Setshedi Botlhole-Mmopi has been appointed Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Botswana Post, replacing Pele Moleta who resigned from the Post Office a few weeks back.
Botlhole-Mmopi is a seasoned Chartered Accountant with a strong background in various aspects of financial management, as well as business and transformational leadership. Her experience spans 30 years, 14 of which have been at Executive Management level.
Her appointment comes at a time when the company is facing challenges of inadequate investment by the shareholder, government. The parastatal is still unable to show profit because it continues to operate post offices where it incurs running costs that are 10 times the revenue generated.
Moleta is currently serving a three months notice and he recently expressed optimism that there are capable and experienced employees within the parastatal who are likely to take over. Prior to her appointment as Acting CEO, Botlhole-Mmopi served as Botswana Post Chief Financial Officer (CFO) where she turned the Finance and Procurement Department around until she was transferred to Mail Business in 2013 as the Head. A statement from Botswana Post indicates that she also spearheaded operational efficiency improvements and innovations around physical mail and drove the Addressing Botswana Project, which is currently at pilot phase. Botlhole-Mmopi’s career cuts across various industries including mining, banking, energy and telecommunications. She has held leadership positions at both national and regional level, which include Head-Barclays Africa Finance Unit, at some stage based in South Africa.
She currently serves on the boards of Bank of Botswana (BoB) and Morupule Coal mine. Her previous board memberships include terms at the inaugural Board of Botswana International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), BTC, BMC and PEEPA. A close observation of what has transpired in parastatals over the last few years reveals a tendency to appoint candidates on Acting capacity for periods close to or over a year. This costs such parastatals lot money that is paid to the Acting Chief Executives. One close example is Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO), which recently appointed Thabo Dithebe as substantive CEO after he served for a full year in an Acting capacity. Another example in that of Letsebe Sejoe, who was appointed founding Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) after Acting for over a year. Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) also appointed Maria Nthebolan’s successor after a period of close to a year.
