Safaricom PLC has appointed two senior Vodacom Group executives to its board, deepening ties between the two companies just two months after Vodacom raised its stake in the Kenyan telco to 55 percent.
The Nairobi listed company announced on August 13, 2026, that Mariam Cassim and Matimba Mbungela have joined as Non-Executive Directors, effective the same day. Their appointments remain subject to regulatory approval. Alongside the new arrivals, James Ludlow and Dr. Eng. John Kipngetich Mosonik have stepped down as Non-Executive Directors.
The reshuffle follows June’s transaction that lifted Vodacom’s shareholding in Safaricom to 55 percent, and it signals how the South African group intends to exercise that expanded influence at board level.
Who is Mariam Cassim
Cassim currently leads Financial Services at Vodacom Group, a business she has built around microinsurance, payments, microloans and financial inclusion for small businesses across South Africa. The unit serves more than 14 million customers and contributes over a billion rand in annual profit to the group, according to her professional profile.
She joined Vodacom in 2016 as Managing Executive for Financial Services before stepping into the top role in 2019. Her earlier career spans corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, debt structuring and business development, including stints at Telesure Group Services and Thebe Investment Corporation, where she rose from corporate finance executive to chief executive of Thebe Connect. She also served as an independent non-executive director at Super Group between 2015 and 2020.
Cassim holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, where she graduated cum laude and placed among the top eight in her class. She also completed a short course in behavioural finance and economics at Yale School of Management.
Speaking about her approach to business, Cassim has said she is driven by building sustainable and innovative models that create value for both companies and the communities they serve, alongside a focus on mentoring women in business.
Who is Matimba Mbungela
Mbungela has served as Vodacom Group’s Chief Human Resources Officer since 2014, overseeing HR strategy across the group’s African operations and working alongside the Group CEO and Executive Committee to shape workplace culture and employee engagement.
His career at Vodacom stretches back to 2003, when he joined as Executive Head of HR before moving through a series of senior roles, including a secondment to Vodafone as Regional Head of Organisational Effectiveness and Change, and later Regional Head of Talent, covering Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. He has also held HR leadership positions at BMW South Africa and Unilever.
Beyond Vodacom, Mbungela represents the Vodacom Employees Trust, known as Siyanda, on the YeboYethu board and sits as a Non-Executive Director of Vodacom Tanzania, Vodacom Mozambique and Vodacom Lesotho. He has served on the Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership Advisory Board since June 2020.
He holds a Bachelor of Administration from the University of Venda, a Master of Business Administration in Strategy and Human Resources from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resources from the University of Cape Town.
Board thanks departing directors
Safaricom’s board thanked Ludlow and Mosonik for their contributions to committee and board meetings and wished them well going forward. The company did not disclose the reasons behind their departure.
Company Secretary Linda Wambani signed the announcement on behalf of the board. Safaricom noted that the disclosure was issued with approval from the Capital Markets Authority under the Capital Markets Act and the 2023 Public Offers, Listing and Disclosures Regulations. The regulator, as is standard practice, assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the statement’s contents.
With two of its own executives now on Safaricom’s board, Vodacom has moved beyond majority ownership to a more direct hand in shaping the Kenyan operator’s governance and strategic direction.
