Business Connexion (BCX) has appointed the twin brother of the late CEO, Benjamin Mophatlane, as his successor at the JSE-listed IT solutions firm with effect from August 1 this year.
The firm said Isaac Mophatlane, the current head of sales and marketing and the executive of the Canoa division, was a natural fit for the position.
Tony Ruiters, Chairman of the board, said Isaac was a perfect fit given his background as co-founder of BCX.
Ruiters said Isaac had the innermost grasp of the operations and culture of the firm.
Benjamin died a couple of weeks back after a massive heart attack. He was 41.
BCX board of directors then hired Vanessa Olver, who is currently the Deputy CEO of the firm, as acting CEO.
“BCX lost its leader, visionary and founder. Further to this, Benjamin Mophatlane represented the core of the culture and leadership of BCX. Ben was a well-respected and much loved figure in the industry and a colleague and friend to both our organisations,” the board said at the time.
Mophatlane died shortly before signing one of his most lucrative transactions in a career spanning a little more than two decades.
Earlier this month, Telkom, South Africa’s biggest fixed line operator, said it wanted to acquire the entire issued share capital of BCX.
Because of his sudden death, the BCX and Telkom boards agreed to put to a halt activities related to this takeover.
The Telkom announcement came shortly after Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest mobile operator, had proposed to acquire a major stake in Neotel, a South African fixed line operator which is majority-owned by India-based Tata Corporation.
This flurry of acquisitions in this sector prompted one analyst to claim that this was the beginning of consolidation in South Africa’s mobile and fixed line sectors.
