Cabinet has moved to fill the position of chairman of the board of state-owned signal distributor Sentech, following last year's abrupt resignation of Quraysh Patel, after only six months in the hot seat.
According to a post-Cabinet briefing by government spokesperson Jimmy Manyi, Logan Naidoo has been appointed as non-executive chairman of the Sentech board.
Two non-executive members of the board were also appointed: Sindi Mabaso-Koyana and former ICASA chairman Paris Mashile. The new appointments were ratified by Cabinet on 16 February.
Sentech has been through several top-level ructions after a new board was appointed in April last year.
COO Beverly Ngwenya replaced former CEO Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane, but subsequently resigned in the face of disciplinary action, while CFO Mohammed Cassim is currently on suspension pending a disciplinary process.
Patel had to lead the board in making several radical decisions to bring the national signal distributor out of the red and make it financially viable.
These decisions included bringing disciplinary charges against Ngwenya and Cassim, the tightening of financial controls, shortening payment times for clients, and cutting costs.
However, things at the state-owned entity have been on the upswing after Setumo Mohapi was named its new CEO. Mohapi previously held the position of COO of iWayAfrica, a subsidiary of the Telkom Group, in Mauritius, as well as CTO of the now defunct Telkom Media.
Upon his departure in November, Patel noted his confidence that Sentech was on the road to recovery. “At this stage, the CEO is fully in charge of the daily operations of the company, which is well on its way to sustainability.
“Sentech now has R250 million cash in the bank, compared to the financial position it was in five months ago, when we were forecasting that we would be R100 million in the red by the beginning of next year,” Patel stated at the time.
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