It is a hard ask to eulogise and write an obituary for any man — to capture in words not just the biographical dates and key milestones that make a life, but to use words to distil and describe the essence of a person; their solemn moments filled with both small joys and sorrows, their quiet personal reflections and the unique qualities that illuminate one’s soul.
Born in the 1950s, Peter Bambatha Matlare — the only son of a lawyer and teacher — would go on to study in England and return to his native land and scale the heights of corporate SA — first as a corporate financier for Citi Bank in the twilight years of apartheid, later as an organising force for big business at Business SA, and finally coming of age as a “captain of industry” by commanding the boardrooms of such iconic SA companies as the SABC, Vodacom, Tiger Brands and Absa.
But for all his excellent and considerable personal and leadership qualities as well as his sharp business and commercial acumen, his story cannot be fully told without it being located within SA’s broader economic transformation challenge and specifically, the promotion of black executives. Of course this is not unique to the private sector; there are many other areas where the pattern is similar.
With honesty, regardless of our title, corporate rank and salary, we must ask: how do we produce the next generation of Peter Matlares?