Former Vodacom CEO reported to be talking with Cell C

Vodacom’s former CEO Alan Knott-Craig is reported to have held talks with South Africa’s smallest mobile operator, Cell C, with respect to the company’s future and a possible ‘rescue plan’ for the cellco, according to local news portal MyBroadband.

Cell C has been without a permanent CEO since Lars Reichelt departed the company in July.

Knott-Craig is currently prohibited from working in the country’s telecom sector until April 2012 as part of the severance package agreed when he left Vodacom.

Cell C has suffered the twin problems of stiff competition in the local market, as well as shareholder inertia from its parent company Saudi Oger, which appears undecided regarding its long-term involvement in South Africa.