Virgin Mobile SA confirms CEO Sajeed Sacranie will leave his post at the end of November and will be replaced by Peter Boyd, VP of marketing at Virgin Mobile USA.
The announcement follows a Financial Mail article, which says the board asked Sacranie to take a leave of absence, with the view of making the move permanent.
The report cites Sacranie's allegedly abrasive management style, which is said to have alienated some employees and affected staff morale, as a possible reason he was asked to leave.
However, Virgin Mobile spokesman Nicholas Maweni denies Sacranie was pushed, and calls the speculation "silly".
Maweni says the management change is not a demotion for Sacranie, who has fulfilled his mandate with Virgin Mobile SA, which was to take the business from concept to reality. It is time to bring in a different type of CEO, he notes.
He says Sacranie will resume a business development role for the Virgin Group and will be based in SA, reporting to Virgin Group management in the UK.
"Sacranie is a banker, deal-maker and what we are getting [as his replacement] is someone who can take the company to a different level," he says.
"If he was such a bad guy, why would the Virgin Group keep him?"
Peter Boyd, who succeeds Sacranie from December, worked for Virgin D3, a UK-based youth marketing company, as commercial director and later as MD, before his appointment as VP of marketing at Virgin Mobile USA.
"He's young and vibey, and now that Sacranie has put structures in place, he will take the business to the next level of growth," Maweni says.
Most of the opportunities he will likely look into will be in Africa and SA in particular, as there are a number of things in SA that are on Virgin management's radar, he adds.
Related story:
MTN boss resigns
Share