State arms manufacturer Denel has a new boss after the appointment of Tsepo Monaheng as the new CEO of the company.
Monaheng is currently the CEO of state-owned forestry company, Safcol, and Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan said on Friday that Monaheng will take over at Denel after he has completed his commitments at Safcol.
Denel has over the last few years been struggling to stay afloat and is one of the entities that has received billions in bailouts.
Denel acting CEO Mike Kgope told the parliamentary committee on public enterprises recently that the company had an order of R23 billion in 2016, but were sitting with an order book of R8.7bn this year.
Kgope said they were trying to turn the company around.
Gordhan said they were hoping Monaheng would be able to achieve this.
“Denel is one of our strategic SOEs. We wish to see it reclaim its position as a provider of critical defence capabilities to our country. The Denel board needs to focus on building an executive team that consists of professional, skilled, and capable people who will drive Denel to become operationally efficient and financially sustainable,” said Gordhan.
It was the commitment of government to reposition Denel to expand its manufacturing capacity.
Denel has over the last few years struggled to compete in the industry.
But Gordhan said they believe Monaheng will be able to reposition the company.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
IOL Politics