GijimaAst chairman quits

By Nicola Mawson, Contributing journalist

Johannesburg, 27 Sept 2006

JSE-listed GijimaAst`s chairman has stepped down, the company says.

In a note to shareholders yesterday, the company stated that Hans Smith had voluntarily stepped down as chairman of the board and non-executive director, with effect from 1 January 2007.

This is "part of the realignment process of the group, as well as the board of directors," it said.

Smith, who has a two BSc degrees and a post-graduate diploma in Market Research and Advertising from the University of SA, joined the company in March 2003.

He started his career in the mining industry and held various senior positions before joining Iscor in 1993 as CE and MD. In 1995, he became the executive chairman of Iscor.

Smith also served as non-executive chairman of Kumba Resources, until November 2002.

Robert Gumede, executive director and deputy chairman, has been appointed in his place. He was appointed to the board on 3 May 2005 and has a B Juris degree.

Gumede started his career as a clerk in the civil and criminal court in Nelspruit and subsequently progressed to state prosecutor in Nelspruit Courts, where he remained for a further five years.

After the merger of AST Group and Gijima Technologies on 22 April 2005, he was appointed as executive director to the board of GijimaAst in May and as deputy chairman a month later.