s subsidiary, Sasol Oil.
Nyasulu came to own her portion of Sasol Oil through an investment in Tshwarisano, the BEE consortium that bought 25% of the subsidiary, in a deal valued at R1,45-billion. According to Sasol’s most recent company results, Sasol Oil contributed R5,5-billion in operating profit to the company’s South African energy cluster, with a total operating profit of R28-billion.
Nyasulu, recently back from London where she was attending to Unilever business (another board she sits on), tackles the public furore over her position with a good deal of equanimity.
She is adamant that non-independence is not a ”disqualifier” for a role like hers at Sasol. ”Conflict is germane to running any business,” she says. ”It is the responsibility of directors to be aware of it and manage it.”
Nyasulu believes that what is important is how perceived lack of independence is mitigated. At Sasol mitigation meant the appointment of Juergen Schrempp as a lead independent director.
The appointment of an independent lead director is something many international companies have done, says Nyasulu, pointing to Unilever, which has its own in David Simon. ”It is just a concept we are not familiar with in South Africa.”
The independence of directors can change and a board can at any given time face conflicts at unexpected turns, she argues. The nature of BEE, with its web of interlinked deals and players, means many executives are at some time likely to face questions about their independence. A board must be ”sophisticated and honest enough” to deal with these as they arise, says Nyasulu.
”I have been a director of listed companies for 16 years now. If I don’t know how to manage conflict now, I will never be able to.”
After working for Unilever for six years Nyasulu, then 28, started her own marketing strategy consultancy in 1984 — long before the words ”black economic empowerment” had been stamped on to our national consciousness.
She has served on boards that include Anglo Platinum and Nedbank and is on the board of Unilever, Barloworld, Glenrand MIB and Tongaat-Hulett Group.
Nyasulu has been party to some significant BEE deals. Her empowerment company, Ayavuna — founded in 2004 – formed part of BEE transactions for both Tongaat-Hulett, in a deal valued at R3,67-billion, and Barloworld, in a deal valued at R2,4-billion.
But Nyasulu points out the Barloworld deal, announced in June, was the last one that Ayavuna conducted. It is now solely an investment holding company, she says, and she will no longer have executive responsibilities there.
Nyasulu is aware of the criticism many BEE transactions face about the degree to which they are broad based. ”By its very nature BEE is hard for the man on the street to get involved in,” she says. ”Banks want bankable people.”
She says it requires a handful of individuals like herself to carry other shareholders and beneficiaries in a high-risk environment.
”You are literally selling nothing more than a dream,” she argues. ”The downside is that BEE leaders — need to carry a lot of people whose understanding of the process may be limited and whose expectations are high.”
A long-term vision is required, she says, as is an understanding that a long wait for any kind of payout is the nature of investment.
When it comes to the broader empowerment project for South Africa, Nyasulu says that wealth creation beyond mega-deals needs to occur. ”Most [entrepreneurs] are not interested in ownership but in wealth creation,” she says.
South Africa needs a more enabling environment for business to develop, including a better tax regime and incentives, she argues.
”I have a feeling that we will see a lot of new BEE entrants. But people need to understand that BEE gives you a start — and you must move forward from there.”
For now Nyasulu’s focus will remain on Sasol. ”It is the right time to do this,” says the mother of three adult sons.
For a woman who has received offers to become a director of three more companies this year alone, it would seem a great deal more lies in store.
