Hasnain Motlekar, the chief financial officer of Telkom’s consumer business unit, has been named CEO of BCX in an attempt to stabilise the company and improve performance following a precipitous drop in revenue at the tech company.
The leadership change comes as BCX, the information and communication technology arm of the Telkom Group, showed a 9.3% drop in revenue in the third quarter for the 2026 financial year, ending December 31, while income reported a 5.9% drop for the year-to-date.
Telkom said the decline reflects pressures in the market and weaker performance in converged communications as corporate customers tighten spending and delay projects.
The company noted that BCX continues to operate in an environment of cautious enterprise demand, with clients focused on cost containment.
Management said targeted interventions are under way to stabilise operations and protect margins while the business undergoes a managed transition.
Repositioning the company
BCX is also reshaping its portfolio and revenue mix as part of a broader strategy to reposition the company for future growth.
Hasnain steps in following the retirement of Jonas Bogoshi, who had been heading the business since 2019. Hasnain will then step in as head of BCX on March 1.
He is expected to use his 28 years of commercial and financial leadership experience to bring the business back to its former glory.
The incoming leadership will be expected to accelerate BCX’s transformation agenda and drive the next phase of operational recovery, as the company works to rebuild revenue and regain stability in a challenging ICT market.
Despite the hefty revenue drop, the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) remained moderate at 10.4% for the third quarter and at 10.1% year-to-date, as compared with the first half of the year.
IT hardware and software revenue showed a 19.6% year-to-date increase supported by the timing of project executions and deal closures relative to the prior period.
Cybersecurity remained resilient, showing an 18.4% increase for the nine months.
Telkom group recorded a 9.6% increase in data revenue to R6.68-billion, while group revenue increased by 1.3% in the third quarter.
Mobile data revenue, at 12.9%, and fire-related data revenue, at 8.9%, contributed to the revenue increase.
Mobile data clients grow
In the third quarter, mobile data subscribers increased by 29.3%. On a year-on-year basis, total mobile subscribers increased to 25.3-million with a 5.3% increase at a stable average revenue per share (ARPU) of R77. Prepaid subscriptions showed a 5.8% increase at R61 ARPU.
Serame Taukobong, Telkom Group CEO, boasted that the company has been named a Top Employer for 2026, marking the fourth year in a row it has received the honour.
He added that the recognition highlights the strengths of its workplace culture, its people, and its ongoing commitment to high standards.
“The disciplined execution of our data-led strategy delivered quality data revenue growth in the third quarter and year-to-date.
“This demonstrates our strength as South Africa’s digital backbone and our competitive edge of the OneTelkom approach.
“Our cost optimisation initiatives continued to yield results, as EBITDA margin expanded,” said Taukobong.
The group has also been aggressively selling off some of their properties. In the third quarter, six properties were sold, bagging R6-million.
The group has, to date, secured R214-million from the 21 properties sold. The group is still expecting R66-million from the nine properties yet to be sold.
