Integrated tourism group Tourvest has appointed Sindi Zilwa a non-executive director and Roberta Gumede an alternate director, underlining the group’s commitment to conform to the new Tourism Black Economic Empowerment Charter.
Zilwa is the co-founder and former CEO of Nkonki Inc, one of the largest registered firms of auditors, consultants and advisors. She is a chartered accountant, a published author and recipient of numerous business awards. Zilwa sits on the boards of Discovery, Aspen Pharmacare, AngloGold Ashanti, Metrofile, Consol and Gijima Group.
Gumede, meanwhile, is the chief of staff and an executive director at the Guma Group of Companies, responsible for the office of Guma’s executive chairman and working alongside its board on M&A opportunities, strategy development, international marketing and brand development.
Following the new appointments, almost 70 percent of Tourvest’s board comprises black people, as defined by the Tourism Charter, including three of the four executive directors and six of the nine non-executive directors.
Additionally, the board now contains four black women including chief operating officer Judi Nwokedi and non-executive director Ramani Naidoo.
“Tourvest considers transformation a high priority and is continuously trying to find more ways of enhancing its BEE status. These efforts are by no way limited to the boardroom, but extend throughout the group, in all that it does,” says Tourvest chief executive Sean Joubert.
“We believe BEE is an issue of critical importance to the group because, as a responsible corporate citizen of South Africa, we need to make a contribution to the attainment of this national goal,” he says.