Cement manufacturer PPC, which has been the subject of b
oardroom ructions over the past few months, has appointed Darryll Castle as the successor to former CEO Ketso Gordhan. His obvious jobs will be to assess the unsolicited merger offer from competitor Afrisam; and to consider the future of the Financial Director Tryphosa Ramano, herself a previous candidate for the position, whose alleged “white anting” led to Gordhan’s departure.
Well known in the asset management sector through his seven years as a mining and resources analyst at Stanlib (1998 – 2005), Castle takes over at PPC on 12 January. After leaving Stanlib he spent four years working for Sandile Zungu, a BEE businessman with close ties to President Jacob Zuma.
Castle was appointed a non-executive director of PPC in October, has a civil engineering and a commerce degree as well as an MBA and is a CFA. In a SENS announcement today the company says he has “accumulated a broad range of experience and skills spanning the fields of corporate management, fund management, financial analysis, mining and engineering.”
He has served as CEO of Trafigura Mining Group and Anvil Mining Limited; a company listed on the main board of the Toronto Stock Exchange and on the Australian Stock Exchange. He has recently occupied the position of Chief Operations Officer at Metorex Group Limited.
Castle has first-hand operations and projects experience on the African continent, having worked in the DRC, Zambia, Angola and Tanzania.
Bheki Sibiya, Executive Chairman of PPC said, “Darryll’s extensive experience and knowledge as well as deep relationships on the continent and in other emerging markets will add further impetus to PPC’s growth strategy.
“We welcome him to the Board in an executive capacity and look forward to working with him in delivering on the Company’s mandate from shareholders.”
