South African billionaire Michiel Le Roux’s Capitec hires 1,642 new workers in six months

Capitec Bank, a leading retail bank led by South African billionaire banker Michiel Le Roux, hired 1,642 new employees in the first six months of its 2023 fiscal year, as it continues to deepen and expand its operations by leveraging its banking network, robust talent, and technological infrastructure.

It revealed that 20 percent of the new hires were assigned to data and technology roles to drive the migration of its information technology infrastructure to the cloud, which is an essential part of its digital banking journey.

Capitec’s digital banking strategy stems from clients’ increasing reliance on digital transactions, a shift that is gradually lowering the cost of making cash available. During the first six months of its current fiscal year, costs associated with making cash available to clients decreased by R43 million ($2.51 million).

It also stated that the reengineering of systems and processes, as well as the migration to cloud computing, will allow its business banking segment to manage the anticipated volumes when it completes its rebranding process from Mercantile Bank to Capitec Business.

Capitec Bank is a leading South African bank with one of the largest customer bases in the country. It has grown into one of the most reputable banking brands in the world since its inception 20 years ago, providing transactional banking services and loan products.

Le Roux, a 73-year-old South African business magnate who co-founded Capitec Bank in 1999 with Jannie Mouton and Riaan Stassen, owns 11.41 percent of the Stellenbosch-based financial services provider, which is one of South Africa’s largest retail banks.

According to figures in its recently published financial statement, the number of its employees increased from 14,789 to 15,295 in the first six months of its 2023 fiscal year, a net addition of 506 as some employees left the group during the period under review.

Capitec disclosed that its employment costs, excluding incentives, increased by 13 percent from R2.5 billion ($145.7 million) a year ago to R2.8 billion ($163.2 million) as a result of the new hires.