TELKOM said on Wednesday that it has appointed the head of its consumer business, Serame Taukobong to be group Chief Executive Officer designate with effect from October 1.
Taukobong, who is also a group Executive Committee Member, replaces Sipho Maseko who will step down at the end of June next year.
Taukobong joined Telkom in June 2018 and has extensive experience in telecommunications having spent about 10 years at rival MTN Group, where he held several senior roles which included Chief Operating Officer and later CEO of MTN Ghana, Telkom said.
As CEO of the Telkom Consumer Business, the mobile business customer base grew three-folds to 15 million and its revenue almost doubled to R20 billion rand within a three year period, Telkom said in a statement.
Telkom Mobile has been on a profitable path, evidenced by the unit’s stellar performance recorded in the quarter ended 30 June.
In the quarter, Telkom’s consumer business revenue grew 8.3% to R6.5 billion, driven by growth in mobile revenue, which grew 13% to R4.4 billion.
Mobile data revenue grew by 11.1% to R3.2 billion, supported by 30.9% growth in mobile broadband customers to 10.5 million.
Under his leadership, the mobile arm has also become the third largest mobile business in South Africa, it said.
“The Board, Group CEO and the Group CEO Designate remain committed to structurally separate Telkom and unlock value for shareholders,” said Telkom in a statement.
Among the value unlock exercises, Telkom is looking for investors for its mast and tower business, which it reckons is undervalued since it is trapped in the group structure.
The exercise was started by Maseko who has been credited for successfully turning the operator around from a business facing declining fixed-line voice revenue, to a digitally-led one fit to compete with the top two players MTN and Vodacom Group
During this transition period, Taukobong will continue to have oversight of the Telkom Consumer Business, while a recruitment process for his successor starts immediately, Telkom said.
- Own Correspondent
