Sibongiseni Phakathi will oversee Ithala’s IT architecture in his new role as the bank’s CIO.
Financial services provider Ithala SOC has announced the appointment of Sibongiseni Phakathi as its new CIO as part of a move to bolster the company’s “journey of growth, transformation and impact on its clients, communities, and the country”.
In his new role, Sibongiseni will oversee Ithala’s IT architecture to ensure that it is aligned with the company’s strategy and ultimately warrants the attainment of business requirements. Additionally, he will provide advice around business planning cycles, direct the IT project management function, and foster the implementation and maintenance of an approach aimed at applying innovation to offer new solutions and products.
With over 10 years’ experience in construction responsive IT organisations, Sibongiseni has led and implemented IT solutions for the likes of Armscor, CSIR and more. He most recently served as the head of IT at Ubank, a position he had held since 2015.
Ithala has also announced the appointment of a new chief risk officer, Brenda van der Lingen, and a new company secretary, Nomusa Cebile Mzimela.
The company said in a statement that “at the centre of Ithala’s strategy lies advanced governance structures and processes, together with quality and risk management approaches. It is against this backdrop that the company has employed these experts – who impressively understand the financial services industry. “
The appointments form part of the company’s key goals to becoming a fully-fledged bank with a banking licence.
