Diamond company De Beers Group, following a number of internal promotions, has appointed Riaan Burger, Rasila (Ras) Vaghjiani, Malebogo Mpugwa and Ryan Perry to its executive committee (ExCo).

Burger joins the ExCo as CEO of Namdeb, while Vaghjiani has been promoted to group executive VP of Transformation.

Mpugwa will succeed Joy Roman as De Beers Group executive head of human resources, while Roman becomes head of human resources for mining major Anglo American’s Technical & Sustainability function.

Perry will become acting executive VP of strategy & innovation, as Neil Ventura has decided to move on and pursue other interests, De Beers said.

“I’m delighted to have Riaan, Ras, Malebogo and Ryan join the ExCo. We have a huge wealth of talent in the group with expertise right across the diamond value chain. Adding the breadth and depth of skills of the new appointees to the ExCo will be of great benefit as we continue to implement our strategy. Inspirational leadership is key to the success of any business and, in these new appointments, I know we have exactly that,” said De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver.

“I want to especially thank Neil Ventura for more than three decades of service to De Beers. He has made a significant contribution to De Beers’ success in that time, including transforming our Auctions business, helping shape our Group-wide strategy, developing our innovation approach and shepherding key strategic initiatives such as Lightbox and Tracr through their incubation phase.

“I would also like to thank Joy and congratulate her on this new role that will be a fantastic opportunity for her as she builds on the experience she has brought to De Beers to lead the global people and organisation strategy for Anglo American's Technical & Sustainability function. I wish them both every success for the future,” Cleaver said.