New COO for Altech within a year

JSE-listed Altech expects to appoint a new COO within the next six to 12 months, after Jeffrey Hedberg's sudden resignation, announced in January.

Venter says the new COO will come from inside the company to ensure a cultural fit. He says an announcement will be made as soon as Altech is ready.

In the meantime, the operational side has been split and is being handled by CFO John Carstens and group executive for human resources and industrial relations Johan Klein, as well as Venter.

Venter says this has been done to avoid a vacuum.

When Hedberg quit, Venter said he had decided to pursue a career outside of the Altech Group. “Jeffrey and I had a discussion and he indicated that he wanted to pursue his career opportunities elsewhere.”