Around the world, Sappi creates prosperity through sustainability
Our products come from renewable, woodfibre-based resources to make everyday materials better for today and tomorrow. We are one global company building a more circular economy with production facilities in Europe, North America and South Africa that focus on sustainable processes and products.
We use sustainable processes, because how we make things matters just as much as what we make. As we craft our pulp, graphic papers, packaging papers, speciality papers and biomaterials, we thoughtfully source materials, reduce material waste, mitigate carbon and carefully consider product end-of-life. We strictly monitor and control our use of energy, water and other raw materials, and continually look to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
We invest in our people and the needs of our customers by continuously creating relevant, sustainable products.
Members of the Executive Committee, Group Management Committee and the Sappi Limited Board of Directors
The Executive Committee, Group Management Committee and Sappi Limited Board of Directors collectively determines major policies and strategies and is responsible for managing risk.
* All ages as at 30 September 2024.
** Member of the Executive Committee.
*** Member of the Group Management Committee.
Stephen Robert Binnie (Steve)**
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Binnie was appointed CEO of Sappi Limited in July 2014 and brings extensive experience in financial management, leadership, corporate activity and strategy to the role.
Age: 57
Qualifications: BCom, BAcc, CA(SA), MBA
Nationality: British
Appointed: September 2012
Glen Thomas Pearce**
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Pearce joined Sappi Limited in June 1997 and was promoted to CFO and Executive Director of Sappi Limited in July 2014. Mr Pearce has extensive financial management experience, both locally and abroad.
Age: 61
Qualifications: BCom, BCom Hons, CA(SA)
Nationality: South African
Appointed: June 1997
Marco Eikelenboom (Marco)**
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Eikelenboom was appointed CEO of Sappi Europe on 01 April 2021. Mr Eikelenboom was previously Vice President Marketing and Sales for Graphic Papers and was integral in the successful restructure and refocus of Sappi’s European operations.
Age: 57
Qualifications: MS (Business Economics)
Nationality: Dutch
Appointed: September 1992
Michael George Haws (Mike)**
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Haws brings his extensive industry leadership and strategy experience to the business. Mr Haws was integral to the development and execution of Sappi’s 2020Vision and the investments made in North America to grow the dissolving pulp and packaging and speciality papers businesses.
Age: 61
Qualifications: BSc (Paper Science and Engineering)
Nationality: American
Appointed: January 2012
Graeme Wild**
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Wild joined Sappi in 1995 as a forester in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal progressing to Management Forester. In 1998 he moved to Johannesburg to be the Business Development Manager reporting to the Managing Director of Sappi Forests and later became Strategy Manager for Sappi Forests. In 2003 he joined Sappi Limited as Business Development Manager. From 2007 to 2009 he was the Innovation Manager at Deloitte Consulting before returning to Sappi as the Group Investor Relations Manager. In 2012 he was appointed Group Head Investor Relations and Sustainability.
Age: 52
Qualifications: BSc (Forestry), MBA
Nationality: South African
Appointed: 1995
Richard Wells***
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Wells joined Sappi in October 1997 and has held several senior financial roles in the organisation including Sappi Kraft, Sappi Southern Africa, Sappi Europe, Usutu Pulp Mill, the Jiangxi Chenming Joint Venture and at Saiccor Mill, where he was also a director of the Lignotech Joint Venture. After many years in financial roles, he joined Sappi Paper and Paper Packaging in 2012 as Vice President Sales and Marketing and has played a significant role to restore profitability in this business. He is well qualified to lead Sappi’s efforts in the international markets.
Age: 54
Qualifications: BCom (Accounting), BCompt Hons, CA(SA), GEDP, EDP
Nationality: South African
Appointed: October 1997
Mohamed Iqbal Mansoor**
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Mansoor’s expertise includes contract negotiation and management, supply chain management, strategic planning, sales management, key account management, dissolving pulp, international logistics and technical application support.
Age: 57
Qualifications: BSc (Chemistry and Mathematics), BSc Hons (Chemistry), MBA
Nationality: South African
Appointed: August 1991
Alexander van Coller Thiel (Alex)
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Thiel has a long history with Sappi. His experience and expertise include marketing, logistics, procurement, strategy and operations across Europe and Southern Africa.
Age: 63
Qualifications: BSc (Mechanical Engineering), MBA (Financial Management and Information Technology)
Nationality: South African
Appointed: December 1989
Fergus Conan Salvador Marupen (Fergus)**
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Marupen’s experience across a variety of industries in South Africa enables him to offer insight into human resources, governance and management, among many other fields.
Age: 59
Qualifications: BA Hons (Psychology), BEd (Education Management), Masters Diploma (HR Management), MBA, LCOR
Nationality: South African
Appointed: March 2015
Louis Kruyshaar**
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Kruyshaar has more than 30 years of experience in the pulp and paper industry with expertise in operations, technical management and innovation; and has held various leadership positions across the group in a range of related functions locally and abroad.
Age: 54
Qualifications: BEng (Chemical Engineering), BTech (Pulp and Paper), MBA, EDP
Nationality: South African
Appointed: January 1993
Maarten van Hoven**
Skills, expertise and experience: As an admitted attorney of the High Court in South Africa, Mr van Hoven brings expertise in corporate, commercial and competition law, in the private and public sectors, as well as experience in mergers and acquisitions.
Age: 51
Qualifications: BProc, LLM (International Business Law)
Nationality: South African
Appointed: December 2011
Ami Mahendranath***
Skills, expertise and experience: Ms Mahendranath joined Sappi in November 2017 as Group Company Secretary. She provides secretarial services to the Sappi board and all board committees, as well as the Group Executive Committee.
Age: 56
Qualifications: BCom FCG, Certificate in Corporate Governance
Nationality: South African
Appointed: November 2017
Tracy Wessels***
Skills, expertise and experience: Ms Wessels has worked for Sappi since 2001, holding progressively more senior positions. After starting in research and development at Saiccor Mill, she transitioned into a customer technical services role, which covered both the applications R&D and customer technical services. She brings a strong technical background to her new role, coupled with significant customer relationship management experience, and regular engagement on sustainability-related matters.
Age: 49
Qualifications: PhD (Organic Chemistry), PMD
Nationality: South African
Appointed: January 2021
André Oberholzer***
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Oberholzer joined Sappi Limited in 2001 as the Group Head for Corporate Affairs. In this role he has global responsibility for Sappi’s internal, external, corporate and business communication and reputation management programmes. In addition, he has line responsibility for Sappi’s Southern African communication function. Prior to joining Sappi he worked for 14 years as a diplomat for South Africa, focused on multilateral affairs.
Age: 57
Qualifications: BCom (Law), Strategic Communication Management Professional (SCMP®)
Nationality: South African
Appointed: September 2001
Marjorie Boles
Skills, expertise and experience: Mrs Boles has been with Sappi since 1999. In 2012, she assumed global responsibility for Sappi’s customer-facing digital solutions. She was appointed CIO for Sappi North America in 2016 as well as being a member of the global IT Leadership Council. Prior to joining Sappi, Marjorie was a process optimisation consultant with Andersen Consulting and drove technology improvements for equity and control operations at Fidelity.
Age: 54
Qualifications: BA (Economics and Mathematics), MBA (Entrepreneurship)
Nationality: American
Appointed: June 2018
Jörg Pässler
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Pässler joined Sappi in 1999 as South African Tax and Treasury Manager and moved to the Group Treasury operation in Brussels in 2001. He has been Group Treasurer since 2007, responsible for managing the group’s debt portfolio, financial risk management and treasury operations. Prior to joining Sappi, Jörg was the Group Treasurer at a South African construction and property development firm and also spent 17 years in banking.
Age: 63
Qualifications: BCom (Hons) Cum Laude, MCom, HDip (Tax), CAIB (SA), FT Non-Executive Director Diploma
Nationality: German
Appointed: August 1999
Sappi Limited Board of Directors
Nkululeko Leonard Sowazi
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Sowazi has over 30 years senior executive and investment management experience and has served on numerous boards of both listed and unlisted companies. Mr Sowazi has a strong commercial and entrepreneurial business track record and presents with an impeccable reputation in the market.
Sappi board committee memberships:
Nomination and Governance Committee (Chairman)
Audit and Risk Committee
Human Resources and Compensation Committee
Social, Ethics, Transformation and Sustainability Committee
Age: 61
Qualifications: MSc (Urban Planning)
Nationality: South African
Appointed: October 2022 (Chairman as of 08 February 2024)
Brian Richard Beamish (Brian)
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Beamish, a qualified mechanical engineer, brings more than 40 years’ experience in management, business and leadership in capital-intensive industries to the board.
Sappi board committee memberships:
Human Resources and Compensation Committee
Social, Ethics, Transformation and Sustainability Committee
Other board and organisation memberships:
Metso Corporation (Member of the Remuneration and Human Resources Committee)
Age: 67
Qualifications: BSc (Mechanical Engineering), HBS PMD
Nationality: British and South African
Appointed: March 2019
Michael Anthony Fallon (Mike)
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Fallon brings management and leadership experience that extends across a wide range of functions from research and development, human resources, finance, plant management, sales and marketing and supply chain to general management, including mergers and acquisitions.
Sappi board committee memberships:
Human Resources and Compensation Committee (Chairman)
Nomination and Governance Committee
Age: 66
Qualifications: BSc Hons (First Class)
Nationality: British
Appointed: September 2011
James Michael Lopez (Jim)
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Lopez brings his experience as the former President and CEO of Tembec Inc (2006 to 2017) a manufacturer of lumber, pulp, paper/paperboard and speciality cellulose and a global leader in sustainable forest management practices.
Sappi board committee memberships:
Human Resources and Compensation Committee
Social, Ethics, Transformation and Sustainability Committee
Age: 65
Qualifications: BA (Economics)
Nationality: American
Appointed: March 2019
Zola Nwabisa Malinga
Skills, expertise and experience: Ms Malinga has extensive experience in investment banking, corporate finance, real estate and corporate governance, having held senior roles at various financial institutions. Ms Malinga has leadership and governance expertise having served on numerous boards as a non-executive director.
Sappi board committee memberships:
Audit and Risk Committee (Chairman)
Other board and organisation memberships:
Pepkor Holdings Limited
St Mary's Foundation
Jade Capital Partners Proprietary Limited
Jade Foundation Trust
Intocast SA Proprietary Limited
Age: 46
Qualifications: BCom, CA(SA)
Nationality: South African
Appointed: October 2018
Dr Bonakele Mehlomakulu (Boni)
Skills, expertise and experience: Dr Mehlomakulu has experience and expertise in innovation policy, environmental, social and governance (ESG) oversight; corporate management and leadership.
Sappi board committee memberships:
Audit and Risk Committee
Social, Ethics, Transformation and Sustainability Committee
Other board and organisation memberships:
Hulamin Limited
Yokogawa South Africa Proprietary Limited
Age: 51
Qualifications: PhD (Chemical Engineering)
Nationality: South African
Appointed: March 2017
Robertus Johannes Antonius Maria Renders (Rob Jan)
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Renders currently serves as a business consultant and independent director and brings to the board his extensive experience in governance and leadership as well as operational expertise in manufacturing and packaging internationally.
Sappi board committee memberships:
Audit and Risk Committee
Human Resources and Compensation Committee
Other board and organisation memberships:
Mepco – Executive board member, Acting Group President and Chairman of the Strategy and Executive Committee
Age: 71
Qualifications: MSc (Mechanical Engineering), MDP
Nationality: Dutch
Appointed: October 2015
Louis Leon Von Zeuner
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr von Zeuner holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Stellenbosch and is a Chartered Director (SA). He served as Deputy CEO of the Absa Group at the time of his retirement in 2012 after 32 years of service in banking. His role as board member, aside from the normal focus on strategy profitability, sustainability and has a key focus on governance status. Despite his role change from executive to non-executive, Mr von Zeuner has been able to continue to play a leadership role in the activities of various organisations and contribute to growing the businesses. He is results driven and supports growing customer relationships.
Sappi board committee memberships:
Audit and Risk Committee
Human Resources and Compensation Committee
Other board and organisation memberships:
FirstRand Limited – Independent Non-executive Director, (Chairman of Remuneration Committee, Member of Risk Committee, Audit Committee, Social and Ethics Committee, Credit and Large Exposure Committee and Directors Affairs Committee
First National Bank Limited – Member of the Board
First Rand Insurance Holdings Proprietary Limited – Member of the Board
University of the Free State – Council Member
Age: 63
Qualifications: BEcon (Economics)
Nationality: South African
Appointed: September 2022
Eleni Istavridis
Skills, expertise and experience: Ms Istavridis is a seasoned leader with international experience, including 17 years in the United States and 22 years in Asia in financial services and manufacturing. She has deep expertise in strategy, finance and global operations. Most recently, she was Executive Vice President at Bank of New York Mellon as Head of Global Client Management for Asia and later Head of Investment Services, Asia Pacific. Earlier she served in a variety of senior leadership roles, including President and Chief Operating Officer of Tristate, an Asia-based manufacturer, and Managing Director at Bankers Trust Company. She is currently an independent board member of two public companies and has committee assignments focused on audit, financial policy, employees and public responsibility areas.
Sappi board committee memberships:
Audit and Risk Committee
Other board and organisation memberships:
Sonoco Products Company Independent Non-executive Director (Member of the Financial Policy Committee, Employee and Public Responsibility Committee and Audit Committee)
Age: 67
Qualifications: BA, MBA, MIA
Nationality: American
Appointed: October 2022
Stephen Robert Binnie (Steve)**
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Binnie was appointed CEO of Sappi Limited in July 2014 and brings extensive experience in financial management, leadership, corporate activity and strategy to the role.
Sappi board committee memberships:
Social, Ethics, Transformation and Sustainability Committee
Attends meetings of all other board committees by invitation
Age: 57
Qualifications: BCom, BAcc, CA(SA), MBA
Nationality: British
Appointed: September 2012
Glen Thomas Pearce**
Skills, expertise and experience: Mr Pearce joined Sappi Limited in June 1997 and was promoted to CFO and Executive Director of Sappi Limited in July 2014. Mr Pearce has extensive financial management experience, both locally and abroad.
Sappi board committee memberships:
Expected to attend Audit and Risk Committee meetings by invitation
Age: 61
Qualifications: BCom, BCom Hons, CA(SA)
Nationality: South African
Appointed: June 1997
* All ages as at 30 September 2024.
** Member of the Executive Committee.
*** Member of the Group Management Committee.