Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Blue Label Telecoms to change its name as restructuring gathers pace

      11 July 2025

      Get your ID delivered like pizza – home affairs’ latest digital shake-up

      11 July 2025

      EFF vows to stop Starlink from launching in South Africa

      11 July 2025

      Apple plans product blitz to reignite growth

      11 July 2025

      Nissan doubles down on South Africa despite plant uncertainty

      11 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » Sentech poised to name new CEO

    Sentech poised to name new CEO

    By Editor11 October 2010
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Sentech chairman Quraysh Patel

    Sentech’s board has nominated a new CEO to lead the troubled stated-owned company. But it will only be a position to name the individual it has chosen once cabinet has approved his appointment, probably later this month.

    That’s the word from Sentech chairman Quraysh Patel, who says he has put forward the board’s chosen candidate to communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda.

    Nyanda will now discuss the matter with his cabinet colleagues. The candidate’s appointment should be ratified before the end of October, Patel says.

    Patel won’t name the candidate, but says he has confidence in the individual’s ability to lead a turnaround of the troubled broadcasting signal distributor. The candidate does not currently work for Sentech.

    The appointment of a new CEO follows the early retirement — she was told to go, sources say — of former CEO Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane. Other senior Sentech executives were purged, including acting CEO Beverley Ngwenya and chief financial officer Mohammed Cassim, both of whom left under a cloud.

    Sentech is in desperate need of new leadership. For now, Patel, who is meant to be nonexecutive, has taken on an operational role until new management has been appointed.

    The company is busy with a number of crucial technology projects, not least of which is the migration of terrestrial television broadcasts from analogue to digital. And, as TechCentral revealed on Friday, it wants to revive plans to build a national broadband wireless network.

    Patel, who is due to present Sentech’s turnaround strategy to parliament on Wednesday, says the company has put the worst of its problems behind it. “We have stabilised the business,” he says. Operational cash flow improvements mean Sentech will no longer have to go to government for a bailout.

    But Patel admits the company still has big challenges, and needs to shut down its poorly performing businesses.

    Also, the ratio of headcount to revenue is “exorbitant”.

    “We are paying 35% of our costs to headcount. We are overstaffed and I don’t have the cash to retrench, so I’m not filling any vacancies except in key positions.”  — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral

    • Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
    • Follow us on Twitter or on Facebook


    Beverley Ngwena Mohammed Cassim Quraysh Patel Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane Sentech Siphiwe Nyanda
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleQ&A with Neotel’s Ajay Pandey
    Next Article Telkom fights threat of R3,5bn fine

    Related Posts

    Icasa publishes new draft regulations for digital TV

    8 July 2025

    Zombie SOEs haunt communications sector

    2 July 2025

    Warning of TV blackout for millions in South Africa

    19 March 2025
    Company News

    $125-trillion traded: Binance redefines global finance in just eight years

    11 July 2025

    NEC XON welcomes HPE acquisition of Juniper Networks

    11 July 2025

    LTE Cat 1 vs Cat 1 bis – what’s the difference?

    11 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.