Johan Rousseau

Im the eldest son of 4 ,of Koos & Magda Rousseau, who collectively worked 64 yrs for (Doves, SAFFAS, Goodall & Williams, Grobbelaar & Bolt) formerly owned by MHT (Metropolitan Life), then by the management andnow by Numsa. We as the Rousseau family have served the public and the funeral industry with dignity and pride for close to a 100 years.

I joined the same funeral company as my parents in 1987, started at the lowest level(coffin trimmer) trained, transferred & promoted numerous times, ended up overseeing development, emerging markets, key accounts, operations, marketing, sales and VIP events on a senior management level up to 2001. My career ended in 2001, seen as a threat to junior shareholders and unlawfully dismissed during a restructuring, I took action & won my case in 2003 after a labour battle of 2 years.

I joined a start up funeral broker, turned funeral administrator and iinsurer (Prosperity) in 2001, bought over by Assupol Life with a then book value of R350 million p/a

I joined Lesaka a public sector union company, formerly known as Ferreira Group, co- owned Unifer, chaired by Jay Naidoo(former minister, unionist) an non - executive chair, Corne Ferreira served as the Group CEO, head-hunted by Corne Ferreira to set up and establish an entity named PROFSA, creating a national network of funeral parlours, complying to accreditation standards I developed for funeral parlours to render value added services at discounted prices to benefit union and non union members, successfully achieved within six(6) months.

I was mandated by the South African Council of churches(SACC) to assist with research as well as to lobby S. A. Government to transform the sector valued an estimated R 200 billion per annum, neglected by Government & a variety of stakeholders, co-sponsored by Wally Fisher.

The S A public of 54 million people voted 87% in favour of funeral & financial services industry turn around in 2005 on television. Public vote lead to myself being head-hunted by Gauteng Government in 2008/9 to write a new funeral industry transformation & regulatory bill, through Hamba Nathi Consulting, launched by Dr Esop Pahad in 2006.

I'm a determined, passionate and proactive who wish & aim bring about change within the funeral financial sectors and value chain in S.A. I have developed plans models backed up by more than 27 years of experience to assist and grow the economy,