Mabuza to retire from SA gaming giant
May 11th, 2011 by Andrew Moth | Categories: hotels, industry, people, tourism
World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org/Photo Eric Miller emiller@iafrica.com" width="460px" />
Jabu Mabuza, the CEO of Gold Reef and one of the giants of the gaming and tourism industries in South Africa, will retire from his executive responsibilities at the company at the end of September.
The company announced this week that Mabuza was retiring in order to manage his growing personal investments.
Over a period of some 16 years, he played a pivotal role in the Tsogo Sun Group from its inception at the launch of the modern gaming industry in South Africa through to the conclusion of this year’s merger of with Gold Reef. Gold Reef is now the pre-eminent gaming and hotel business in South Africa.
Mabuza has agreed to remain on the board of Gold Reef after his retirement and will assume the position of deputy chairman. In addition, he will continue to represent the company’s interests at the World Travel and Tourism Council and the Casino Association of South Africa. He will also remain as chairman of South African Tourism.
Making the announcements, Gold Reef chairman John Copelyn, commented: “Jabu has played an irreplaceable role in bringing the company and the gaming industry as a whole to its current position, both as managing director of Tsogo Sun Gaming for more than a decade and chief executive officer of the Tsogo Sun Group over the past five years, culminating in the merger with Gold Reef and the listing of the Tsogo assets via the Gold Reef vehicle.
“I am delighted that Jabu has agreed to retain his association with the company and look forward to his continued contribution in his new role.”
Mabuza was a founding member of the team that created Tsogo Sun.
Graham Mackay, CEO of SABMiller plc, said: “Jabu has been a star in the SAB stable.”
Having joined SAB in 1992 as group advancement Manager, he transferred to the then Southern Sun Holdings.
Mackay said under Mabuza’s guidance, Tsogo Sun had gone from strength to strength to become the “leading gaming and hotel company in the country, and a major participant in the industry in global terms. We wish Jabu all success with his future endeavours and are pleased that he has agreed to continue to support the company as it grows from the new base created by the merger with Gold Reef.”
Mabuza will be succeeded by Marcel von Aulock, the current chief financial officer of Gold Reef. Von Aulock has been with the group for over 12 years. He assumed his current position in 2009.
Mabuza said: “It gives me great pleasure to be able to hand over the executive responsibility of the company to Marcel with whom I have shared many hours dreaming, planning and pursuing ways to unlock the incredible potential within the Tsogo Group over the past decade. I am sure the company will continue to grow from strength to strength under his stewardship.”
