New blood in SANBS top job will draw on all his resources to perfect the body

Every day, the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) saves 3,000 lives and its new CEO is determined to get more South Africans to help.

And if anyone is able to make that happen it’s 56-year-old Ravi Reddy. After all, he’s worked at the organisation since he was 20.

Reddy, who took up the top job in March, started at the SANBS in 1985 as a medical technology graduate. He’s now been there for nearly 36 years, something he attributes to the organisation’s purpose.

“In my view, we provide a critical service. Without blood in the components and stem cells the healthcare sector will actually come to a grounding halt. If you think of it, no surgery, no caesarean sections will happen if blood is not there,” he said.

It is this critical role he wants recognised by everyone, in and out of the medical fraternity.

“Once you’re in it and understand that every day we save more than 3,000 [lives], that is what kept me there,” he said.

Key to his mission, said Reddy, is finding more blood donors.

Like most sectors, the blood service has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, with a steep decline in donors. It had 550,000 regular donors, which has now decreased to 450,000.

According to Reddy, one reason for this was the lockdown restrictions. With most people working from home, corporate drives were not possible. Reddy said they had to redirect their blood drives as their biggest donors were university students and pupils.

“We had to quickly come up with a way to redirect our regular donors to malls and shopping centres, as we can’t continue to collect blood as we did in the past.”

But Reddy is sure that resolving this challenge will come with a changed mindset, which is why he wants more people to understand the importance of blood donation.

“We don’t want to be seen begging for blood. It’s something that the community needs to know that they must do.”

Reddy comes into the post on the back of criticism of his predecessor, Dr Jonathan Louw, who Reddy said resigned in September, serving his notice until the end of December.

Louw’s tenure was marred by bad blood between him and some employees, including company secretary Mduduzi Luthuli, who approached the labour court in 2019 to try to stop a disciplinary hearing against him. Luthuli had accused Louw of victimising him for being a whistle-blower. However, his case was dismissed.

Also in 2019, Louw filed a defamation lawsuit against employees who accused him of flouting procurement processes.

But Reddy said Louw didn’t leave because of that.

I am a lifelong product of this organisation, I see its potential and I’m excited about this opportunity to make a positive impact in this organisation that is trusted by thousands of South Africans to save lives on a daily basis.

—  Ravi Reddy, South African National Blood Service CEO

“He left because he felt he had done what he had come to do. He felt being with the company for three years was enough and there is a lot that he did in that [time].”

Reddy added that Louw left the blood bank with good corporate governance structures in place.

“He was the architect for ensuring there were corporate governance structures in place, we had policies in place,” he said, adding that the SANBS will continue building on what Louw started.

Before becoming CEO, Reddy was the blood service’s COO for 15 years. He was also president of the International Society for Blood Transfusion from 2016 to 2018 and served on the board of the African Society for Blood Transfusion for eight years. He is a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Expert Committee on Biological Standardisation.

He said his mission will be to push for perfection. 

“Our vision for the organisation remains to strive for excellence in everything we do, across all aspects of the business, from our core function of collecting and processing blood products, where we are trusted to save lives, to innovation and research, as well as improving organisational culture and working on the hearts and minds of our employees.

“I am a lifelong product of this organisation. I see its potential and I’m excited about this opportunity to make a positive impact in this organisation that is trusted by thousands of South Africans to save lives on a daily basis,” he said.