The appointment comes as outgoing acting group chief executive Maphum Nxumalo prepares to retire.
Black Owned ICT company Gijima has appointed former IBM general manager Hamilton Ratshefola as its new group managing executive, succeeding Maphum Nxumalo, who has decided to retire after serving eight years with the company. Maphum is a seasoned IT executive with 45 years of industry experience in both local and global ICT firms.
“As the Gijima family, we will remember Maphum for his work ethic, servant leadership, smart intellect, IT guru, business leadership and dedication to his role as group chief executive. I recall when we recruited him from T-Systems; in him, I saw someone who could join us and be an instrumental asset in the implementation of our turnaround strategy in his role as our COO,” says Robert Gumede, chairman at Gijima.
Before co-founding Cornastone Technology Holdings in 2000, Hamilton spent his first decade at IBM as a systems engineer, in technical sales, and later as sales leader and sector leader. He spent 13 years as the CEO of Cornastone, where he was named IT Personality of the Year in 2007.
In 2012, Hamilton sold Cornastone to a business partner. He then returned to IBM in 2013, serving as sales director until May 2015, when he was promoted to country general manager for South Africa. In 2018 he was promoted to general manager for IBM Southern Africa. He brings thought leadership, technical, entrepreneurial, and global corporate leadership skills to Gijima.
Gumede says, “The advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution demands a step change from companies like Gijima. We need to transform our company to be relevant, to achieve profitable growth and attract and retain high performance and innovative staff members.”
Hamilton will be tasked with implementing and transforming Gijima operations, accelerating automation, incorporating AI, refining the operating model, improving productivity, and, most importantly, strengthening the company's balance sheet over the course of a year..
