SITA COO confirms resignation

By Leon Engelbrecht for SITA
Johannesburg, 08 Oct 2007

State IT Agency (SITA) business operations chief executive Noedine Isaacs-Mpulo has confirmed that she has resigned.

"I can confirm that I have resigned. I will be pursuing an entrepreneurial opportunity," she says.

SITA has been stalling comment on the matter since Thursday, when acting CEO Peter Pedlar confirmed the agency's chairperson, Thenjiwe Chikane, had been handed a letter of resignation by a senior female executive.

Isaacs-Mpulo reportedly resigned because she was overlooked for the job of chief executive. Non-executive director Peter Pedlar has been acting CEO since May, when Mavuso Msimang left to lead a turnaround at the Department of Home Affairs. Msimang is understood to have notified the organisation's board in September last year of his intent to step down.

"I cannot comment on SITA's response or handing of my resignation, or on alleged comments by others," Isaacs-Mpulo adds.

Incentives?

A source, who spoke to ITWeb on condition of anonymity, says the SITA board is doing everything in its power to retain Isaacs-Mpulo.

The source says the board discussed Isaacs-Mpulo's resignation at a meeting some weeks ago.

The source confirmed Pedlar's view that Isaacs-Mpulo's handing her resignation to the chairperson rather than the acting CEO was technically incorrect. However, the source acknowledged that she could easily rectify that by following due process.

The source says discussions were held with Isaacs-Mpulo to address the issues that prompted her resignation and to encourage her to stay.

The source did not disclose what incentives, if any, were offered. Whatever they were - and the position of CEO did not seem to be among them - appears not to have been enough.

The source says one of the reasons Isaacs-Mpulo resigned could be because of the loss of morale due to the lack of senior management capacity. "SITA has short-listed potential candidates for the senior management positions, but these appointments have to be made by the new CEO once he's appointed."

SITA has lost several senior managers in the aftermath of Msimang's departure, and Isaacs-Mpulo's departure will leave another empty office in the executive suite.

Public service and administration minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi last month asked for patience regarding the appointment of a new CEO.

ITWeb has reported that three candidates have been abortively short-listed for the post. All had either declined or had been deemed too expensive.