Broad changes for Vodacom's board

By Candice Jones, ITWeb online telecoms editor

SA, 05 Mar 2009

Vodacom will see several changes to its board of directors after its listing on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) in May.

Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys explained during a conference call this week that the company will gain several new board members, including a new chairman, Peter Moyo, who will replace outgoing chairman, Andrew Mabandla.

List of new board members

What the board will look like after listing
Peter Moyo (chairman)
Pieter Uys (CEO)
Johan van der Watt (acting CFO)
Mohamed Shameel (executive director)
Richard Charles Snow (non-executive director, Vodafone)
Morten Lundal (non-executive director, Vodafone)
Ronald Schellekens (non-executive director, Vodafone)
James Carl Grinwis Maclaurin (non-executive director, Vodafone)
Phuti Malabie (independent non-executive director)
Thomas Andrew Boardman (independent non-executive director)
Thoko Martha Mokgosi-Mwantembe (independent non-executive director)

Moyo was appointed CEO of Alexander Forbes after a two-year stint as the company's Africa MD. He left the company at the end of 2007. Before that, Moyo worked for Old Mutual SA as its deputy MD. He is also one of the founding members of Amabubesi Investments.

Mabandla was Telkom's front man as chairman of the Vodacom board, and will leave after the company has listed on 5 May. He has chairmanship of the Langa Group and holds the same position on the Consol Glass board.

Thoko Mokgosi-Mwantembe, ICT veteran and former MD of Hewlett-Packard SA, is another new addition to the executive team. She will serve as non-executive director. Named businesswoman of the year in 2008, Mokgosi-Mwantembe has a finger in many pies. She is CEO of investment business, Kutana Investment Group, and is a director on the boards of Knorr BremseSA, Absa Group, Paracon Holdings, and Vodacom's BEE partner YeboYethu.

The board will host four Vodafone executives: Richard Snow, Morten Lundal, Ronald Schellekens and James Maclaurin - who are already board members. Government will also have the option of appointing one member, as a result of its 10% stake.

Telkom is expected to be completely unbundled the day before Vodacom lists on the JSE, which means Telkom still has a vote on the board and the management of Vodacom until then.

However, according to Uys, Telkom's board members have turned non-executive and are phasing themselves out of the company's dealings. He added that Telkom had also agreed to approve the new members of Vodacom's board.