By Alec Hogg
Among the highlights of my career was a couple of years at SABC Television News in the early 1990s. It was a unique period for a national broadcaster; a window when the old political rulers had lost their grip and new ones hadn’t yet asserted their influence. Among my colleagues was Ed Herbst, a fellow newsman who stayed there long after I departed. In 2005 he threw in the towel, rather publicly, concluding the State-owned corporation had become corrupted and mismanaged.
It was a welcome surprise to hear from Ed over the weekend. This time via an email asking whether I had any ideas on how he could address a frustrating matter with his bank, FNB. More in hope than expectation, I forwarded his mail to the bank’s low-profile CEO Jacques Celliers, asking whether he could refer Ed to the appropriate person. Yesterday’s email chain was active, ending with a suitably impressed Mr Herbst and a simple concluding “cool” from Celliers. Michael Jordaan might have moved on. But FNB still has a caring, very much in-touch CEO.
Yesterday’s top stories
