LIFESTYLE
Meet the
bankers
Banking Association South Africa
Managing Director, Cas Coovadia,
lives in Northcliff with his wife
Sabera, a fashion designer, and their
17-year-old daughter, Nabeelah.
He also has a 32-year-old son,
Bilal, from his previous marriage.
Coovadia turns 61 in October.
HOW DID YOU BECOME A BANKER?
Well, I did a B Comm. Then throughout the 80s I was very involved
in politics, with SANCO, the UDF and so on, and around the 1994
elections I was on the ANC list. I was sitting in a meeting with
Tokyo Sexwale and Paul Mashatile, ANC leadership in Gauteng and
we were saying we can’t all go into government; some of us have to
take another path.
Around that time I was also involved in the Community
Bank, the first low-income bank in South Africa, with Paul
Tucker. So I took that path, and I’m glad I that did because it’s
taken me to where I am today.
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THE BANKER
Edition 3
WHAT DO YOU READ?
I like biographies. For relaxation, I like to read crime and detective
fictions. I also read a lot about politics and economics and about
leadership issues – recently, Reuel Khoza, on servant leadership, and
The Fortune at The Bottom of the Pyramid by PJ Prahalad, which
talks about the potential and opportunities that people at the bottom
of the pyramid present. I think that’s particularly pertinent to some
of the financial inclusion issues we’re looking at.
WHAT SOURCES DO YOU USE FOR BUSINESS NEWS?
I look at Creamer media quite often, particularly in some of the