Andrew Mthembu to fill in as CEO while EOH juggles its leadership
Andrew Mthembu, EOH’s chair, will take over the running of the technology firm from the start of April as Stephen van Coller retires from the CEO office at the end of March.
Mthembu, first appointed to the group’s board in 2019, is its independent non-executive chair. He will assume the role of executive chair from April for six months as the group searches for a permanent CEO.
“The executive chair will assume the role and responsibilities of interim CEO for a period of up to six months or until such time as a new CEO is appointed,” the group told investors in a note on Thursday.
The group, valued at R727.4m on the JSE, said Mthembu’s familiarity with EOH’s operations and stakeholders “will be complemented by support from the CEOs of the company’s operational business units”. They are Marius de la Rey at iOCO SA; Brian Harding, head of the international business; and Fatima Newman, who runs EasyHQ.
EOH’s management has been salvaging the company’s reputation after allegations of malpractice and tender irregularities under the previous leadership, while also dealing with a mountain of debt accumulated during that period when it focused on acquisitions to expand.
With much of the turnaround in place, EOH is hunting for a new CEO to replace Van Coller, who had extended his five-year contract by six months, while an interim CFO was appointed to take over from November.
Van Coller, who took the helm in September 2018, is set to leave at the end of March and retire from the board. Megan Pydigadu resigned as CFO and was replaced by Marialet Greeff, the group’s executive for treasury, tax and regulatory finance, on an interim basis.
As part of the leadership changes, EOH said Greeff had been confirmed on a permanent basis with immediate effect. In addition, Andrew Marshall, an independent non-executive director, had been appointed as lead independent director with effect from April.
The group said it hoped these appointments would ensure “a seamless and stable transition in the leadership of the EOH board, minimising disruptions and maintaining operational continuity, until a new CEO is appointed”.
The company hoped the interim period would allow for greater integration of De la Rey, Harding and Newman into the overall EOH group strategy.
All three executives recently extended their contracts with the group.
The technology group said in January it expected an improved performance in its second quarter while it navigated a challenging economic environment that affected IT budgets and investment planning.
In a trading update for the six months to end-January, the group said it expected “the muted GDP growth forecasts and high unemployment rate will continue to make for a challenging trading environment for the foreseeable future”.
EOH shares were up 5.5% intraday, but ended 1.85% stronger on Thursday at R1.10.