iBurst CEO Jannie van Zyl has resigned. TechCentral reported on Friday that Van Zyl was set to leave the company after he fell out with at least one of the shareholders in iBurst parent company, Wireless Business Solutions (WBS) Holdings.

“Jannie van Zyl, a key figure in the SA telecoms landscape, has decided to leave iBurst as group CEO to pursue other opportunities. Van Zyl officially leaves iBurst at the end of May 2010,” the company says in a statement.

WBS chairman Thami Mtshali has been appointed as CEO of the company and will be supported by Gary Barnett (operations), Sasan Parvin (technical), Clinton Holroyd (finance), Pearlene Singh (human resources, legal and regulatory) and new addition Mike Brown (sales and marketing), who is also head of iBurst sister company, Broadlink.

“Jannie was a passionate leader who had to make some difficult decisions during his time at iBurst. We are very appreciative of the time, effort and energy he invested in iBurst and wish him every success in his future,” says Mtshali.

TechCentral reported on Friday that Van Zyl was likely to leave the company.

The apparent ructions between Van Zyl and one or more of the WBS shareholders follow in the wake of Vodacom’s decision to sell its 24,9% stake in WBS.

Levy told TechCentral last week that he was in discussions with Van Zyl about the iBurst CEO’s future. Those talks revolved around what long-term role Van Zyl saw himself playing in iBurst, Levy said.

He said Van Zyl had done a “good job” of turning around iBurst’s fortunes in the year since he was appointed as CEO. However, he emphasised that Van Zyl was brought in with the mandate of leading a turnaround at the business, which he had done. — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral