Jorge Mendes has been appointed CEO of telecom operator Cell C, the mobile operator’s largest shareholder Blue Label has announced.
Mendes, who left Vodacom after 23 years in January, will take over at the beginning of July after the sudden exit of Douglas Craigie Stevenson in March.
Cell C says Mendes brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role and “is widely regarded as a strategic leader with a proven track record of driving growth and profitability in the telecommunications industry”.
This appointment adds to a raft of leadership changes at the company over the past year. In addition to Craigie Stevenson's departure, CFO Zaf Mahomed left in 2022 to be replaced in September by Lerato Pule.
Last week, the company said former MTN SA CEO Godfrey Motsa and Maya Makanjee, former group chief officer for corporate affairs at Vodacom, had joined its board as the operator looks to push its growth and steady investor confidence.
Mendes has three decades of experience in the telecom industry, having held senior leadership positions at big mobile network providers in SA and various countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Tanzania. Most recently, he served as chief consumer officer at Vodacom, “where he successfully led a period of significant growth and expansion”.
“With his deep industry knowledge and proven leadership capabilities, Mendes is poised to steer Cell C towards new heights of success,” said Blue Label.
Mendes said: “I am excited to be joining Cell C at such a critical time in its history. My focus will be on delivering a true customer-centric approach that exceeds the expectations of South Africans.”
Blue Label completed a long-awaited recapitalisation of the troubled mobile operator in September. SA’s fourth-largest mobile network operator has struggled to make a profit since it opened for business in 2001.
Since finalising new terms with lenders, Cell C has been making moves geared towards expanding its offering.
As part of the expansion narrative, Capitec recently became the latest on Cell C’s roster of MVNOs. This means it leases network infrastructure from Cell C to sell data and voice services to its customers.
This has also come with new appointments.
In January, the former head of Cell C’s mobile virtual network business, Stephen Morony, returned to head its wholesale unit, as the company continues to ramp up operations after the recapitalisation.
A month earlier, investment banker Brett Copans was hired to a newly created role of chief restructuring officer.
The cellphone company also shifted away from owning and operating its own network infrastructure in favour of roaming agreements with MTN and Vodacom.
The company uses its own spectrum through network towers operated by the larger players, and it took part in the spectrum auction in 2022.
Update: June 18 2023
This story has been updated with new information.
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