Announcement expected soon on Armscor chief executive

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The days of Armscor having an acting chief executive are numbered, virtually in single figures, with Cabinet due to consider a recommendation this Wednesday.

Sipho Mkwanazi has been acting in the position since Sipho Thomo left the government’s defence and security acquisition agency in 2009.

The appointment of a new chairman in the form of retired SA Navy Chief, Johannes Mudimu, in May last year along with a complete new board following a Ministerial decision to remove the previous incumbents was the stimulus for change in the Erasmuskloof, Pretoria, building that houses Armscor, the Defence Ministry and the Chief of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF).

Just on a month after taking office Mudimu addressed Armscor staff telling them it was the new board’s duty to ensure Armscor was “capacitated and capable to deliver on its mandate”. He also took the new board to Armscor facilities including Alkantpan, Gerotek and the Simon’s town Dockyard as well as initiating the appointment of a permanent chief executive. This saw a tender issued last November for a service provider to find suitable candidates for the post with a view to finalising the appointment by the end of March.

Armscor insiders told defenceWeb this target had been met and the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans has been informed of the Armscor board’s choice. She will apparently submit the recommendation to Cabinet for consideration at its next meeting.

Armscor, in the form of its senior manager: corporate communication, Fidel Hadebe, said it would not make public the names of people selected for interviews. He would also not say whether Mkwanazi had applied.