Nevashnee Naicker will be honoured with the Individual Achievement SABRE Award on 23 March 2023, at the EMEA SABRE Awards in Frankfurt, Germany.
Naicker currently leads group corporate communication for Anglo American, and is based in South Africa, where she is responsible for external communication and reputation, digital and social media, internal communications and employee engagement, and marketing communication (which includes advertising and sponsorships).
South Africa represents around 60% of the profit of the Anglo American group and around 40% of its employee base globally. Specifically, Naicker has steered Anglo American’s repositioning amid South Africa’s Just Energy Transition, a critical initiative given the historic role that mining has played in the country’s history.
Naicker leads positioning and engagement efforts to support Anglo American’s global ambitions, which includes achieving net zero carbon by 2030. She works closely with C-suite and communication leads and teams across the Anglo American group (with two businesses separately listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa). Part of this included delivering the multi-stakeholder global launch of the world’s first hydrogen-powered mine haul truck in 2022. This is the first time that a 500-tonne vehicle has been operated by hydrogen, and once rolled out to the broader Anglo American fleet, will be the equivalent of taking over 80,000 vehicles off the road.
Naicker has refocused Anglo American’s reputation-building efforts on building greater resonance with its diverse stakeholder base, with an emphasis on developing unique and tailored stakeholder listening and reputation analysis capabilities.
Prior to joining Anglo American, Nevashnee was corporate communications director for Tiger Brands – the largest food producer on the African continent. In this role, she acted as the central point of integration for the management and co-ordination of all high-profile issues between the company and its internal and external environment.
Most notably, Naicker played a critical role in steering Tiger Brands’ reputation recovery after the 2017-2018 listeriosis outbreak and class action. This resulted in her being recognised as one of EMEA Innovator 25 by PRovoke Media in 2020.
She has also held senior communication, stakeholder engagement and public affairs roles at Sasol Limited, one of the largest listed petrochemical organisations on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
“Having worked with Nevashnee for more than 16 years, both at Sasol Limited and more recently at Anglo American – I can proudly attest to her extraordinary skill as a corporate communication leader and strategist,” said Nolitha Fakude, chairperson of the Anglo American South Africa Management Board and president of the Minerals Council South Africa. “What makes Nevashnee stand out is her approach: she manages the interplay between strategy and communication as a business enabler, rather than just another service to the business.”
“Nevashnee established herself as a trailblazer and changemaker early on in her career when she was part of the change management team that I led at Sasol Limited,” adds Fakude. “We embarked on an ambitious program called Project Enterprise to instil a values-driven leadership culture, involving 35,000 employees over several years across the company’s international footprint. This was before the concept of ‘values-driven leadership’ and the importance of organisational culture gained widespread popularity. Her successes throughout her career are underscored by her passion, commitment and deep care for people. She is known for always being curious, focused, committed and eager to stretch the boundaries for the better.”
