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Telkom Appoints New Group CEO to Replace Maseko

August 5, 2021

Serame Taukobong, the Group CEO Designate, Telkom Group

South Africa’s telecoms giant has announced Sipho Maseko’s successor as CEO of the Telkom Group. The telco has appointed Serame Taukobong as the Group CEO Designate with effect from 1 October 2021. Taukobong will assume the role of chief executive after Maseko makes his official exit from the company on 30 June 22.

“Serame is a seasoned executive, with deep experience in the ITC sector in South African and the continent,” said Sello Moloko, Chairperson of Telkom, about the new appointment.

Mokolo says that the organisation was pleased that its extensive search process confirmed the calibre of Telkom’s people and that the appointment of Serame will further ensure the continuity of Telkom’s value unlock strategy.

“I know I will be taking over a solid business with a capable & committed team,” comments Taukobong about his appointment. Taukobong previously worked under Maseko’s leadership for three years.

“The team and I are conscious of the challenges that lie ahead and are committed to attracting and retaining the best people, winning in the market place and delivering value for shareholders,” he concludes.

Taukobong currently serves as Telkom’s CEO of Consumer & Small Business, joining the telco in 2018, and previously worked as an executive for the MTN Group, where his most important tenures were as Head of Marketing for MTN South Africa and as the CEO of MTN Ghana.

Telkom’s current and soon to be former CEO, Sipho Maseko, made his intentions to step down known last month.

“I feel now is the right time for me to step aside and make way for a new leader who will take Telkom to even greater heights. I will stay on until June 2022 to ensure a smooth transition for my successor,” Maseko said.

“I am most thankful to my colleagues across our country, for trusting me to lead Telkom, and for supporting me throughout this journey of transition.”

Maseko joined Telkom on 1 April 2013 during a time when the firm was facing “severe challenges”.

During his eight-year tenure, Maseko managed to turn its business around – evolving it from a traditional fixed business to a portfolio of businesses that comprises the Mobile, IT, Wholesale infrastructure business and the Masts and Tower portfolio.

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

South Africa’s Telkom Group Records Growth in Mobile Business

May 27, 2021

South Africa’s leading telecoms company, Telkom has said that the lion’s share of its income in the year ended 31^st March 2021 was made up by “next-generation technologies” like its mobile business. Growth, driven by the mobile business, saw EBITDA grow 11.7% to R11 973 million, with EBITDA margin expanding by 2.8 ppts to 27.7%.

Despite a challenging environment, Group revenue grew 0.4% to R43 222 million. Mobile business revenue growth now more than offsets the anticipated structural decline in fixed-voice revenue and revenue pressures from COVID-19. The results showed a change in revenue mix, with legacy fixed-voice income now contributing only 15% to the business.

Notwithstanding the challenging trading environment, the Group delivered underlying earnings growth of 88.1% to R2 622 million, growing BEPS and HEPS by 89.6% and 53.4% respectively compared to the prior year.

Telkom Group CEO, Sipho Maseko says “our mobile business continued its growth trajectory as we surpassed 15 million subscribers during the year, carrying even more data traffic in 4G and 4,5G, as well as commencing our 5G rollout.”

He adds, “Allocating capital to a data-led and fibre-enabled mobile networks – a growth area of our business – successfully prepared us for the significant increase in data demand and mobile broadband services as more people worked, did business and studied from home.”

Mobile broadband traffic increased 53.2%, resulting in mobile data revenue growing by 41.0% and underpinning the 34.5% increase in mobile service revenue to R16 938 million.

Telkom’s BCX unit suffered a decline in revenue as the national lockdown and the work-from-home response impacted fixed-voice revenues from enterprise customers. Information technology (IT) revenue also came under pressure as corporates deferred capital expenditure (CAPEX) and delayed projects given the increased levels of uncertainty.