Johannesburg - Top female management at Cell C have stood up for its head, Jose dos Santos, after he caused a social media storm with some ill-considered phrases.
Dos Santos, who has been head of South Africa’s third-biggest mobile-phone company since 2013, yesterday made some comments on Johannesburg-based radio station CliffCentral, while speaking on the subject of leadership, that many took umbrage with.
Among his comments, the CEO said hiring a greater number of clever and good-looking women has “created a different environment” at the company than when he arrived, Bloomberg reported. After adding that he’d like to be succeeded as CEO by a woman, he made the reference to women being more aggressive in arguments between themselves than two men.
Hiring attractive women as interns, including contestants of the Miss South Africa beauty pageant, encourages male workers to shave and dress better, Dos Santos told the radio station. Cell C, majority-owned by Dubai-based Oger Telecom, is one of the main sponsors of the competition.
Dos Santos later said: “I regret my choice of words, which I realise were offensive... I mentioned that in my experience, I have seen instances where women do not support each other to get to the top. This has purely been my observation,” Bloomberg reported.
In a statement from top female management of Cell C who are empowered and “stand fully in support of our CEO,” mailed on Wednesday, Dos Santos’ top female staff agreed his choice of words on a specific matter was not appropriate.
“However, what we know is that the public outrage he is facing for that regrettable choice of words has far outweighed what he has done for every employee in this company, particularly women.
“We believe in ourselves collectively as a team of highly-skilled and highly-capable women and we are rightly recognised as such in this company. What we know is that we have all had far more opportunities to shine and be our best under his leadership. If this was not the case, we would not be here.”
The statement adds “there have been moments in all our lives when we have said or done something we regret. For some the consequences were difficult to swallow while others escaped with a mere reminder to do better tomorrow.
“Too often people stand by and allow things to happen to good people; and while we know we might face some criticism for our decision to stand beside our CEO; we as women in leadership positions at Cell C cannot allow someone to be solely judged for one unfortunate comment, while what he has done to empower women, both within and outside the company, goes unnoticed.”
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