Meet Bertina Engelbrecht: First female CEO of $3.7 billion South African retailer, Clicks Group

In South Africa’s corporate ranks, where long careers are often built quietly over decades, Bertina Engelbrecht stands out for the depth of her experience and the clarity of her ascent. From her early years in the Eastern Cape to the helm of Clicks Group, she has built a record shaped by discipline, legal grounding, and operational leadership. Today, she leads a company with a market capitalization of $3.7 billion, becoming its first female chief executive at a time when the business continues to expand its footprint across Southern Africa.

State-owned enterprise operational logistics experience

Engelbrecht was born in a rural town in the Eastern Cape before moving at age five to the Western Cape, where she grew up on the Cape Flats. Her early education in Elsies River and later Bishop Lavis placed her in communities shaped by apartheid. At the University of the Western Cape, she studied from 1983 to 1986, earning a Baccalaureus Procurationis degree. She focused on private law, adjective law and mercantile law, graduating as the top final-year student with an award from the Tygerberg Attorneys’ Association. She was active in the Law Students Society and in legal aid work, linking legal training with public service. The experience informed her approach to corporate governance and compliance.

She continued her studies at the University of Cape Town, completing a bachelor of laws and a master of laws in commercial law in 1994. Her thesis examined insider trading by directors, focusing on accountability within corporate structures. Alongside her legal education, Engelbrecht strengthened her business acumen at the Stellenbosch Business School, where she completed a Management Development Program in 1992 with distinctions in manpower and marketing management. Her professional career began that same year at Transnet, where she served as executive manager for onboard services at South African Airways. Over seven years, she worked within one of the country’s largest state-owned enterprises, managing service delivery and operational systems in a complex transport network. The experience exposed her to workforce coordination and large-scale logistics, forming an early base for her career.

From organizational effectiveness to Clicks Group CEO

After leaving Transnet in 1999, Engelbrecht moved into the private sector, joining Sea Harvest Corporation in 2002 as group organizational effectiveness manager. There, she worked on aligning performance systems within a vertically integrated business that spans fishing, processing and global distribution across Europe, Australia and North America. The role expanded her exposure to international operations and internal performance management. Her entry into board-level leadership came in 2004 when she joined Shell South Africa as an executive director. Over two years, she was involved in governance and oversight within the downstream energy business, covering the retail and distribution of fuels and related products.

The position added experience in regulatory engagement and stakeholder management within a multinational structure. Engelbrecht’s longest and most defining chapter began in 2006 when she joined Clicks Group as group human resources director. Over the next 14 years, she played a central role in shaping workforce strategy, talent development and corporate culture during a period when the company expanded its footprint across Southern Africa. In December 2020, she was appointed group corporate affairs director, broadening her responsibilities to include communications and stakeholder relations. By January 2022, she was named chief executive officer, becoming the first woman to lead the company since its listing on the JSE in 1996.

Engelbrecht leads Clicks Group: 990 stores, 780 pharmacies, UPD distribution

Under her leadership, Clicks Group has built a network of more than 990 stores and 780 pharmacies across Southern Africa, supported by a growing digital platform. Its pharmaceutical wholesale arm, UPD, provides nationwide distribution, reinforcing the group’s position as Africa’s largest listed pharmacy operator and a leading health and beauty retailer. Under Engelbrecht’s leadership, the company has maintained steady financial performance despite a difficult consumer environment. For the six months ended February 28, 2026, Clicks reported turnover of R24.9 billion ($1.51 billion), a 7.4 percent increase from a year earlier, supported by demand in its pharmacy and wholesale segments. Retail trading was affected by delays in the rollout of a warehouse management system at its Cape Town distribution center, which reduced product availability in parts of the Western and Eastern Cape during the festive period. The disruption cut retail turnover by an estimated R175 million ($10.6 million).

Even with those constraints, group trading profit rose 7.4 percent to R2.3 billion ($139.31 million), with margins holding at 9.1 percent. Headline earnings increased 6.4 percent to R1.5 billion ($90.84 million), while return on equity stood at 45.7 percent. The business generated R1.9 billion ($115.11 million) in operating cash flow and returned R2.3 billion ($139.31 million) to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. The group expects continued pressure on spending as inflation and fuel costs weigh on consumers but plans to open up to 50 new stores and pharmacies in fiscal 2026, alongside capital expenditure of R1.3 billion ($78.76 million). At the close of the 2025 financial year, Engelbrecht’s total compensation amounted to R30.88 million ($1.9 million), including salary, incentives and benefits. She also held 100,268 shares in Clicks Group valued at R26.35 million ($1.6 million), placing her among South Africa’s senior corporate earners with direct exposure to the company’s performance.

Governance and growth define Engelbrecht’s leadership

Outside the company, Engelbrecht serves as a non-executive director of the UN Global Compact South Africa and the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa, and sits on the council of Stellenbosch University. She has also supported education initiatives focused on girls at both secondary and tertiary levels, reflecting a commitment to widening access to opportunity. Engelbrecht often points to the role of mentors in shaping her career. Her path, from a childhood in the Eastern Cape to leading a $3.7 billion listed company, reflects a steady progression through legal, operational and executive roles. In a sector defined by scale and consistency, her leadership at Clicks Group continues to be measured by delivery, discipline and the ability to navigate both growth and constraint with equal focus.