Candidate Connect

Candidate Connect is a Cape Town-based, founder-led executive search firm that focuses on senior leadership appointments where talent is scarce and discretion matters. It was established in Cape Town in 2000 and works mainly within the South African market, across a variety of sectors.

The firm says its work is hands-on and research-led: it maps the market across relevant sectors, target companies and individuals, then approaches selected senior profiles discreetly. Its services are executive search, talent mapping, which can be a standalone project or the first phase of a search, and senior recruitment support for selected senior operational, specialist or management roles outside a full mandate.

Its sector experience covers financial markets, including asset management and investment banking, manufacturing, industrial, FMCG and retail, and, since 2018, renewable energy, including independent power producers, EPC and private equity entities. It began by connecting South African professionals abroad with opportunities back home, and has worked with clients in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and other major centres. It reports around 1,000 placements, with Mike Chemaly operationally involved in about 80% of them.