City Lodge Hotels is pleased to announce several senior management appointments:
Emile van der Merwe has been appointed to the City Lodge Hotels Executive Committee (Exco) as Divisional Director: Property and Development from 1 August 2023.
Emile joined the company in August 2008 as Property Investment Manager, responsible for sourcing and securing new hotel opportunities, coordinating concept and final design of new hotels, and negotiating and concluding feasibility assessments and contractual agreements. After five years in this role, he was promoted to Head of Property and Development, responsible for the full property spectrum for the group, reporting to Andrew Widegger, chief executive officer. His portfolio will continue to focus on green and brownfield hotel opportunities, hotel refurbishments, procurement, property related legal matters, large scale maintenance, and management of stakeholder relationships.
Edwin Louw had been appointed Group Revenue Manager as from 11 September 2023.
Edwin adds a wealth of experience to the group, with over 20 years in the commercial finance industry at senior management level. He joins us from Deloitte Consulting, where he held the position of Senior Financial Analyst and Consultant.
Edwin began his career as a Financial Accountant at Absa Bank Limited and Gobodo Incorporated Chartered Accountants in 1996, later appointed as Transaction Manager at Absa Bank Limited and Financial Manager at Veer Travel (Pty) Ltd. For a total of 14 years between 2001 and 2020, Edwin worked at South African Airways in various positions, including Global Manager: Revenue Reporting and Analysis; Senior Manager: Strategy and Planning; Global Head: Sales Planning and Support; Global Executive Manager: Commercial Financial Analysis; and Global Head: Commercial Financial Planning & Analysis. He also held the positions of Executive Financial Analyst at MBD Holdings from 2007 to 2008, and Head: Pricing and Finance at MTN from 2009 to 2010.
Riaan Loots has been appointed general manager of 66-room Road Lodge Bloemfontein Airport.
Riaan joined City Lodge Hotels as night auditor at 151-room City Lodge Hotel Bloemfontein in 2009, and in 2012 was appointed as assistant manager at Road Lodge Bloemfontein Airport, before taking up his current position as assistant general manager at City Lodge Hotel Bloemfontein in 2014.
Johan Prinsloo has been appointed general manager of 90-room Road Lodge Cape Town International Airport, and was previously general manager of Road Lodge Mbombela.
He joined City Lodge Hotels as assistant general manager at Road Lodge Rustenburg in 2008, was later appointed to assistant general manager at Town Lodge Menlo Park in Pretoria in 2010, and assistant general manager at City Lodge Hotel Fourways in Johannesburg in 2013. In 2017, he headed up Town Lodge Gaborone in Botswana, moving to Road Lodge Mbombela as general manager in 2018.
Jannie Kotze has been appointed general manager of 95-room Road Lodge Mbombela, effective 1 October 2023.
Jannie is currently general manager of 102-room Town Lodge Polokwane. He joined City Lodge Hotels as a night auditor and receptionist of City Lodge Hotel Bloemfontein in 2002, moving to Town Lodge Polokwane as junior assistant general manager in 2004, and promoted shortly thereafter to assistant general manager and later senior assistant general manager of Town Lodge George. In 2008, he was appointed assistant general manager of City Lodge Hotel Sandton, Morningside, and the following year took up the general manager post at Road Lodge Richards Bay. In 2012, he was promoted to his current position of general manager of Town Lodge Polokwane.
City Lodge Hotels announced on 11 September 2023 that, after 17 years of distinguished service, Stuart Morris has elected to retire from the board and as chairman of the audit committee and member of the remuneration and nominations and risk committees and not to make himself available for re-election at the forthcoming annual general meeting.
Stuart’s retirement will take effect on conclusion of the annual general meeting, scheduled for 23 November 2023. Stuart, who was appointed to the board on 1 March 2006, has been an integral member of the team and instrumental in leading the company through the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The board has elected not to fill the vacancy that has arisen following Stuart’s retirement. Mathukana Mokoka will assume the role of chairperson of the audit committee and has been appointed as a member of the risk committee effective 23 November 2023.
