Safaricom Appoints Mariam Cassim and Matimba Mbungela as Non-Executive Directors
Safaricom PLC has appointed Mariam Cassim and Matimba Mbungela as Non-Executive Directors, with the appointments taking effect from August 13, 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
The appointments were announced alongside the resignation of James Ludlow and Dr. (Eng.) John Kipngetich Mosonik as Non-Executive Directors of the Safaricom board, also effective August 13, 2026.
The telecommunications company said the Board of Directors had approved the appointments and acknowledged the contributions of the outgoing directors to the company’s Board and committee meetings.
Mariam Cassim
Mariam Cassim is the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Services, Fintech and Partnerships at Vodacom Group Limited, where she has held senior positions since 2017.
She has more than 26 years of international banking and corporate finance experience spanning corporate finance, deal structuring, mergers and acquisitions, debt structuring, commercial management, business development and executive leadership.
Cassim is also experienced in financial services innovation, digital transformation and new business development, with a focus on developing commercially sustainable solutions.
Her career includes executive and corporate finance roles at Thebe Investment Corporation and Telesure Group, following her early career at KPMG.
Cassim is a registered Chartered Accountant and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, where she graduated cum laude.
She has also been associated with the development and expansion of Vodacom’s financial services business, including the rollout and scaling of the VodaPay super-app.
Matimba Mbungela
Matimba Mbungela is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Vodacom Group Limited, a position he has held since 2014.
He previously served as Managing Executive, Human Resources for Vodacom and Vodafone Group from 2003, holding various senior positions within the human resources function.
Mbungela also spent three years on secondment to Vodafone as Regional Head of Organisational Effectiveness and Change and Regional Head of Talent for Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
Before that assignment, he was responsible for talent management at Vodacom for six years, where he worked on integrating Vodacom’s talent strategy with Vodafone’s global strategy.
His previous experience includes senior human resources roles at BMW South Africa and Unilever.
Mbungela also has experience serving on corporate boards. He represents the Vodacom Employees Trust (Siyanda) on the YeboYethu Board and serves as a Non-Executive Director of Vodacom Tanzania, Vodacom Mozambique and Vodacom Lesotho.
He has also served as a director on the Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership Advisory Board since June 1, 2020.
Mbungela holds a Bachelor of Administration degree from the University of Venda, a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resources from the University of Cape Town and an MBA in Strategy and Human Resources from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
His career at Vodacom has focused on human resources, talent management, organisational effectiveness and change across the telecommunications group’s operations.
Safaricom Board Changes
The appointments of Cassim and Mbungela come alongside the departure of James Ludlow and Dr. (Eng.) John Kipngetich Mosonik from Safaricom’s Board of Directors. Both resignations took effect on August 13, 2026.
Safaricom’s Board thanked Ludlow and Mosonik for their contributions to the company through their participation in Board and committee meetings and wished them well in their future endeavours.
The appointments of Cassim and Mbungela remain subject to regulatory approvals.
