Telkom may tap Vodacom exec as CEO

JOHANNESBURG, S.AFRICA: South Africa's Telkom may pick a Vodacom executive as its next chief, the country's Sunday Times newspaper said, without specifying any sources. Romeo Kumalo, head of commercial affairs at Vodacom, has the support of Telkom's newly appointed chairman, Lazarus Zim, the paper said.

No one was immediately available for comment at Telkom or Vodacom. Telkom's acting chief executive, Jeffrey Hedberg, has said he will step down when his contract ends in March. Telkom, Africa's largest fixed-line operator, is struggling to craft a convincing turnaround strategy, hurt by a money-losing Nigerian business and the decline of traditional telephony at home.

Telkom held a stake in Vodacom until 2009. The former has since launched its own mobile business in South Africa, where it faces tough competition from Vodacom and MTN Group.

Vodacom is a unit of Britain's Vodafone.