CEO Gerrie Fourie exits Capitec ready to grab new opportunities

After 25 years at South Africa's biggest retail bank, the chief executive is stepping down. But don't expect a quiet exit, or a conventional retirement. By Kara le Roux

- Kara le Roux

In 2000, Gerrie Fourie took a leap of faith. After spending 13 years climbing the ranks at Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery, he joined a venture that would become Capitec at the invitation of its founder, Michiel le Roux.

"We were bringing in our own furniture," Fourie recalls with a chuckle. "Writing the business plan took eight months, but it was a critical part of our success."

Capitec would go on to revolutionise the traditional South African banking model. Whereas the big four smothered clients in fees and fine print, Capitec offered simplicity and flat pricing, and eventually it would achieve dominance.

Fourie might be stepping down as chief executive after the company's annual general meeting on 18 July, but he's not fading into the boardroom wallpaper just yet. He will stay on for a year to coach his successor, Graham Lee, and help to map Capitec's international ambitions.

Even in his final year, Fourie has been mulling over the repo rate, inflation targets and the misread potential of South Africa's informal sector, all with the unshakable calm of someone who's survived worse - like that day in 2018 when Viceroy Research accused Capitec of reckless lending, calling the company "a wolf in sheep's clothing".

"It was probably the darkest day, because it was an attack on your integrity and what you're doing, that you're dishonest," he says.

The report sent Capitec's share price into a nosedive. But it bounced back. And so did Fourie. "You build a bank with so much integrity, honesty, and you really want to deliver value for your clients," he says.

"But it also helped us in the sense that it showed our character, it showed how serious we were about the business. All our stakeholders could see how we reacted immediately and how sincere we were."

Culture as currency

Not only was Capitec's banking model different from what was already out there, it also hired and trained differently.