Former State IT Agency (Sita) boss Setumo Mohapi will take over as CEO of Dimension Data’s Internet Solutions with immediate effect, replacing long-serving CEO Saki Missaikos.

Dimension Data Middle East and Africa CEO Grant Bodley revealed in an exclusive interview with TechCentral on Wednesday that Missaikos, who has led Internet Solutions for the past seven years, will move into a new role in the group as chief strategy and go-to-market executive. His responsibilities will include partnerships and acquisitions.

Mohapi, who is well respected in the industry for leading a clean-up of corruption at Sita, is also a former CEO of Sentech. He worked at Internet Solutions in the early 2000s, so is familiar with the business.

At the same time, the company is merging its security assets into a new security business to be headed by former Internet Solutions chief operating officer Tony Walt. This business will also look at acquisitions and new partnerships and will leverage security expertise from Dimension Data parent company, Japan’s NTT.

The leadership shake-up forms part of a broader management overhaul at Dimension Data MEA as the organisation “reorganises for growth”, Bodley said. A new black economic empowerment deal, to replace Dimension Data’s former empowerment partner, led by Andile Ngcaba’s Convergence Partners, will only likely to be announced in late October or early November, he added. The partnership with Ngcaba fell apart at its close, leading to litigation.

New structure

In a statement on Wednesday, Dimension Data said the new executive team has been structured to “execute on the company’s strategic agenda to enable growth and scalability, while retaining its focus as a leading systems integrator and managed services provider to the region”.

Dimension Data co-founder and former CEO Jeremy Ord will remain in his role as executive chairman of the MEA business, while Moss Ngoasheng — previously non-executive chairman of Dimension Data South Africa — has been appointed as deputy independent non-executive chairman.

Other key appointments include:

Dimension Data System Integration managing executive: Werner Kapp
Chief financial officer: Barry Curtin
Business development executive: Steven Nathan
Chief people and culture executive: Michaela Voller
Corporate services director: Zellah Fuphe
Chief marketing executive: Albi van Zyl
Britehouse managing executive: Ed Gassner
Merchants managing executive: George Todd

Bodley would not be drawn on speculation that Dimension Data MEA could be headed back to the JSE as part of a management buyout from NTT.

In March, TechCentral learnt from industry sources who claimed to have knowledge of the situation at the time that NTT could reduce its stake in the business to 25%, with a consortium, possibly made up of black shareholders to bolster its empowerment credentials owning 51%, with the remaining 24% floated on the Johannesburg bourse.

Bodley said on Wednesday that Dimension Data MEA is “still absolutely part of the NTT group”. He said the shareholding will change, however, once it concludes the BEE transaction later this year. He declined to comment further, saying the transaction is “still a work in progress”. It will, however, have a “large employee share option scheme” component to it, he said.

NTT bought Dimension Data nine years ago and delisted it from the JSE and the London Stock Exchange. At the time, Dimension Data was the largest IT company listed on the local stock exchange.

The changes in the MEA business come after NTT announced the launch earlier this month of NTT Ltd following the merger of NTT Communications, Dimension Data and NTT Security into a single, US$11-billion business. NTT Inc will be headquartered in London and be led by former Dimension Data CEO Jason Goodall.

Brand remains

Though the Dimension Data brand falls away in markets around the world, the Middle East and Africa (MEA) operation will retain the long-established brand.

“Representing NTT within the MEA territory is Dimension Data MEA, which will retain the Dimension Data brand, along with subsidiary brands Internet Solutions, Merchants and Britehouse. This is due to strong brand equity in the territory, along with no direct NTT presence across the MEA territory,” NTT said. “Dimension Data will also continue to leverage NTT’s shared services, technology and platform investments.”

“The recent NTT Ltd announcement presented an opportune time to introspect and ensure we are set up to best respond to the demands of the market and our clients. We are incredibly excited at the opportunity that lies ahead of us,” Bodley said in Wednesday’s statement. — © 2019 NewsCentral Media