Former Telkom chairman Jabu Mabuza has been appointed as chairman designate of listed multinational financial technology company Net1 UEPS Technologies.
He and Ali Mazanderani have joined the company’s board, effective from today, and Antony Ball will join on 21 May.
Mabuza will succeed Christopher S Seabrooke following his retirement next month.
Previously serving as two-term chairman of Telkom, he stepped down as a non-executive director of the telecommunications group in 2019.
He was credited for bringing transformation and stability to Telkom from 2012 until his departure seven years later.
The businessman has a reputation for affability and business acumen, and currently serves as chairman of various companies, including Anheuser – Busch InBev / SAB Miller – Africa, and Sun International.
He was previously chairman of power utility Eskom and briefly steered the ship as acting CEO.
Mabuza has also served on various boards of a number of companies covering different industries and has an array of organisational memberships in SA and abroad. He is a recipient of a lifetime achievement accolade from Ernst & Young’s World Entrepreneur awards.
Mazanderani was formerly a partner at the private equity firm Actis, and led a number of landmark financial technology investments globally. Prior to his career at Actis, he was lead strategy consultant for First National Bank in Johannesburg.
He served on the boards of a number of fintech and payments companies across Africa, South America, Asia, Europe and the United States, and currently serves on the boards of StoneCo in Brazil, Network International in Dubai and 5 Star Loyalty in the United States.
Ball is co-founder and chairman of Value Capital Partners (VCP), a South Africa-based private investment firm, which recently announced it acquired 12.7% of Net1’s outstanding shares.
Prior to VCP, in 1990, Ball founded Brait, a leading South African private equity firm, regarded as a pioneer of private equity in the region, and held various leadership positions, including deputy chairman and CEO between 1998 and 2011 when he left the company. He led Brait’s investment in Net1 in 2004, and served as a non-executive director of the company until 2012.
Outgoing chairman Seabrooke comments on the new board appointments: “I am very pleased to welcome Jabu, Ali and Antony to our board. Jabu has a wealth of experience as a prominent business leader across the private and public sectors in Africa, including a strong track record with corporate turnarounds and we look forward to benefiting from his guidance.
“Similarly, Ali’s direct experience in global fintech and his extensive network will be invaluable as Net1 looks to introduce new fintech products, scale its operations in South Africa and expand in other international markets.
“I am also very pleased to welcome Antony back to our board after eight years. He is intimately familiar with Net1, its products and its markets. We look forward to constructively engaging with Antony and Value Capital Partners through the next exciting phase of Net1’s development.”
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