Telkom has announced the appointment of new board members after the retirement of independent non-executive directors Santie Botha and Khanyisile Kweyama.
Botha and Kweyama will retire from the board with effect from 25 September and 31 December 2020, respectively.
South Africa’s biggest fixed-line telephone operator informed investors on Wednesday that they will be replaced by Alphonzo Samuels and Hemmanth Singh.
“Telkom welcomes Messrs Samuels and Singh to the Board of Directors, and looks forward to their contributions to the company,” Telkom said in a statement.
“The company also extends its gratitude to Botha and Kweyama for their contributions over the last few years and wishes them well in their future endeavours.”
Singh will begin his tenure on 25 September 2020, while Samuels will start his term on 1 January 2021.
Singh is a former MTN chief innovation officer who left Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator in 2018 to start his own tech venture.
Before joining MTN, Singh was a top Vodacom managing executive in digital financial services.
He is also a former CEO of Beyond Payments, innovation and new business incubator at Standard Bank.
Singh holds an MBA, BSc. Mechanical Engineering and a Graduate Diploma, Industrial Engineering from the University of Witwatersrand.
“He is an innovative business thinker and a high impact player with a mix of business technology, leadership and entrepreneurial skills. He has led and guided many disruptive businesses in the ongoing convergence of technology and business for over 20 years,” Telkom stated.
Singh will be able to add value to Telkom’s foray into financial services and adjacent markets.
While Samuels is a former boss of Openserve and retired on 31 March 2020 after 36 years of service at Telkom.
During his time at Telkom, Samuels served in many roles, including that of broadband officer, managing executive for network infrastructure provisioning, and group chief technology officer.
Telkom said that he holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from the University of South Africa (Unisa) and is a seasoned executive with more than 35 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry.
He also completed an Executive Development Program and a Program for Enterprise Leadership.
“He is well-positioned to help companies and boards understand information communication technology, digital transformation and its immense opportunities to improve the sustainability of businesses,” Telkom said.
