Stephen van Coller to step down as CEO of EOH

EOH Holdings CEO Stephen van Coller, who is credited with cleaning up a viper’s nest of corruption at the JSE-listed IT services group, will step down in March.

EOH made the announcement alongside its annual results for the year ended 31 July 2023, which it published on Wednesday.

Van Coller “has agreed to extend his five-year contract by another six months to 31 March 2024 at which time he will retire from the board,” EOH said. He succeeded co-founder Asher Bohbot, who EOH is suing over governance lapses at the group on his watch, on 3 September 2018.

This was shortly before a TechCentral exposé on corruption involving the supply of Microsoft software in a dodgy contract with the department of defence. That prompted Van Coller to appoint ENSafrica to conduct a forensic probe into EOH’s public sector contracts and subsequent submissions by the CEO to the Zondo commission into state capture.

In a statement, EOH said: “Over the last five years, Stephen has successfully led the EOH Group through a complete restructure and turnaround with a focus on saving jobs, deleveraging the balance sheet and the implementation of world-class governance systems.”

Van Coller also this year led a recapitalisation of EOH’s balance sheet through a rights offer.

“During the last financial year, EOH has been able to focus on growth and now operates as a normal company with the majority of its legacy issues having been resolved,” the group said.

Next chapter

“The successful rights offer completed in February 2023 has given the board the freedom to consider the next chapter for EOH and Stephen has asked for his contract not to be considered for renewal beyond the six-month extension. Stephen will however remain available to the board after 31 March 2024, should he be required, to help with a smooth leadership transition and the completion of any outstanding projects that require his involvement.”

At the same time, EOH has appointed Marialet Greeff as interim chief financial officer from 1 November. A chartered accountant, Greeff will replace Megan Pydigadu, who will soon join Spar Group in a senior role. It will now begin a search for a permanent replacement for both Van Coller and Pydigadu.

Read: EOH CFO Megan Pydigadu headed to troubled Spar Group

Another senior EOH executive, Fatima Newman, has changed roles from chief risk officer to group executive of EasyHQ, which provides head office solutions to EOH clients. She will remain on the board as an executive director.  – © 2023 NewsCentral Media

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