Buddy Hawton (72)

Chairman
Joined the board as non-executive Chairman in 2002.

Buddy has extensive experience as both an executive and non-executive director. He has recently retired from directorships of Nampak, Real Africa Holdings, Royale Resorts Holdings (Chairman), Sun Hotels International and Sun International (Chairman). Previous directorships include Altron, City Lodge Hotels, Liberty Group, Liberty Holdings, Old Mutual, Rennies Group, Safmarine, the Standard Bank Group, Stanlib, Rennies Holdings (Chairman), and South African Marine Corporation (Chairman).

Peter Bacon (63)

Appointed in 2006

Other directorships include: Sun International Casinos (UK). Peter was previously with the Sun International group of companies for thirty-four years. He was Chief executive of Sun International’s South African operations from 1993 and group Chief executive for the last four years of his employment with the group.

Nigel Colne (69)

Appointed in 1994

Other directorships include: Obento Ltd. Nigel has international experience in clothing and food retailing and was a director of Marks and Spencer plc from 1982 to 1997. He also acquired financial services experience as a non-executive director at Halifax Building Society and Halifax plc. His other past non-executive directorships include Pizza Express plc (Chairman), Stylo plc and Town Centre Restaurants Ltd (Chairman).

Mike Leeming (65)

Appointed in 2004

Other directorships include: AECI, Allied Electronics Corporation, Imperial Holdings and Real Africa Holdings. Mike was previously the Chief operating officer at Nedcor and has an in-depth knowledge of financial services as well as manufacturing.

Brian Frost (65)

Appointed in 2000

Other directorships include: Bowler Metcalf.
Brian joined Woolworths in 1981 and was appointed as a director in 1986. He was responsible for certain business areas, including food, franchise and store operations prior to being appointed Joint managing director in 1996.

Chris Nissen (51)

Appointed in 2004

Other directorships include:
Boschendal (Chairman), Sea Harvest Corporation (Chairman), Standard Bank Group, Tiger Brands, Umoya Fishing (Chief executive) and Vunani Capital Holdings (Chairman). Chris has been extensively involved in the development and upliftment of communities both as a Minister in the Presbyterian Church and as a community leader, serving in a number of capacities including Chairperson of the Western Cape ANC. He has executive experience in a number of industries and as a non-executive director has proactively led transformation at a number of listed companies.

Sindi Zilwa (42)

Appointed in 2002

Other directorships include: ACSA (deputy chairman), Aspen Pharmacare Holdings, Business Connexion, Discovery Holdings, Ethos Private Equity and Strate. Sindi became the second black female chartered accountant in South Africa in 1990 and is the Chief executive officer of Nkonki. Her previous directorships include the Transkei National Buildings Society, the South African Mint, WIPHOLD, Telkom and Primedia Limited. She is Chairman of the BUSA Standing committee on Transformation, a board member of the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors and a member of the GAAP Monitoring Panel.

Lindiwe Mthimunye-Bakoro (35)

Appointed in 2009

Other directorships include: Group Five Limited, Imperial Bank Limited, Sea Harvest Corporation Limited, Palau Structured Solutions (Proprietary) Limited, Vega Capital Partners (Proprietary) Limited and Inamac Capital Par tners Group (Proprietary) Limited. Lindiwe joined Rand Merchant bank in 1999 specialising in structured and project finance after completing her articles at KPMG.

Namhla Thina Yvonne Siwendu (43)

Appointed in 2009

Other directorships include: Grinrod Limited, Kearsney College, Mawavune Woman’s Investments (Proprietary) Limited, Airpor ts Company of South Africa Limited and Camberely Investments (Proprietary) Limited. Thina has been a partner of Siwendu and Partners Incorporated since 2001, specialising in the area of Corporate Governance Law and Regulation and previously completed her articles at the law firm Cheadle Thompson and Haysom.

Executive directors

Simon Susman (59)

Chief executive officer
Appointed in 2000

Other directorships include: Country Road Limited. Simon joined Woolworths in 1982 after working at clothing and food retailer, Marks and Spencer plc in London. At Woolworths he has led the retail operations, food and clothing groups and was appointed to the board in 1995.

Ian Moir (51)

Zyda Rylands (44)  

Managing Director: Food

Other directorships include: African Capital Portfolio Limited, Open Society Foundation, The National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency and the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention. Zyda joined Woolworths in 1996 and worked in the finance and store operation teams. She was appointed the People and Transformation director of Woolworths (Proprietary) Limited in 2005 and was appointed to the board of Woolworths in August 2006. She was appointed Managing Director of Food in 2010.

Norman Thomson (58)

Director: Finance

Other directorships include: Country Road Limited. Norman joined Woolworths in 1991 in a logistics capacity and introduced the integrated supply chain management systems. He was appointed to the board in 2001 and was responsible for corporate stores, franchise and distribution. He became Finance director in 2002.

Cherrie Lowe (54)

Group secretary

Cherrie joined Woolworths in 1997 as Group secretary before the re-listing of the group on the JSE. She is responsible for all aspects of corporate governance, including risk and internal audit, legal and corporate affairs, and is a member of the executive team.