Change at the top for Vodacom

The appointment of Pieter Uys as CEO of Vodacom may stifle the future development of South Africa’s largest mobile operator, in a country where indigenisation under the banner of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a guiding corporate philosophy.

Uys succeeds Knott-Craig who has been at the helm of Vodacom since 1993.

Uys has been the chief operating officer of Vodacom since 2004 and takes over from Alan Knott-Craig, whose tenure as head of both Vodacom and Vodacom Group will total 15 years, when he steps down this September.

“While I don’t doubt Uys’ credentials having been at Vodacom for the length of time he has been, I just wonder whether this would have been the opportunity to inject fresh blood managerially into Vodacom,” an informed source told Comm.

“In a country also brewing with Black Economic Empowerment overtures, the selection of Uys as CEO of an entity in which government-owned Telkom has a 50 per cent stake is also likely to cause some level of agitation amongst government heavyweights,” the source added.

BEE legislation, effected in 2004, is aimed at addressing the previous exclusion of people of colour from meaningful participation in the South African economy.

The legislation is a scorecard which measures company’s empowerment progress and applies to all state bodies and public companies when they make economic or human resources decisions, as well as private companies such as Vodacom, which apply for licences or tender business from the state.

The informed source also believes Uys would face some difficulties in emerging as his own man following the long tenure of Knott-Craig, who following his resignation intends to remain in an advisory position until the end of the year.

“Knott-Craig’s plans to be consulting CEO for a period of time reinforce his inability to let someone take on the reins of power immediately and completely,” the source stated.

The source also questions Uys’ strategic vision, noting that while Vodacom has been hugely successful domestically, its exit from Nigeria some years back has stifled its expansion into the rest of Africa, allowing domestic rival MTN to emerge as the pre-eminent pan-African operator.

“The blame of this lost opportunity lies at the feet of Knott-Craig and his senior management team, thereby bringing into question by association Uys’ ability to think in new ways and take Vodacom in a new direction.”

Vodacom is 50/50 owned by Vodafone and Telkom, and serves 28.2 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique, with a 55 per cent market share in South Africa.