C-Suite

Assaad Honein

Assaad Honein seems a little hesitant when we begin our Zoom interview, but the Motus CIO soon settles down when he starts describing the IT landscape in the giant multinational. It’s also the very first in-depth press interview of his career, which three years ago saw his appointment to the top technology job at the company. And it’s a very big job, overseeing around 25 000 users in South Africa, Southern Africa, the UK and Australia. Part of his value to the company seems to be his deep technical knowledge, and his knack of putting this into language that everyone in the business can understand. He’s also strong on governance, risk and compliance – he wrote the company’s framework – and has what he calls a “side passion” for cybersecurity.

Many Silicon Valley startups like to boast that they began life in someone’s garage, and this is also true of Motus, which, as the story has it, started as Barney's Super Service Station in downtown Johannesburg in 1946. The company was in the headlines this year, with news that it wants to restructure benefits for hundreds of staff members, which saw the Motor Industry Staff Association declare a dispute. Motus Holdings saw a 1% decline in group revenue to R112.6bn at the end of June 2025, from R113.8bn the year before. It has also admitted it was slow to offer Chinese brands, and, in late January, said it had bought the Penta Group, which would increase its exposure.