Sunil Joshi has stepped down as CEO of Neotel, five months after being suspended pending a board-led investigation into alleged corruption in a deal involving Transnet.
His resignation comes less than two weeks after Neotel’s chief financial officer, Steven Whiley, who had also been suspended pending the board investigation, also announced he was stepping down.
Joshi and Whiley were placed on “special leave” at the end of July following publication of a report in the Mail & Guardian that said Neotel may have made dodgy payments to a company called Homix in order to secure a telecommunications contract worth R1,8bn from state-owned Transnet.
Neotel said both men complied fully with the investigation.
In its statement on Joshi, the company said: “As a result of the investigation and with the information available to the board relating to the Homix transaction, the board has found nothing to date that implicates Mr Joshi personally in any bribery or corruption activities.
“Separately, we regret to inform you that Mr Joshi has decided to pursue his own interests, and will resign from Neotel with immediate effect.”
When it announced Whiley’s resignation on 27 November, Neotel said its former finance chief “at all times acted with integrity”. He left the operator’s employ on 30 November. — © 2015 NewsCentral Media