South Africa’s corporate landscape has lost a significant figure with the passing of Steve Pacak, one of Naspers’s most respected long-serving directors who shaped the media and technology conglomerate over nearly four decades. Pacak’s death marks the end of an era for one of the country’s largest listed companies, leaving behind a legacy that extended across some of South Africa’s most influential businesses. His role as chair of Naspers’s audit and risk committees placed him at the heart of governance decisions that have defined the group’s trajectory through multiple cycles of transformation.
The journey that made Pacak such a cornerstone figure began in 1988 when he joined M-Net, Naspers’s flagship pay-television business, in the early days of subscription broadcasting in South Africa. From those formative years, he moved through various executive roles within the sprawling Naspers ecosystem, gaining an intimate understanding of how the group operated across its diverse portfolio. This experience proved invaluable when he was appointed as an executive director of the JSE-listed company in 1998, a position that would see him assume responsibility for the group’s financial stewardship for the better part of two decades.
The trusted hand steering Naspers through decades of change
As group financial director until his retirement from that executive role in 2014, Pacak oversaw Naspers through some of the most challenging and transformative periods in South African business. The early 2000s brought the rise of digital disruption, the emergence of e-commerce, and the need to reimagine a traditional media company for the internet age. Through it all, Pacak’s steady hand on the financial helm provided the stability that allowed Naspers to invest, acquire, and ultimately position itself as a global technology player. His decision to remain on the board in a non-executive capacity after stepping down from the chief financial officer role demonstrated the confidence Naspers leadership had in his ongoing value to the organisation.
Beyond his work at the Johannesburg-based conglomerate, Pacak expanded his influence when he joined the board of Prosus, Naspers’s Amsterdam-listed international investment vehicle, in August 2019. This appointment reflected how critical his experience had become to the group’s governance structure as Prosus grew into a substantial tech investor in its own right, holding stakes in companies like Tencent and Stack Overflow. Both Naspers and Prosus have issued formal announcements acknowledging his passing, underscoring the respect he commanded across both entities.
The professional credentials that underpinned Pacak’s career were entirely legitimate. He held a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and was a qualified South African chartered accountant — credentials that established him among the country’s most competent financial minds during an era when corporate governance standards were becoming increasingly rigorous. Beyond his roles at Naspers and Prosus, he served as a director at MultiChoice, the pay-television operator that sits at the heart of the Naspers entertainment empire, as well as numerous other group companies that collectively represent billions in shareholder value.
Tributes have already begun flowing from those who worked alongside Pacak throughout his career. Koos Bekker, the long-time Naspers chairman and architect of much of the group’s international expansion, paid particular respect to his departed colleague. “Over almost four decades, Steve was a key mover in the development of our Naspers group,” Bekker reflected, highlighting how Pacak’s contributions extended far beyond balance sheets and audit reports. “His financial and business acumen, deep knowledge of our business and work ethic were invaluable. Beyond professional achievements, Steve was one of the most honest and decent human beings I ever met.”
That personal dimension — the character assessment that Bekker offered — speaks to something increasingly rare in corporate South Africa: a senior executive whose professional achievements were matched by genuine integrity and decency. In an era when corporate scandals and governance failures regularly make headlines locally and internationally, Pacak apparently represented a different standard of corporate citizenship. His longevity at Naspers, spanning nearly 40 years through multiple leadership transitions and strategic pivots, suggests he navigated the often-treacherous waters of corporate politics with wisdom and principle.
Pacak is survived by his wife Sheila and his two children, Stephanie and Gerard. As the Naspers group moves forward without him, his absence will be felt most acutely in the boardroom, where his combination of institutional memory, financial expertise, and moral authority helped guide one of South Africa’s most consequential companies through an increasingly complex global marketplace. The loss of such experienced figures reminds us that corporate governance depends not just on systems and processes, but on the calibre of the individuals who steward our largest companies through uncertain times.