Struggling Denel appoints interim Group Chief Executive Officer, Michael Kgobe

Embattled state-owned arms manufacturer, Denel, has announced the appointment of chief of aeronautics, Michael Kgobe as interim Group Chief Executive Officer. 
 
The entity released the information on Thursday and that Kgobe replaces caretaker GCEO William Hlakoane whose contract expired at the end of August. 
 
Hlakoane’s successor, Kgobe, his term of office is effective from Thursday 1 September as per a release by the arm’s utility. 
 
News24 reports that this is not the first time Kgobe is serving as interim chief executive, he occupied the role in 2018 after ex-group chief Zwelakhe Ntshepe stepped down with immediate effect. 
 
Ntshepe was the GCEO for 20 years with the company and a short stint at a senior managerial position. 
 
“Mr. Kgobe has an aeronautical engineering background and has been with the company since May 2000, growing up the management ranks, and was appointed Chief Executive of Denel Aviation, the precursor to Denel Aeronautics, in 2010,” Denel said in a shareholder notice. 
 
Furthermore, Kgobe’s appointment comes as the parastatal’s struggles are well documented when it comes to finances and continues to experience delayed payment of salaries to its employees. 
 
As the company addressed parliament on Wednesday, the delegation said that management had to access funds from the Denel Medical Benefits Trust and the disposal of non-core assets to get the money to cover the delayed payment salaries. 
 
The notice said Denel was in the process of recruiting the new full-time GCEO and an announcement would be made once the board was able to announce it. 
 
BusinessTech Africa reported that Hlakoane said the rebuilding and restructuring of Denel will involve leveraging the South African defence sector with its 12 500 employees. 
 
“We still foresee a considerable order book of about R30 billion over the next five years in the pipeline. These are some of the opportunities and projects that are lying throughout the world,” said Hlokoane. 
 
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