APPOINTMENTS to the board of directors of Sentech - as well as the appointment of an acting CEO for the state-owned signal distributor - have been announced.

APPOINTMENTS to the board of directors of Sentech - as well as the appointment of an acting CEO for the state-owned signal distributor - have been announced.

In a statement yesterday, Minister of Communications Siphiwe Nyanda said Quraysh Patel (chairperson), Mesuli Dhlamini, Zanele Hlatshwayo and Thabo Leeuw had been appointed as non-executive directors.

The Cabinet meeting on March 24 confirmed these appointments for a period of three years from April 1, Nyanda said.

"I am confident that your tenure on the board of Sentech will contribute towards the strengthening and growth of the organisation and take it to greater heights.

"Your respective backgrounds and expertise will put you in good stead to build an entity that inspires confidence among its peers and, more importantly, the staff at Sentech."

The minister also appointed Beverly Ngwenya as acting chief executive officer of Sentech with effect from April 1.

Ngwenya is the current chief operations officer at Sentech.

This followed the departure of Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane, who had been at the helm of the organisation since 2003.

Last month a task team report on the company did not explicitly recommend axing its chief executive officer and board. However, the report found that Sentech was "rudderless, inadequately funded and misdirected" and was an unsustainable business.

The task team urged drastic and immediate action if Sentech was to avoid lapsing into terminal decline. - Sapa