Adapt IT said on Monday that its long-serving CEO, Sbu Shabalala, will take a leave of absence for three months to “attend to personal matters”.
Chief commercial officer Tiffany Dunsdon, who is also a long-serving executive director of the JSE-listed software services group, will take over as CEO on an interim basis. Dunsdon lives in Perth, Australia.
The developments come after serious allegations emerged at the weekend in which Shabalala is accused of hiring armed thugs to threaten his estranged wife Neo’s partner, suspended eThekwini city manger Sipho Nzuza.
The attack was reportedly so serious that Nzuza had to have his spleen and part of a kidney removed; he remains in intensive care in a Durban hospital, according to a report published in the Sunday Times.
“Tiffany assumes the role of interim CEO as Mr Sibusiso Shabalala, the current CEO, has been granted a leave of absence for three months by the board in order to attend to personal matters,” Adapt IT said in a statement to shareholders issued via the JSE’s stock exchange news service.
Volatile share price
Adapt IT shares, which were pummelled on news of the violent Durban attack and Shabalala’s alleged involvement in it, briefly rallied on the news of the CEO’s suspension, but quickly fell back. They were trading down 12.4% at R6.20 at 4.35pm.
In another development, Adapt IT said it has appointed Tony Vicente as an executive director. Vicente was appointed as chief strategy officer in September 2018 and will continue in that function, which the group said includes a “strong operations oversight role”. — (c) 2021 NewsCentral Media
