Naspers has officialised the appointment of Calvo Mawela as Group chief executive officer of the newly established MultiChoice Group. A month ago, Naspers has expressed their willingness to unbundle Africa’s TV operator, MultiChoice. The Pay-Tv operator which beam in approximately 50 countries will be known as MultiChoice Group and Naspers will retain its listing on the JSE.

The Multichoice Group will be listed on the JSE in the first half of 2019 and will include Multichoice South Africa, Multichoice Africa, Showmax Africa, and Irdeto.

Naspers has also appointed Imtiaz Patel as the Executive Chairman of the MultiChoice Group and Tim Jacobs as Chief Financial Officer and Brand de Villiers as Group Chief Operating Officer.

The appointments will be effective 1 November 2018.

Calvo Mawela has been CEO of MultiChoice South Africa at Naspers Limited. He has served as Group Executive for Regulatory and Policy Affairs at Naspers Limited. He led a team on planning of the digital broadcasting plan for South Africa in the Regional Radio Communication Conference 2006. He also served as an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Planning Expert during the 2006 conference. Since 2007, he served as Regulatory Affairs Manager at Orbicom. 

The CEO of Naspers, Bob van Dijk, declared, “This announcement marks a significant step for the MultiChoice Group as they journey towards a stand-alone business. I am confident that through the leadership of Imtiaz and Calvo, MultiChoice Group will continue on its growth trajectory and unlock even more value for its shareholders.”

On the other hand, Mawela commented, “Our leadership team is diverse, experienced and well-positioned to grow our position as the leading entertainment company on the African continent. There are significant growth opportunities for MultiChoice Group in Africa. The combination of MultiChoice’s reach, Showmax and DStv Now’s cutting-edge internet television service, alongside Irdeto’s 360 security suite will provide a unique offering.”