{"id":874481,"date":"2026-09-09T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=874481"},"modified":"2026-09-09T10:11:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T08:11:34","slug":"end-of-a-combined-35-year-era-for-r55-billion-property-giant-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/874481\/end-of-a-combined-35-year-era-for-r55-billion-property-giant-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"End of a combined 35-year era for R55 billion property giant in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Growthpoint Properties, South Africa\u2019s largest JSE-listed real estate investment trust, has entered a new era after the departure of two executives who collectively spent around 35 years in the company\u2019s top leadership positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group concluded the official transition in its annual results for the year ended 30 June 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sandton-headquartered property giant, founded in 1987, now has a market capitalisation of more than R55 billion and has completed a long-planned transition involving both its CEO and CFO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norbert Sasse stepped down as Growthpoint\u2019s Group CEO on 30 June 2026 after almost 22 years at the helm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerald V\u00f6lkel, meanwhile, retired as Group Financial Director on 31 March 2026 after more than 13 years in the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, the two executives oversaw Growthpoint through much of recent growth, including its expansion into one of South Africa\u2019s largest listed companies and its inclusion in the FTSE\/JSE Top 40 Index.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sasse led the company for approximately 21 years and 8 months, having assumed the CEO role in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While he formally stepped down as CEO at the end of June, he remains with Growthpoint in an executive capacity until 31 December 2026 to support the leadership transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estienne de Klerk was appointed Group CEO effective from 1 July 2026. However, Growthpoint said Sasse has subsequently assumed the role of Interim Group CEO pending De Klerk\u2019s return to office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEstienne de Klerk was appointed as Group Chief Executive Officer effective 1 July 2026. Norbert Sasse served as Group Chief Executive Officer until 30 June 2026 and remains in an executive role until 31 December 2026,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNorbert has assumed the Interim Group Chief Executive Officer role until Estienne\u2019s return to office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Klerk has spent nearly 20 years with the company in a range of senior executive positions. Before his appointment as Group CEO, he served as CEO of Growthpoint South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A chartered accountant with three decades of experience across banking and listed property, De Klerk has also held leadership positions across the broader property sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New blood<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Group CEO Estienne de Klerk (left) and CFO Jos\u00e9 Snyders (right).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Growthpoint chairman Rhidwaan Gasant said the appointment represented both continuity and a carefully planned succession process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a natural and timeous transition to new leadership to take Growthpoint into its next chapter,\u201d Gasant said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are pleased to announce Estienne de Klerk\u2019s appointment as Group CEO, which represents strong continuity and deep corporate knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jos\u00e9 Snyders joined the company as Group CFO on 1 January 2026, replacing V\u00f6lkel, who officially retired at the end of March following a three-month handover period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Jos\u00e9 Snyders joined as the Group Chief Financial Officer on 1 January 2026, while Gerald V\u00f6lkel continued as Group Financial Director until 31 March 2026,\u201d Growthpoint said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snyders joined Growthpoint from Liberty Two Degrees, where he served as CEO following previous roles as Commercial Director and Financial Director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He brings more than 22 years of experience across financial services, investment banking and listed real estate. Gasant said Snyders\u2019 appointment would bring a new perspective to the executive team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe appointment of Jos\u00e9 Snyders as Group CFO injects fresh perspective into the mix,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leadership changes come as Growthpoint remains a major force in South Africa’s property sector, with a portfolio of 453 properties across four major business units and total property assets valued at R160.1 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group reported distributable income per share growth of 4.3% to 152.6 cents for the 2026 financial year, while dividends per share increased by 7.4% to 133.5 cents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Group key financials summary table<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/th>FY26<\/th>FY25<\/th>Year-on-Year % Change <\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Net Property Income (excl. straight-line)<\/strong><\/td>R9.448 billion<\/td>R9.391 billion<\/td>+0.6%<\/td><\/tr>
Distributable Income<\/strong><\/td>R5.180 billion<\/td>R4.964 billion<\/td>+4.35%<\/td><\/tr>
Distributable Income per Share (DIPS)<\/strong><\/td>152.6 cps<\/td>146.3 cps<\/td>+4.3%<\/td><\/tr>
Dividend per Share (DPS)<\/strong><\/td>133.5 cps<\/td>124.3 cps<\/td>+7.4%<\/td><\/tr>
Total Property Assets<\/strong><\/td>R160.1 billion<\/td>R155.8 billion<\/td>+2.8%<\/td><\/tr>
Group NAV per Share<\/strong><\/td>2,131 cps<\/td>2,054 cps<\/td>+3.8%<\/td><\/tr>
Group Loan-to-Value (LTV)<\/strong><\/td>38.7%<\/td>40.1%<\/td>-1.4% (Improvement)<\/td><\/tr>
Group Interest Cover Ratio (ICR)<\/strong><\/td>2.63 times<\/td>2.38 times<\/td>+0.25 times<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growthpoint Properties, South Africa\u2019s largest JSE-listed real estate investment trust, has entered a new era after the departure of two executives who collectively spent around 35 years in the company\u2019s top leadership positions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":865426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2097603677817065738","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2200276547459411","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18112456796009505","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[6198,853],"class_list":["post-874481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-growthpoint-properties","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874481"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":874502,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874481\/revisions\/874502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}