Telkom's former group executive of regulatory affairs, Victor Geoffrey Mashigo Moche, passed away in China over the weekend, while receiving treatment for cancer, his family announced yesterday.
Moche (62) joined Telkom in 1995 as group executive for public affairs and then became group executive for regulatory affairs until 2003, when he became CEO of state-owned arms manufacturer Denel for 18 months. He left that position to become an industry consultant.
He was appointed by late communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri as chairman of the 2010 ICT Broadband Stakeholders Forum and was a shareholder in engineering company Africon. He also worked as a consultant within the ICT sector.
Moche was a long serving member of the ruling African National Congress. He was appointed on numerous occasions to represent the party in various countries as the party's chief representative of international affairs. In 1994, he was the convener of the ministerial task team on the integration of the public broadcasting services.
Moche was also instrumental in having the now defunct Telecommunications Act amended, which led to the liberalisation of the ICT sector.
He battled with cancer for at least three years and was receiving stem-cell treatment in China and passed away early Sunday morning (South African time).
Gabriel Celli, an executive in Telkom's regulatory affairs department, worked closely with Moche between 1995 and 2003.
“He was a highly skilled diplomat and strategist, and did a lot to smooth things over when the alliance between Telkom, government and SBC (now AT&T) became strained at times,” he says.
Cassandra Gabriel, chairperson of the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA, worked with Moche at Telkom and Denel. She says Moche was known for always fighting for what was right for the country.
“He had very strong principles and this often caused him to be at loggerheads with some of the ruling members of the party, but he was highly principled and a brilliant leader,” she notes.
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