The ins and outs of 2013
·23 Dec 2013
The South African technology and telecoms industry saw a lot of executives move in and out of roles in 2013 – here are the big executive moves in the local tech space over the course of the year.
January
- Mxit appointed three C-level executives in January: Vincent Maher as chief marketing officer; Andrew Davies as chief operating officer; and Richard Newton as chief financial officer.
- IT service and solution provider, EMC Southern Africa appointed Servaas Venter as its country manager.
- Seacom’s group strategy and business development executive, Aidan Baigrie, left the company on 31 January 2013.
- LG Electronics South Africa appointed I.L Hwang-Lee as its new managing director, replacing J.M Lee, who stepped down from the position at the end of December 2012.
February
- Parent company of Incredible Connection and HiFi Corp, JD Group CEO, Grattan Kirk resigned with effect from 20 February. He was succeeded by David Sussman.
March
- Telkom appointed Xoliswa Makasi as group company secretary with effect from 18 March 2013.
- ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa stepped down from his position as a non-executive director and chairman of MTN.
- Cell C appointed Mohammed Hariri as a director and chairman of its board.
- Saudi Telecom Company (STC), which indirectly owns a significant stake in Cell C, reported that its chief executive Khaled al-Ghoneim resigned.
- Online retailer, Kalahari.com, appointed Caren Genthner-Kappesz as its new CEO, replacing Gary Novitzkas.
Sipho Maseko
April
- Former Vodacom COO, Sipho Maseko took up the position of Telkom CEO from April 1, replacing Nombulelo Moholi who announced her resignation in November 2012.
- Pieter Uys, former chief executive officer of Vodacom Group, joined the management team of Remgro on 1 April 2013.
- Pinnacle Africa appointed Max Stone as its new enterprise mobility business division director.
May
- FNB announced that its CEO, Michael Jordaan would resign at the end of 2013. Jacques Celliers has been appointed to succeed him.
- Tarsus Technologies CEO, Pierre Spies, resigned from the company on 20 May 2013, with Anton Herbst taking over as interim CEO.
- MTN appointed former chief financial officer, Zunaid Bulbulia as CEO for the group’s South African operations. Bulbulia replaced former MD, Karel Pienaar, who now functions as MTN Group chief strategy officer.
- MTN chief technical officer Lambo Kanagaratnam was promoted to chief enterprise business officer, while Eben Albertyn took up the positon of CTO.
- Former chief executive of MTN Group, Phuthuma Nhleko rejoined the group as its chairman.
June
- Telkom appointed Dr Miriam Altman as head of strategy of Telkom Group with effect from 1 June 2013.
- The SABC has filled six vacancies in its executive management in June – Sipho Masinga was appointed group executive for technology; Itani Tseisi as executive for risk and governance; Jabulani Mabaso as head of human capital services; Madoda Shushu head of procurement; Zwelibanzi Mthembu as head of strategy; and Iris Francis as CEO of the SABC Foundation.
Yunus Carrim
July
- Minister of Communications, Dina Pule was sacked and replaced by Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Yunus Carrim in a presidential cabinet reshuffle.
- Gijima‘s chief financial officer, Carlos Ferreira stepped down from the company. Liesl Tweedie was appointed as acting CFO and director at the company.
- Computer storage and data management company, NetApp appointed Mark Ridley as new regional director for Africa.
- Kagiso Media has appointed Mark Harris as the company´s CEO effective 1 August 2013, replacing Murphy Morobe.
- The Mail & Guardian has announced that Chris Roper as the newspaper’s new editor-in-chief, and Angela Quintal was appointed editor of the newspaper.
- Nokia announced the appointment of Shaun Durandt as general manager for Nokia South Africa.
- On 28 July 2013, MTN announced CFO Nazir Patel had left the company because he “broke … procedures by diverting money out of MTN’s thriving business” in Iran.
- Samsung announced the appointment of Sung Yong Hong as the new president and CEO of Samsung Africa – taking over from Kwang Kee Park.
- Leon Perlman, chairman and founder of Wireless Application Service Provider Association (Waspa), left the association at the end of July.
August
- Alan Knott-Craig Jr, former head of Mxit and World of Avatar (and before that iBurst), resurfaced in the tech space as the founder of a non-profit organisation with the stated goal of bringing free Internet to Africa – Project Isizwe.
- Cell C has announced that its chief strategy officer, Robert Pasley agreed to take up a combined position of chief financial and strategy officer.
- Huawei appointed Wilson Liu as the new CEO for its South African operations.
- India based telecoms operator Bharti Airtel has appointed former MTN Group executive, Christian De Faria as CEO of its African operations.
- Mweb Business general manager, Andre Joubert left the company to join Neotel.
September
- Head of FNB Connect, Farren Roper stepped down from the bank in September. His role was not replaced by anyone.
- In September, former Telkom chairman, Jeff Molobela made himself unavailable for re-election to the board after fellow board members asked shareholders not to re-elect him.
- South African mobile social network, Mxit, has appointed Francois Swart as its chief executive officer, affirming the role he had been acting in since 2012.
- Telkom Group managing director: Wholesale and Networks, Bashier Sallie, left the company in September, along with the company’s head of regulatory, Andrew Barendse.
- JSE listed ICT equipment distributor, Pinnacle Technology announced the appointment of Henry Ferreira as head of distribution for the group.
- Acer Africa country manager, Hans Swart has stepped down from the company ”to pursue his next career opportunity outside Acer”. David Drummond took up the position, effective October 1st 2013.
Eileen Wilton
October
- MTN announced that its head of procurement, Edwin Mashilo, tendered his resignation and left the mobile operator at the end of October.
- JSE-listed IT company, Gijima announced the appointment of Eileen Wilton as CEO.
November
- Telkom appointed Enzo Scarcella as its new chief marketing officer, effective the end of January 2014. Scarcella left Vodacom in September.
- MB Technologies, holding company of Tarsus Technologies, announced the resignation of its CEO, Glenn Fullerton, as the executive continues to recouperate after an unfortunate and serious cycling accident.
- It was revealed in November that former FNB CEO Michael Jordaan has set up a private investment vehicle, MonteGray Capital, which will invest in disruptive technologies and disruptive business models starting in 2014.
December
- Former Tarsus CEO, Pierre Spies joined Pinnacle Africa as its new CEO – a role which he will fully take over in June 2014.
- ICT firm, Datatec appointed former Dell and Brambles executive, Dolph Westerbos as new chief executive for the Westcon Group, effective from 1 January 2014.
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