Pretoria – Sun International’s outgoing chief executive, who will soon be running very similar operations in New Zealand, says he will miss "the diversity" and planned to return to South Africa one day “in time to make a difference”.
Graeme Stephens, who will soon take up the position of chief executive officer at Skycity Entertainment Group in New Zealand, told a media briefing on Thursday that it was easy to make a positive difference in South Africa.
That was a great privilege, he added.
He said he expected to miss the multiculturalism at all levels of the business. Talking about diversity and empowerment, he said he thought South Africa was way ahead of anyone else.
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While this achievement was at least partly the result of companies being forced by legislation to tackle issues of equality and diversity it had also been shown to make good business sense.
At Sun International, he said, “we get involved in communities” not just because it was the right thing to do but as part of the company’s long-term business rationale.
“Also, when you are part of a community, you are more valued,” he said, adding that it was “hugely rewarding”.