Arivia boss takes 'well-deserved break`

By Dave Glazier for arivia.kom
Johannesburg, 30 Oct 2006

CEO of arivia.kom Zeth Malele will end his term at the state-owned IT company tomorrow, after five years at the helm.

"I`m going to take a well-deserved break," says Malele. He says that, at least until the end of the year, he will take some time off.

Malele (47) says he may remain in the IT sector, but does not rule out the possibility of moving into another industry.

"I grew up in the IT sector; I`ve got a strong attachment to it and I believe I can still make a contribution to the industry and the economy in general," he says.

Beginnings

Malele started his career in 1981 at IBM. In 1995, he started his own business, and in 1997 was involved in one of the largest consolidations of black IT business when nine companies formed Kwetliso Holdings, of which he became executive chairman.

In 1998, Malele was appointed CEO of Ariel Technologies, a position that helped him to be instrumental in the formation of arivia.kom, in January 2001. He was subsequently appointed as arivia.kom CEO.

He won the Black Achiever`s Award for the ICT industry in 1999 and 2000, and was the joint winner of the Computer Society of SA`s IT Personality of the Year award for 2001. He is also a member of the Presidential National Commission on Information Society Development.

Uncertainty

Malele says he does not know who his successor will be, explaining that for the immediate future shareholders Eskom and Transnet will appoint an interim management structure at the company.

The announcement that Malele`s term would end on the last day of October was made in a press release issued on Friday afternoon by Transnet`s communications division.

The statement confirms that arivia`s only shareholders, Eskom and Transnet, have decided to sell the IT firm on the open market.

It adds that arivia`s chairman, Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita, and the board thank Malele "for his contribution to the company and wish him well in his career".