Spar Group’s CIO, Mark Huxtable, has resigned from the South African food and liquor retailer, not long after a rocky implementation of a R1.8-billion software system.

The move to the SAP software resulted in various integration and distribution issues that caused interruptions in stock deliveries to stores and lost sales. The SAP software project cost Spar about R786-million in lost first-half wholesale turnover. Operating profit fell 18% in the six months to March.

Huxtable’s departure is for personal reasons and he will leave the Durban-based company at the end of the month, it said Friday in an e-mailed response to questions. The problems with the SAP systems have been worked on and stores are again being serviced, it said.

Spar’s South African national IT executive Brett McDougall will step in to support the team, chairman Mike Bosman said in the e-mail. Huxtable did not respond to requests for comment and SAP said it was unable to comment on behalf of its customers.

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The grocer has lost a number of executives this year, including its former CEO, Brett Botten, and ex-chairman Graham O’Connor who resigned over governance issues.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry