Vodacom board mulls successor options

Johannesburg, 10 Jun 2008

The Vodacom board has a process under way to appoint a new group CEO to replace outgoing Alan Knott-Craig.

The board is split equally between Telkom and Vodafone representatives. Knott-Craig, group COO Pieter Uys and Vodacom SA MD Shameel Joosub hold the remaining seats.

In a formal statement yesterday afternoon, the board acknowledged it had accepted Knott-Craig's decision to retire. It was already working on appointing a replacement, it said.

"Vodacom is in the fortunate position that many of the key members of its founding management team are still in place. The process to appoint a new CEO is under way and candidates currently employed by Vodacom, as well as external candidates, are being considered for the position," it said.

The board expects to have a new CEO in place "in the near future" and is confident the group's performance will continue.

Knott-Craig, meanwhile, has urged the board to act speedily and appoint the person by the end of July "at the very latest".

"I would have preferred them to have announced a CEO and CFO by now. There are probably good reasons for the delay, but I like things to be dealt with in an orderly and decisive manner. This company is too big and has too many people depending on it to let this decision drag," he emphasised.

An industry spectator added a warning that Vodacom could lose some of its key management staff if the appointment took too long.

"These are highly-skilled, sought-after executives. You only need to consider Tiger's capture of Peter Matlare to see that opportunities for these people are not confined to the telecoms sector."

Praise singers

Praise for Knott-Craig continued to roll in following the confirmation of his departure.

The normally reserved investor analyst community yesterday gave the 56-year-old a standing ovation at the end of the company's annual results presentation.

Telkom chairman Shirley Lue Arnold said "thank you" was not enough to represent the company's gratitude for his contributions over the years.

Vodacom chairman Oyama Mabandla paid tribute "to one of the most impressive and far-sighted business leaders I have known".

Communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri extended her "sincere thanks" to Knott-Craig after serving Vodacom with "distinction" for 15 years.