South Africa’s leading mobile operator Vodacom has announced two key exco appointments.
The company has named Dejan Kastelic as its chief technology officer (CTO), replacing the long-serving Andries Delport, who is set to join Remgro-controlled Community Investment Ventures Holdings this year.
With effect from 1 June, Puso Manthata has been appointed as chief officer for strategy, mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
“It gives me pleasure to announce two exco appointments, taking effect from May and June this year, respectively,” says Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.
“As communicated last year, Andries Delport will be leaving Vodacom during May. With effect from 1 May 2020 and subject to his work permit being approved, Dejan Kastelic has been appointed as chief technology officer, reporting directly to me.”
Kastelic joins Vodacom from PT Indosat Ooredoo TBK, part of Ooredoo Group from Qatar. He is also director of Indosat Singapore and deputy chairman of the supervisory board of Posta Slovenije.
He began his professional career as a network manager with the first alternative provider of telecommunication services Amis in Slovenia, and was appointed as CTO in 2004 as the company progressed to MBO acquisition, says Vodacom.
In 2009, it adds, Kastelic continued his path with IBM Central and Eastern Europe in global technology services as the resource deployment manager for the region.
He joined the Telekom Austria Group in 2012 and took over the executive director and chief technology and information officer position in Vip Mobile Serbia.
He was assigned with the same capacity to the convergent operations at Si.Mobil Slovenia and Mobiltel Bulgaria until 2017, when he was appointed to his current role in Indonesia to perform a major transformation of the technology directorate.
Kastelic is a graduate of the University of Maribor, is enrolled in an MBA programme at IEDC Bled, and has also studied at Harvard University, Boston in the United States and INSEAD.
The other appointment, Manthata is a chartered accountant and brings well over 16 years of experience in investment banking, having worked at multi-national investment banks such as Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, says Vodacom.
He has worked across several disciplines, including mergers and acquisitions, disposals, restructurings, debt capital markets and equity capital markets.
In January 2012, he joined RMB Corporate Finance, focusing on M&A activity in the Sub-Saharan Africa region (excluding South Africa), as well as BEE transactions.
He was appointed as co-head of corporate finance in 2016, leading a team of transactors across multiple jurisdictions.
Prior to leaving RMB, Manthata was business development director for clients in the telecoms, media, technology and industrial sectors.
“Through his career in investment banking, Puso has worked on some of the largest cross-border M&A transactions, notably MTN’s acquisition of Investcom and the ICBC $5.2 billion investment in Standard Bank. Please join me in welcoming both Dejan and Puso to Vodacom,” says Joosub.
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