Roy Bagattini will step down as group chief executive of Woolworths Holdings Limited at the end of May 2026, bringing to a close a six-year tenure that reshaped one of South Africa’s most recognisable retailers. According to Woolworths Holdings, Sam Ngumeni — currently chief executive of the group’s food division — will assume the group CEO role from 1 June 2026, with Bagattini remaining available through September to support a structured handover.
Bagattini arrived at Woolworths in February 2020 having spent two decades working across international markets, including senior roles at SABMiller, the Carlsberg Group and Levi Strauss. He inherited a business in significant distress, most visibly through its disastrous investment in Australian department store chain David Jones, which had eroded billions in shareholder value under his predecessor Ian Moir. The disposal of David Jones, the deleveraging of the balance sheet and a deliberate reorientation of capital towards the group’s core South African assets represent the defining acts of his tenure. The group also acquired Absolute Pets, launched Woolworths Ventures and executed the first share buyback programme in its history under his watch, while the apparel business was repositioned after years of declining competitiveness.
Bagattini’s total remuneration for the 2025 financial year was approximately R80m, with the group’s three executive directors collectively earning R115m over the same period against a backdrop of pressure on the non-food divisions. His departure follows what the board described as a period of careful joint consideration between Bagattini and the directors, framing the timing as consistent with the completion of a strategic repositioning phase.
Ngumeni’s appointment comes after a formal review of both internal and external candidates. He holds a BCom from Stellenbosch University and an MBA from the USB, and has spent close to three decades with the WHL Group, joining in the mid-1990s. He was appointed group chief operating officer in 2012, became an executive director in 2014 and has since held roles spanning group HR and transformation, chief executive of Woolworths Financial Services — where he led the joint venture with Absa — and most recently CEO of the food business, where the division has consistently outperformed the broader retail market. Ngumeni has been on the group’s board for over a decade and also serves on the executive council of South African Rugby.
The food division has been the clear standout in the group’s performance in recent years, maintaining strong trading densities, above-market sales growth and leadership in premium food retailing — a record Ngumeni built directly. His operational breadth across supply chain, logistics, technology, digital, real estate and the group’s rest-of-Africa operations, accumulated during his time as group COO, gives him a wider platform from which to lead the next strategic phase. The group noted that his understanding of both the South African and Australian markets — the latter through Country Road Group — was a specific factor in his selection.
For Woolworths, the transition represents a generational shift at the top. Bagattini was brought in from outside to execute a turnaround; Ngumeni is an insider being entrusted to build on it. Whether the apparel and fashion divisions, which have lagged the food business for years, can be brought more fully into line with the group’s performance ambitions will be among the first tests of his tenure.