Liquid Telecom South Africa chief operating officer Craig van Rooyen will serve as interim CEO of the company until a replacement for Reshaad Sha has been appointed, the company said on Friday.

TechCentral reported on Thursday that Sha had resigned from Liquid Telecom two years after taking the reins at the telecommunications group’s South African operation.

In an e-mailed statement, Liquid Telecom group chief operating officer Ahmed Mokhales said: “Reshaad joined the business at a time when we needed a strong leader to execute the turnaround strategy for LTSA very quickly. This wouldn’t have been possible without his determination and perseverance.”

Mokhales said Sha will “undertake a handover process until the end of August to Dr Craig Van Rooyen … who will lead the business in South Africa in the interim”.

Sha is leaving Liquid Telecom to start his own business, called BriteGaze, which will be launched in October and which will focus on artificial intelligence technologies.

He joined Liquid Telecom a year after the group dramatically expanded its presence in South Africa through the R6.5-billion acquisition of Neotel.

Sha, who is expected to leave Liquid in August, was previously CEO of SqwidNet, the Internet of things network operator in the Dark Fibre Africa stable. He was also DFA’s chief strategy officer.  — (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media