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Management Team
Sipho Maseko (48)
Group chief executive officer
BA, LLB
Sipho was appointed as GCEO of Telkom in April 2013 and serves as an executive director. He attends all board committee meetings of which he is not a member by invitation. Prior to joining Telkom, he served as group chief operating officer and Managing Director at Vodacom. He held various roles at BP starting in 1997, serving as the CEO of BP Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd from 2008 to 2012 and chief operating officer before this. He has served as a non-executive director of the Centre for Development and Enterprise’s board since 2009 and the Afrox board since 2012. He also served as chairman of the board of SAPREF between July 2010 and August 2011.
Deon Fredericks (56)
Group Chief financial officer
CA(SA), BCompt (Hons), Honours in Business Management, ACMA (UK)
Deon was appointed as the GCFO in September 2014. He previously served as deputy to the CFO and as the group executive of corporate finance accounting services from November 2004 to October 2013. He joined Telkom in 1993 as a senior manager in internal audit and has held several executive positions in the finance department. He currently serves on the board of BCX (Pty) Ltd, Gyro group and is an advisory board member of Business Against Crime (BAC) Mpumalanga. He previously served on the Vodacom (Pty) Ltd board where he chaired the audit committee. Deon is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK).
Len de Villiers (59)
Chief information officer
DIS, Information Technology (Harvard) GITI, Information and Technology and Telecommunications (Insead Business School)
Len joined Telkom as chief information officer (CIO) on 1 November 2013 from Transaction Capital where as group CIO he was responsible for technology functions across the Bayport Group. Previously he had spent over 20 years in banking, first as general manager technology at First National Bank, then as CIO of Nedbank and finally as CIO of Absa until 2012. He is currently chairman of the CIO Council of South Africa, which voted him the most admired CIO in South Africa in 2009.
Ian Russell (44)
Chief executive officer BCX
BSc (Econ), MBA, FCIPS Appointed CEO of BCX 1 May 2017
Ian joined Telkom as its chief procurement officer in February 2014 and was appointed to the role of chief administration officer in 2015, having previously headed up procurement at South African Breweries and been chief procurement officer for the Absa group. Before moving to South Africa in 2005 Ian worked for Barclays in London where he held a number of senior roles in operations, technology and procurement. In his current role he is responsible for all human capital activities for the Telkom group, the corporate and social responsibility portfolio, the Telkom Foundation, supply chain and procurement, the real estate portfolio and sustainability.
Alphonzo Samuels (50)
Chief executive officer Openserve
BTech, Diploma (Human Resource Management),National Technical Diploma (Telecommunications)Executive Development Programme (UCT)
Alphonzo was appointed chief executive officer of Openserve in October 2015 having joined Telkom in 1984. During his career with Telkom he has held senior positions in a number of different divisions including broadband technology, planning, engineering, operations, capital project management and human resources. Alphonzo also completed a nine-month assignment with SBC (AT&T) in 1998. He was group executive: wholesale and marketing operations from November 2007 to June 2010, managing executive: network infrastructure provisioning from July 2010 until his appointment as Telkom’s chief technology officer in February 2014.
Thabo Seopa (51)
Chief executive officer Trudon
BCom, HDip Tax, Financial management diploma
Thabo Seopa joined Trudon as managing director in May 2002, after spending nine years in investment banking, with UBS and HSBC. He started his working career as a trainee in management accounting and held positions as regional accountant, financial manager and general manager operations. He has been a board member of various organisations including listed companies, state-owned enterprises and non-profit bodies.
Attila Vitai (60)
Chief executive officer Consumer
BA (Hons), MBA, FCA (England and Wales), OBE
Attila joined Telkom in November 2012 to head up its mobile operations, and in 2014 added responsibility for the fixed consumer business to his portfolio. He was previously Chief Executive Officer for Vodafone in Turkey and Hungary. Earlier on in his career Attila was vice president for EMEA operations of Motorola where he was responsible for several business units engaged in telecommunications and the Internet. Attila was appointed OBE in 2005 and in the same year received the Knight’s Cross of Hungary for services to the telecommunications industry. He is a qualified chartered accountant.
L. Tsholofelo Molefe (48)
Chief risk and compliance officer
CA(SA), BCompt (Hons), CTA, BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance Appointed to exco on 1 March 2017
Tsholofelo Molefe is a qualified chartered accountant. She joined Telkom in July 2016 as Deputy Group CFO. She was previously employed as a finance director of Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd and an executive director of the company’s board until June 2015. She joined Eskom in July 2005 where she became the CFO of the Transmission Division of the Group, and later got appointed as Head of Group Customer Services . She previously worked for First National Bank, ABSA Group, Liberty Group and IBM, in various roles, including Audit and Enterprise Risk Management. She served her audit and accounting articles at Coopers & Lybrand (now Price Waterhouse Coopers). She was recognised as a 2014 finalist on the Standard Bank Top Women Awards in the category of Top Female Public Sector Leader Award.
K. Melody Lekota (46)
Chief human resources officer
Masters in HR, MBA (De Montfort University) Appointed to exco on 1 March 2017
Melody was appointed to the role of Chief of Human Resources for the Telkom Group in March 2017 and is a member of the Group Executive Committee. She has a wealth of experience in Human Resources, both from within the industry and beyond. She joined Telkom from Cell C where she was the Chief HR Officer. Prior to that, Melody led Primedia Ltd's HR team, where she was appointed to the Primedia board in 2006. Melody holds an MBA from De Montfort University, Leicester and is currently studying for a master's degree in Human Resources.
