EOH CFO Marialet Greeff has resigned after four months on the job, which is the latest blow to the struggling IT service provider.
Greeff’s departure means that EOH has lost its whole top management team twice in less than a year.
She was appointed interim chief financial officer on 1 November 2023 after former CFO Megan Pydigadu left the company.
In February 2024, EOH announced that it had appointed chairman Andrew Mthembu as interim CEO and Greeff as permanent chief financial officer.
This did not last long. Last month, EOH announced that Andrew Mthembu has resigned as a director, executive chairman, and interim CEO.
Fatima Newman also stepped down as an executive director but remained in her capacity as EasyHQ chief executive.
Less than a month later, on 11 June, EOH announced that Greeff resigned as chief financial officer with effect from 30 September 2024.
The EOH board said it had started a process to identify an appropriate replacement for Greeff as CFO.
“Shareholders will be advised of the appointment of a new group finance director in due course,” it said.
Greeff’s resignation is the latest blow to the EOH, which used to be one of Africa’s largest and most respected IT service providers.
Despite its challenges, it remains a prominent player in local consulting, IT services, software, industrial technologies, and business process outsourcing sectors.
However, it has suffered financially because of its historical debt burden, reports of corruption and mismanagement, and poor corporate governance.
Former CEO Stephen van Coller addressed many of these problems. However, it also cost the company some of its most profitable business units.
Van Coller sold many of EOH’s business units, including Sybrin, CCS, and LSD, and used this money to reduce debt.
EOH also raised R600 million through a R500 million rights issue and a R100 million BBBEE deal in early 2023.
The proceeds of the February 2023 capital raise were used to settle the majority of EOH’s senior bridge facility.
Van Coller, with Pydigadu as his right-hand woman, significantly reduced the company’s debt and improved corporate governance at EOH.
After the successful rights issue, Van Coller and Pydigadu announced that EOH 2.0 was here and that it was ready for growth.
They felt that the company needed new blood to lead its new growth phase, so they resigned and left, leaving a leadership vacuum.
EOH 2.0 failed to meet expectations, and shareholders experienced significant wealth destruction.
On 10 May 2024, EOH announced that it “had been approached by certain shareholders regarding the succession plan for the EOH board”.
It said it was engaging further with the shareholders and would make an announcement soon.
That announcement came on 31 May 2024, when EOH announced sweeping changes to the board.
It replaced Mthembu as interim chief executive and chairman and announced that Jabu Moleketi was the new chairman.
The EOH board appointed Marius de la Rey, the current chief executive officer of the company’s largest segment, iOCO South Africa, as interim CEO.
Greeff was the last remaining part of EOH’s top executives, which means her departure signals the second complete change to the exco team.
EOH is now looking for a permanent chief executive officer and chief financial officer.