Telkom Group CEO to retire
Telkom and the Group Chief Executive Officer today announced that Reuben September will retire from his position and resign his directorship at the expiry of his contract in November 2010.
A successor to September will be announced in due course.
Making the announcement, Telkom emphasised that it was imperative for the Company to maintain its continuity and focus on its business imperatives and to ensure that Telkom is ideally positioned for future growth, while not compromising on its commitment of creating value for its stakeholders.
The depth of Telkom's existing leadership experience and expertise will ensure that the period of transition would be a smooth one.
As Group CEO, September's vision in terms of Telkom's transformation and growth imperatives was such that he became known as an explorer of new frontiers; a leader who understood the changing nature of the ICT industry and who guided Telkom into areas with growth potential. His pivotal role in leading the disposal of the 50% interest in Vodacom, Telkom's restructuring, the launch of Cybernest and Telkom's entry into the mobile market later this year attest to September's strategic vision and leadership over many years.
September joined the former Department of Posts and Telecommunications in 1977 as a pupil technician. Recognising his potential, the Department gave him an opportunity to pursue his tertiary studies at the University of Cape Town where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, thus becoming the first black engineer to be employed by the Department.
During the past 33 years, September has assumed responsibility for a number of engineering and commercial positions, including Managing Executive for Technology and Network Services, Chief Technical Officer and Chief Operating Officer. His long and distinguished career culminated in his appointment as Acting Chief Executive Officer (April 2007) before becoming Telkom's Chief Executive Officer in November 2007. He was appointed as a Director of the Board in May 2007. He also served as a Director of Vodacom.
September's contribution to Telkom's evolution, especially during the last decade, is clearly evident. As a highly proficient technologist he played a leading role in setting up the National Network Operations Centre and establishing an undersea fibre cable system around the African continent. As an expert in network design and build, he was instrumental in driving network digitalisation and upgrade initiatives, as well as embedding the Next Generation Network technologies required to support fixed-mobile converged services.
It is Telkom's NGN technologies that enabled a seamless broadcast of last year's FIFA Confederations Cup and which is pivotal to the backbone ICT infrastructure that will enable the broadcast of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ to the world.