Company confirms its chief executive Nombulelo 'Pinky' Moholi has resigned from the post
“Moholi has notified the company of her intention to step down before the end of her contract period. She has given the board the requisite six months’ notice in this regard,” it said in a statement.
“The company would like to emphasise that Ms Moholi’s intended departure does not impact on its operational capabilities, and on its ability to provide customers with the best possible service.”
It also announced that Telkom board director Neo Phakama Dongwana had resigned. “The board thanks Ms Dongwana for her valuable contribution to Telkom and wishes her well in her future endeavours,” Telkom said.
It said that once the “current vacancies” in the board were filled, the board would start looking for a new chief executive.
“The process of filling the vacancies on the board has commenced and announcements will be made in due course,” it said.
Moholi was appointed to the position in April last year.
Reuters reports that the announcement comes as the telecoms company struggles to craft a convincing turnaround strategy.
Stung by declining fixed-line usage and an expensive, failed attempt at expansion into Nigeria, Telkom launched a mobile phone unit that some analysts have said lacked strategic logic.
The mobile business has yet to turn a profit two years after its launch.
Shares in the company are down nearly 40% so far this year, under-performing a near 20% gain the All-share index, and underscoring the lack of investor confidence in the stock, whose top shareholder is the South African government.
In June, the government, which owns nearly 40% of Telkom, rejected South Korea’s KT Corp offer for a 20% stake in the company.
The future of the state-controlled telecoms company has been thrown into doubt by tentative government plans to renationalise and force it to push through a costly expansion of rural Internet access.
The government in June also rejected a $385 million bid for 20% of the company from South Korean group KT Corp
“Telkom is quite a key asset for government. Since the failure of the KT Corp deal, things started not to look great for Telkom,” said one analyst who did not want to be named. “Based on that, and the strained relationship with the government, maybe she (Moholi) decided to just step down.”
Telkom’s chairman and several board members also departed following an annual general meeting last month.
“It was quite difficult to carry on doing a job with everything that has been happening at the board and shareholder level,” said Steve Minnaar, portfolio manager at fund manager Abax Investments. “It is unfortunate because they are losing another experienced person.”
Under Moholi, the company has lost more than half of its market value.
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Telkom CEO quits
Company confirms its chief executive Nombulelo 'Pinky' Moholi has resigned from the post
“Moholi has notified the company of her intention to step down before the end of her contract period. She has given the board the requisite six months’ notice in this regard,” it said in a statement.
“The company would like to emphasise that Ms Moholi’s intended departure does not impact on its operational capabilities, and on its ability to provide customers with the best possible service.”
It also announced that Telkom board director Neo Phakama Dongwana had resigned. “The board thanks Ms Dongwana for her valuable contribution to Telkom and wishes her well in her future endeavours,” Telkom said.
It said that once the “current vacancies” in the board were filled, the board would start looking for a new chief executive.
“The process of filling the vacancies on the board has commenced and announcements will be made in due course,” it said.
Moholi was appointed to the position in April last year.
Reuters reports that the announcement comes as the telecoms company struggles to craft a convincing turnaround strategy.
Stung by declining fixed-line usage and an expensive, failed attempt at expansion into Nigeria, Telkom launched a mobile phone unit that some analysts have said lacked strategic logic.
The mobile business has yet to turn a profit two years after its launch.
Shares in the company are down nearly 40% so far this year, under-performing a near 20% gain the All-share index, and underscoring the lack of investor confidence in the stock, whose top shareholder is the South African government.
In June, the government, which owns nearly 40% of Telkom, rejected South Korea’s KT Corp offer for a 20% stake in the company.
The future of the state-controlled telecoms company has been thrown into doubt by tentative government plans to renationalise and force it to push through a costly expansion of rural Internet access.
The government in June also rejected a $385 million bid for 20% of the company from South Korean group KT Corp
“Telkom is quite a key asset for government. Since the failure of the KT Corp deal, things started not to look great for Telkom,” said one analyst who did not want to be named. “Based on that, and the strained relationship with the government, maybe she (Moholi) decided to just step down.”
Telkom’s chairman and several board members also departed following an annual general meeting last month.
“It was quite difficult to carry on doing a job with everything that has been happening at the board and shareholder level,” said Steve Minnaar, portfolio manager at fund manager Abax Investments. “It is unfortunate because they are losing another experienced person.”
Under Moholi, the company has lost more than half of its market value.
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