Christo Wiese is one of South Africa’s most acclaimed businessmen, best known for his major successes in the consumer retail market. Wiese was born in the Northern Cape in 1941 and completed matric at the Paarl Boys High School before attending Stellenbosch University where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts before graduating with an LLB degree. Wiese practised law under the Cape Bar for several years before becoming a director at Pepkor, a company his parents co-founded. That move started a stunning career in business, which saw Wiese take Shoprite from a chain of eight stores in Cape Town to a powerhouse food retailer across Africa. As of 11 July 2022, Shoprite Group had a market capitalisation of R122.71 billion. It also employed 149,000 workers at the start of 2022. Alongside the Shoprite brand, the company counts big names like Checkers, OK Furniture, Medirite, and Computicket among its holdings. Except for the Public Investment Corporation, Wiese currently holds the most significant number of ordinary shares in the group at around 10.67%. He joins Lerato Mbele in this week’s edition of the leadership dialogue.