Magatho Mello and Nketheleni Norman Gidi have been appointed to lead SITA and the Film and Publication Board, respectively.
South Africa has a troubled history with state-owned entities (SOEs), with many flagged for their poor financial condition and governance challenges.
Some of the SOEs under the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) portfolio have been described as being run “really well”, while others experience challenges that extend to leadership instability.
Yesterday, the DCDT announced the appointment of senior executives for the State IT Agency (SITA) and Film and Publication Board (FPB), which have both been plagued by a leadership vacuum that dates back to 2023, in SITA’s case.
The appointments, said the department, form part of efforts to restore good governance, stability and performance.
The incoming executives are Magatho Mello, who will head up SITA as managing director (MD), while Nketheleni Norman Gidi will take on the role of CEO at the FPB.They have both been appointed on a five-year fixed-term contract.
SITA’s challenging history is well documented, with some former bosses being vocal about the agency’s legacy issues.
During its more than 20-year history, the agency has had less than three MDs stay the duration of their employment term. Some of SITA’s executives have occupied the role in an acting capacity.
Mello’s appointment makes him the agency’s 26th MD, and its first permanent MD following the resignation of Dr Bongani Andy Mabaso in December 2023.
Many will be looking to see how the incoming MD turns the beleaguered entity’s fortunes around, as it continues to encounter delivery and capacity scrutiny, with some client departments looking for procurement alternatives.
Mello’s professional history features senior roles in leading technology firms, such as MTN SA, Ellies, IBM and Vodacom, according to his LinkedIn profile.
His current role is listed as group general manager: multinational accounts at JSE-listed mobile telephony company MTN, having served in several different roles over the past seven years. He is also listed as the founder and managing partner of Maraswi Consulting Services, a role he held for over 10 years.
Mello is also noted as MD of IST Telecom, for a period of four years (2004-2008). He was a non-executive director on the board of Swiftnet between 2010-2012.
He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Washington State University. He was part of the global executive development programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in 2008.
An entity of the DCDT, the FPB is the official content-classification authority for films, games and certain publications.
It is also mandated to be digital content regulator and educator for certain online content, in line with the Films and Publications Amendment Act that came into operation on 1 March 2022.
The Act seeks to modernise laws that protect the South African public from exposure to prohibited content distributed online, as well as ensuring children are not exposed to harmful digital content.
Gidi will assume the CEO role after the entity faced a rocky time, with allegations levelled against its former permanent CEO.
He is described as having 20 years of experience in providing legal advice to both the South African government and the ICT regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).
Last year, the DCDT announced Gidi had been appointed to panel of legal experts at the International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation.
In September 2022, Gidi was appointed acting CEO of ICASA.
At the time of his appointment, ICASA said Gidi brings a wealth of ICASA-specific knowledge and experience to the acting role, having been with the authority for more than 12 years.
He first joined ICASA in August 2009 as a senior manager for licensing. In this role, he was instrumental in the management of the licensing of broadcasting, ECS/ECNS and postal services, said ICASA.
Gidi has held several positions at the authority, including general manager for licensing; executive: legal, risk and complaints and compliance committee in 2017; and, latterly, executive: policy research and analysis from 2021.
He is an admitted advocate of the High Court since 2009, and holds the degree of Master of Laws (University of the Witwatersrand), and has completed various leadership programmes, including the Spider Capacity Building on ICT Regulation, Policy and Practice (Stockholm University) and the Leaders in Development Programme (Harvard Kennedy School).
