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The Group CEO of Denel, Zwelakhe Ntshepe has today announced the resignation of one of the longest-serving members of our Group, the Chief Executive of Denel Land Systems (DLS), Stephan Burger.  Stephan has been a loyal member of the Denel family and a great asset to the company for the past 36 years. He started his career as a Design Engineer at the then Vektor in 1981; and progressed through various positions including the position of Manager for Rapid Fire Development in 1985, Senior Manager in the Engineering department in 1989 to Executive Manager for Marketing from 1993 to 1994.

In 1994, the turnover at Vektor grew to R130m, with a staff turnover of 900 people. He moved through various leadership positions until he was appointed Chief Executive Officer at DLS in 2004. Under his leadership DLS achieved remarkable milestones, and grew from a R280m turnover to a R3-billion turnover division. He has been an asset to the growth of the company and it is always a sad moment to lose one of our own.

However, another equally capable and experienced colleague will be acting in the position of Chief Executive at DLS with immediate effect.  The Chief Executive of the Denel Maritime division, Ismail Dockrat, is well qualified to act in this position until the Group is in a position to appoint a permanent CEO for DLS.

Ismail comes into this acting position with a wealth of leadership experience and is known in Denel and across the industry as having played a crucial role in the successful turnaround of both the former Denel Aviation and Denel Aerostructures divisions, as well as in the establishment of Denel’s nascent cyber security and warfare capability, now known as Denel Sovereign Security Solutions. Dockrat has made significant strides in the creation of the maritime division, which will enable Denel to meet the recommendations of the Defence Review 2014.

Under the leadership of Dockrat, Denel has positioned itself to develop local South African capacity through research and investment in maritime systems, as well as in the commercialisation of the naval dockyard in Simon’s Town. We have been a global name in landward and aerospace defence for many decades and a leader in the development of long-range artillery and mechanised infantry vehicles. It is therefore a natural next step for Denel to establish a presence in the maritime environment.

Denel’s biggest strength is in the integration of different systems and the provision of complete and comprehensive solutions to our clients. The maritime capability therefore will remain one of the key capabilities the company is prioritising because modern defence forces require the different branches to interact with each other for maximum effectiveness in modern-day conflict.
Ntshepe has thanked Stephan Burger for the contributions he has made during his time at Denel and wish him all the best in the next chapter he will be embarking on.

Issued by Denel