News of his brain tumour was handled in the candid fashion that is typical of Graham Mackay. Whatever preferences he might have had for privacy, this was something of public significance and Mackay realised it therefore needed to be made public as soon as possible.
Within days of discovering the tumour and within hours of surgery to deal with it, SABMiller announced yesterday that Mackay, the group’s 63-year-old executive chairman, had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and that consequently it was accelerating the promotion of Alan Clark to the position of chief executive.
Journalists who covered SABMiller were always keen to get access to Mackay because he never played the dysfunctional “information game” that so often characterises communication between journalists and corporate executives.
After he was appointed managing director of South African Breweries (SAB) in 1997, Mackay, who had joined the group back in 1978, was always happy to talk openly about the need for SAB to shed its many, and generally underperforming, non-beer assets. It was a subject that had rarely been broached by other executives despite the obvious need for the disposals.
When the time came, Mackay also spoke openly about plans to transfer the group’s primary listing to London.
This, Mackay explained, was being done to ensure SAB was an aggressive player in the consolidation of the global beer industry, which he anticipated would characterise the industry for at least the next decade.
In those years, as the South African beer monopoly grew to become the second-largest beer group in the world, Mackay was always willing to engage openly about the group’s strategy.
The transfer to London was not without its dangers. A wrong move, overpayment for an acquisition, a weak rand, any perceived difficulties in the income statement or balance sheet, could have seen this potential acquirer become the acquired.
In the early years after the 1999 move to London, the strain of switching roles from being the biggest fish in the South African beer pond to being a very little fish in a global pond was evident. Mackay seemed to lose the air of confidence that had always surrounded him.
It was apparent the London analysts and journalists regarded this South African giant as something of an upstart.
But as early as 2002, when the game-changing Miller deal was announced, the old Mackay was back. With the critical support of his finance director, Malcolm Wyman, and chairman Meyer Kahn, Mackay not only created a powerful global player but also ensured the transfer to London was a success for all the South African stakeholders.
That the changing of the guard was virtually seamless is again typical of the group’s efficiency. Clark was due to become chief executive after the annual general meeting in July, when Mackay would have become non-executive chairman.
The group’s deputy chairman, John Manser, has become acting chairman while the board keeps Mackay’s position under review pending the outcome of his treatment.
In a note to SABMiller employees, Mackay said: “I am inexpressibly proud of this company, what it has achieved and the shape it is in. I certainly do not expect there to be any impact from this development on its operations or strategic direction, which will continue to run as normal.
“The transition of management responsibilities to Alan Clark is well advanced.”
SABMiller added 3.21 percent to close at R490.23 on the JSE yesterday.