Airports Company appoints government DG as CEO

The board of Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has opted to appoint a new CEO from outside the parastatal’s existing leadership ranks, in a move to bring in new blood and to avoid internal leadership battles within the company, which has been without a permanent CEO for just over a year.

It announced on Wednesday that Nompumelelo (Mpumi) Mpofu, the current Director-General in the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, will take over the helm as Acsa CEO with effect from February 1, 2020. Mpofu’s appointment has been approved by cabinet.

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Moneyweb understands several existing Acsa executives had applied for the top job. However, the board chose to bring in heavyweight government administrator Mpofu, who has more than 25 years of experience in the fields of transport, infrastructure development, local government and town and regional planning.

Over the last year the Acsa board has had two of the group’s executives holding down the post as acting CEO, Bongiwe Mbomvu and Fundi Sithebe (since October this year). Mbomvu was put in as acting CEO after the axing of embattled former Acsa boss Bongani Maseko, who faced allegations of financial wrongdoing and had leadership squabbles with Acsa’s previous board as well as some of its senior executives.

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“Mpofu joins Acsa as the company is charting a fresh course for its future,” the airports company board said in its statement regarding her appointment.

“In her career of public service, Mpofu has (also) held the position of Director-General in the departments of Defence, Transport and Housing. She has served on the Boards of the Municipal Demarcation Board, the National Housing Board, the Gauteng Development Tribunal, the National Housing Finance Corporation and the National Home Builders Registration Council,” it noted.

Mpofu holds an honours degree in urban and regional planning and a graduate degree in town planning from Coventry University in the United Kingdom, as well as a certificate in local government management from Oxford University.

“During her tenure as Director-General in the Department of Transport, Mpofu ensured the development, implementation and monitoring of transport policies and strategies in fields including aviation, rail, maritime, road transport, search and rescue,” the Acsa statement noted.

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She was also the leader of the Government Transport Plan for the 2010 Fifa World Cup and oversaw Acsa’s airport development and redevelopment programme for 2010.

“Mpofu was instrumental in the development and approval by Cabinet of the South African Airlift Strategy, which seeks to expand the country’s air transport services and to apply a holistic approach to global aviation opportunities to support South Africa’s interests,” said Acsa.