SA’s largest pharmacy chain Clicks announced on Thursday that CEO Vikesh Ramsunder had resigned and accepted an offer in Australia, where he will head a publicly listed company.
Ramsunder joins a growing number of wealthy individuals leaving SA. While the government does not keep or publish official annual figures on emigration, anecdotal evidence from companies that help people manage the visa application process and research on why individuals sell their properties indicates skilled people are leaving in increasing numbers.
Ramsunder has been in the job for three years and will be replaced by Bertina Engelbrecht, who will become the first black woman to lead a listed retailer in SA.
Engelbrecht is the group corporate affairs director, having risen through the ranks since joining Clicks in 2006 as group human resource director.
“She has been part of the executive leadership team for the past 15 years and been integrally involved in the development of the group’s strategy and growth of the business over this time,” chair David Nurek said in a statement.
Under the guidance of Ramsunder, the market value of Clicks has expanded from R48bn to R75bn, while its retail presence has expanded to 841 stores and 621 pharmacies.
Ramsunder said: “I am leaving Clicks Group and SA with a heavy heart. It has been an honour to lead the Clicks Group and to have been part of such a dynamic and transformed business which has presented me with career-defining opportunities.”
Sasfin analyst Alec Abraham said that Ramsunder’s resignation came as a shock, but that his choice to emigrate was not surprising. “I think we’ve seen heightened emigration since 2019.”
While high earners have a high quality of life and opportunities in SA, he said, the anxiety over one’s family’s safety in the face of violent crime and the desire to give your children more study options and job opportunities led to interest in moving abroad.
CEOs can usually afford to send their children to study abroad, but it is better to move the whole family so the breadwinner can earn foreign currency to match their expenses, he said.
In 2020 Life Healthcare CEO Shrey Viranna left for a position in Australia.
Andrew Amoils, spokesperson for New World Wealth, a global research agency that tracks the spending and behaviour of wealthy individuals, said: “According to our 2021 Africa Wealth Report, done with Mauritius-based AfrAsia Bank, about 4,200 wealthy individuals have left SA from 2010 to 2020.”
The individuals are those whose assets are equal to at least $1m (R14.9m).
Amoils said: “Most of these individuals have gone to the UK, Australia and USA.”
Some have also gone to Switzerland, Israel, Mauritius, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus and Malta.
Gryphon analyst Casparus Treurnicht said Ramsunder’s resignation “was a bit unexpected, but plenty of people are leaving SA”.
Treurnicht was not surprised by Ramsunder’s decision to emigrate to a listed firm in Australia. Treurnicht said disillusionment with the government in SA was driving skilled individuals away.
On whether his departure would damage Clicks, Treurnicht said the retail group was still benefiting from former CEO David Kneale’s strategy. Kneale worked in retail for 40 years and was chief commercial officer at health and beauty retailer Boots in the UK, headed up Clicks from 2006 to 2018 and drove its share price value by 2,427%
“I think much of the success is still something Kneale implemented. Not much has changed. Ramsunder didn’t have to turn the ship about or implement any drastic changes,” Treurnicht said.
Clicks share price dropped 1.67% to close at R299 on Thursday.
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