Kandimathie Christine Ramon (born 1968 or 1969) is a South African businesswoman and chartered accountant. Before taking early retirement in 2022, she was the

Chief Financial Officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a South African gold mining company, with global operations. With a diverse portfolio of cooperation, projects, and exploration activities, AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the ...

, where she was also interim chief executive officer between 2020 and 2021. Before that, she was the chief financial officer at

Sasol Sasol Limited, commonly referred to as Sasol, is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa, and built around coal liquefaction processes that German ...

and the chief executive officer at

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...

's Johnnic Holdings.

Early life and career

Ramon was born in 1968 or 1969 in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

. She was one of five siblings, including a twin sister. After finishing high school, she worked part-time for the

Mthatha Mthatha ( , ), alternatively rendered Umtata, is the main city of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in Eastern Cape province of South Africa and the capital of OR Tambo District Municipality. The city has an airport, previously known ...

office of

Coopers & Lybrand PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along ...

while studying accounting through the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

. In 1988, she graduated with her bachelor's degree, and at age 23, she – like three of her four siblings – qualified as a chartered accountant. She remained at Coopers & Lybrand until 1994, working as an auditor at the firm's offices in South Africa and in

Verona, Italy Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city municipality in the region and in northeastern Italy. The metropoli ...

. In 1994, ahead of South Africa's first post-apartheid elections, she was seconded to the

Independent Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

as a deputy finance director. Later that year, she began a brief stint as a finance controller at

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

Johnnic Holdings: 1995–2006

Ramon joined Johnnic Holdings in 1995 as chief accountant before being promoted to senior general manager for finance. While she was serving in the latter position, in December 2000, the ''

Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'', formerly the ''Weekly Mail'', is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, loca ...

'' named her as one of the "top 100 stars of the future" in South Africa. Johnnic chairman

appointed her as financial director in 2003, and in October 2004 she became acting chief executive officer after the incumbent, Jacob Modise, resigned. She was permanently appointed as chief executive officer in March 2005, aged 36. Over the next year, Johnnic was subject to a

hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (law), company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast t ...

Hosken Consolidated Investments Hosken Consolidated Investments (officially Hosken Consolidated Investments Limited, and abbreviated to HCI) is a South African investment holding company, based in Cape Town. Founded in 1973, the company is a Broad-Based Black Economic Empo ...

(HCI), which was competing with Johnnic for control of Tsogo Investment Holdings and its lucrative

Tsogo Sun Tsogo Sun is a South African hotel, gambling, and entertainment group, half owned by Cape Town-based investment holding company Hosken Consolidated Investments. Tsogo Sun operates 15 casinos, 24 Galaxy Bingo sites, 1 Independent Site Operator ...

assets. By December 2005, HCI had sufficient influence to install four of its directors on Johnnic's board and to block Johnnic's long-planned acquisition of Nafhold. Ramon announced her retirement later the same week; she later said of HCI that "I felt their strategy was not aligned to mine". Ramaphosa followed her exit and the pair were ultimately replaced by HCI's chief executive and chairman,

Johnny Copelyn John Anthony Copelyn (born 1949 or 1950) is a South African businessman and former Trade union, trade unionist who has been a chief executive officer of Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) since 1997. He entered the company as the head of th ...

and Marcel Golding.

Sasol: 2006–2013

In April 2006, Ramon announced that she would join

as director and chief financial officer with effect from 1 May. She held the position for seven-and-a-half years, under chief executives Pat Davies and David Constable, and oversaw the company's major Inzalo

black economic empowerment Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities cr ...

deal in 2008. She resigned unexpectedly in late August 2013, shortly after selling R33.7 million in Sasol shares. After leaving Sasol in September 2013, she took several months' hiatus from executive work, though in 2014 she began a five-year term as a non-executive director at MTN.

AngloGold Ashanti: 2014–2022

In July 2014,

gold-mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to more complex ...

giant

announced Ramon's appointment as chief financial officer, under chief executive Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan. She took office on 1 October 2014. Between September 2020 and September 2021, she served as the company's interim chief executive officer until Alberto Calderon was appointed to take up the position permanently. During that period, AngloGold's chairperson, Sipho Pityana, departed suddenly from the board and was replaced by

Maria Ramos Maria da Conceição das Neves Calha Ramos (born 1959) is a South African businesswoman and former civil servant. She is currently the group chair of Standard Chartered, a position she has held since May 2025. Ramos was the chief executive o ...

. In February 2022, Ramon announced that she would leave AngloGold Ashanti in order to take

early retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

, with effect from June 2022.

Personal life and retirement

Ramon's husband died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

-related illness in 2021, and she took early retirement in order to spend more time with their two children. Since leaving AngloGold, she has accepted non-executive directorships at the

Vodafone Group Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and ...

and Clicks Group, among others.

Honours

The

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

selected Ramon as a

Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), is a non-profit organization. The organization was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum and is managed from Geneva, Switzerland, under the supervision of the Sw ...

in 2007. Between 2014 and 2018, during her time at AngloGold, she won several South African CFO Awards, including CFO of the Year in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramon, Christine Living people 1960s births People from Gqeberha 20th-century South African businesspeople 20th-century South African businesswomen 21st-century South African businesspeople 21st-century South African businesswomen University of South Africa alumni South African accountants South African women accountants Women chief financial officers Coopers and Lybrand people