UNDICTATED: Meet FirstRand’s new CEO, the quiet iconoclast Mary Vilakazi

When GT Ferreira, Laurie Dippenaar, and Paul Harris founded the FirstRand group in 1998, they were determined to disrupt South Africa’s then-stagnant banking industry. Now worth R350bn, their venture is now second only to Naspers among listed South African companies - and is comfortably the most valuable financial services group in Africa. FirstRand’s disruptive ways continued this week when chartered accountant Mary Vilakazi, an erstwhile gifted child from Alexandria township, was named CEO to succeed the retiring Alan Pullinger. Vilakazi, 46, who has served as the group’s COO for the past five years, will break new ground when she takes over in April by becoming the first black woman to lead a major financial services group in South Africa. In this episode of UNDICTATED, BizNews editor Alec Hogg hears the journey of this quiet iconoclast from poverty into becoming the occupant of one of the country’s most prestigious corner offices - and explores how FirstRand might evolve under her leadership.