Strategic Fit
A structured assessment of how Vicus Burger's experience maps to NuMobile's five specific CEO requirements — with named evidence for every claim.
The single most important operational priority. The 14% leakage represents approximately R10m+ per year in lost cash recovery.
Collections leakage is a data and process problem. At Mondelez, I identified that 80% of the margin erosion was driven by 20% of the SKU portfolio — and fixed it in 36 months. The same diagnostic methodology applies to collections: identify the root cause (system, process, or people), fix the highest-impact lever first, build the operating rhythm to sustain it.
NuMobile has 13,300 contracts. The path to 50,000+ contracts runs through a structured employer acquisition programme.
Held full P&L accountability for the Western Cape region at Cell C — managing all sales channels (direct, retail, dealer network, and corporate). Led the management team through root cause analysis, channel and product analysis, and distribution fixes. Built strong analytics for the team and distribution channel partners. Met with channel partners directly, agreed on plans and incentives, and drove disciplined execution. The Western Cape grew 23% in Year 1 (R720m → R886m) and 117% over five years (R720m → R1.56bn). Applied the same methodology across three other underperforming regions — Cell C achieved record growth and profits nationally by end of 2016. NuMobile's payroll-deduction model sits within the same commercial ecosystem — I understand the channel mechanics from direct operational experience at scale.
NuMobile's technology stack needs to support scale. Collections visibility, employer integration, and reporting are the three non-negotiable investments.
Technology change in a turnaround context must be phased, not big-bang. In a business rescue, you stabilise operations first and modernise second. The same principle applies to NuMobile: collections dashboard and reporting visibility first, platform modernisation second. At SAIW, as both Executive Director and Business Rescue Practitioner, I led the organisation through formal rescue while keeping operations running — which required exactly this kind of sequenced, risk-aware decision-making.
Anuva is a PE investor with an exit thesis. The CEO must understand what exit readiness looks like and how to build it systematically.
I know what a data room looks like, what an IRR narrative requires, and how to build a valuation story. At SAIW, I managed creditor relationships and reporting through a non-profit business rescue — which required exactly the same transparency, reporting rigour, and stakeholder confidence management that Anuva's exit thesis demands.
NuMobile has approximately 60 staff. The CEO must lead a small, high-performance team through a growth transition from founder-led to professionally managed.
I have led teams significantly larger than NuMobile's current headcount. The challenge at NuMobile is not scale — it is the cultural transition from founder-led to professionally managed. I understand this dynamic. The GE/Ulrich New Leader Assimilation process I will run in Week 2 is specifically designed to accelerate this transition.
No other CEO candidate in the South African market has this specific combination.
This is not a generalist applying for a specialist role. This is a specialist who has been building towards this role for 10 years — accumulating the exact combination of capabilities that NuMobile's transition requires.
Three levers. Sequenced for maximum impact with minimum risk.
86% → 93%+ collections ratio. Root cause diagnosis. AI-powered early warning. Tighter employer integration. Dedicated dispute resolution.
Tier the employer base. Design CVP by tier. Build a structured acquisition engine with clear pipeline metrics and relationship management cadence.
Insurance, airtime credit, transport, shopping vouchers — all addable to the monthly payroll deduction. No new employer agreement required. Year 2 initiative.