Mogase quits Spescom chair

By Nicola Mawson for Spescom

Johannesburg, 08 Jun 2009

JSE-listed IT business Spescom says its chairman, Mutle Mogase, will step down from the board to focus on his chairmanship of the African Bank.

The news comes a few weeks after the company announced that its financial director had also stepped down. Mogase was promoted to non-executive chairman in 2007, as part of the company's transformation plans. He had served on the board since 2003.

Simo Lushaba will replace Mogase with effect from Friday. Lushaba has a BSc with honours, an MBA, as well as a Doctorate of Business Administration, and has engaged in in-depth studies of corporate governance, said Spescom, in its announcement to shareholders.

“During his corporate career, Lushaba has held a number of key leadership roles in both the private and public sector and currently focuses on the development of his investment company, Simosezwe Investments,” the company said.

Lushaba serves on several boards, including as non-executive director of Harmony Gold, the board of The National Union of Metalworkers of SA's Investment Company and the Water Research Commission. He is also chairman of GVSC Communications (South Africa), an ICT company.

In mid-May, financial director Dashni Sinivasan resigned. At the time, CEO Jene Palmer said Sinivasan had been offered a position at one of the country's network operators. “Unfortunately, I cannot disclose which of the operators she will be moving to. I can only say that they have made her an offer she can't refuse.”

Sinivasan joined Spescom in 2007, after having worked as GM for BMW's financial services division. She was promoted to CFO in 2008. Early this year, she was again promoted to board level as the company's financial director.