Safaricom PLC has announced the appointment of Mariam Cassim and Matimba Mbungela as Non-Executive Directors of the company’s Board, effective August 13, subject to regulatory approvals.
In a statement on Thursday, August 13, the telecommunications company also announced the departure of James Ludlow and Dr. (Eng.) John Kipngetich Mosonik, who have resigned as Non-Executive Directors with effect from the same date.
Safaricom said Cassim brings extensive experience in corporate finance, deal structuring, mergers and acquisitions, debt structuring, commercial management and executive leadership.
"Her experience in innovation, business disruption and new business development enables her to develop commercially sustainable solutions that create value for both the business and society," the statement read.
According to Safaricom, Cassim has held senior positions at Vodacom Group since 2017.
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She is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business, where she graduated cum laude.
On the other hand, Mbungela is the Chief Officer, Human Resources at Vodacom Group Limited, a position he has held since 2014.
Before taking up the role, he served as Managing Executive, Human Resources for Vodacom/Vodafone Group from 2003, holding various senior positions within the human resources function.
He also spent three years on secondment to Vodafone as Regional Head of Organisational Effectiveness and Change, and Regional Head of Talent for Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific.
"Before this assignment, he was responsible for talent management at Vodacom for six years, where he successfully integrated Vodacom's talent strategy into Vodafone's global strategy," the statement added.
Mbungela has held senior human resources positions at multinational organisations including BMW South Africa and Unilever.
He represents the Vodacom Employees Trust ('Siyanda') on the YeboYethu Board and serves as a Non-Executive Director of Vodacom Tanzania Plc, Vodacom Mozambique and Vodacom Lesotho.
Mbungela has also served as a director on the Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership Advisory Board since June 1, 2020.
He holds a Bachelor of Administration degree from the University of Venda, an MBA in Strategy and Human Resources from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resources from the University of Cape Town.
Safaricom thanked the outgoing directors for their service and contributions to the company’s governance and board activities.
"The Board takes this opportunity to thank James Ludlow and Dr. (Eng.) John Kipngetich Mosonik for their robust contributions at the Committee and Board meetings of the Company and wishes them the very best for the future," the statement concluded.
This comes days after Safaricom acknowledged revising its data bundles packages.
A section of customers decried the drastic revamping of the packages, affecting the affordable and convenient bundles.
One of those revamped was the one-hour packages, which many found cheap and convenient. The package was accessible throughout, until recently when the company limited when it can be utilised.
"Why is it that the 1GB one-hour bundle does not exist at night?" a customer noted on X.
The company, in its response, suggested that the review was necessary to enhance services and accommodate other new products such as the "Pata More" deal.
According to Safaricom, Pata More bundles are designed to stretch the customers' subscriptions further by giving extra data at no extra cost.
Daily users now get 250 mb for Ksh20 and 1.5 GB for Ksh99, while heavy data consumers enjoy a massive 21.5 GB for Ksh 1,000 monthly, more than double the previous allocation.
Meanwhile, the one-hour package can be accessed between 11 and 4 pm daily.
"We had a review of data bundles and there is "Pata More" data packages on *544#ok or via *555#. The hourly data plans are available between 11 pm and 4 pm," Safaricom said.
