2010 snaps up MTN CIO

By Christelle du Toit, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 27 May 2008

MTN CIO Phumlani Moholi will join the 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC) as its new CIO as of 1 June.

In an e-mail circulated to staff last week, the company confirmed his appointment, as did LOC spokesman Tim Modise this morning.

According to Modise, Moholi was chosen as he has "vast experience" in ICT.

He says even though the Confederations Cup - generally seen to be the trial run for the 2010 Soccer World Cup - is 12 months away, "work has been going on". This is despite the LOC`s previous CIO being first suspended and then quitting earlier this year.

The market had mixed reactions to the news of the appointment.

While Moholi is generally not well known among industry players, they have welcomed him to the post, while also cautioning that he has a huge task on his hands.

Terry White, business and technology advisor for Marketworks, says Moholi faces a "daunting" task.

"His main challenges will be around organisation and governance," says White. "People at the LOC still seem to think the event is four years away, and there is a lot of infighting and a lot of confusion as to the role of IT in the organisation."

White says Moholi will have to keep in mind that he is not a chief technical officer and must, therefore, focus on delivering the business objectives of the LOC, rather than getting stuck on technology choices.

"He has to get the business mindset right and worry about technology later," says White.

"His greatest challenge will be the timescale," says industry stalwart Ken Jarvis. "He effectively has 12 months to put things in place, so he is under tremendous time pressure. I hope the supplier will play ball with him, for the good of the country."

MTN had not commented on the departure of its CIO at the time of publication and Moholi could not be reached for comment.

Moholi will be responsible for overseeing all ICT activities related to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, both those initiated by SA and FIFA.

Government has revealed it is spending more than R1.5 billion of its R30 billion total budget on ICT for the World Cup, with this figure potentially escalating as the event nears.