Nkuhlu, who was trained as a chartered accountant, and served articles with PriceWaterHouse Coopers, currently serves as chairman of Pan-African Capital Holdings, and holds directorships with Kagiso Trust Investments, Virgin Active South Africa, Old Mutual SA Ltd and Old Mutual PLC, London. Between October 2000 and July 2005 he served as economic advisor to President Thabo Mbeki, and chief executive of the secretariat of the new partnership for Africas development (Nepad).

Jens Montanana, CEO of Datatec, is excited about Nkuhlus appointment, saying that the extensive experience he brings to the table in the areas of corporate governance and strategic leadership in both the financial services and industrial sectors will add exponential value to Datatec. He has a depth and breadth of experience that will immediately broaden our non-executive skills base, he says. The extensive experience that Nkuhlu has serving on audit committees will also prove invaluable.

Datatec reported the healthiest results in five years in May 2006 when the group posted an 18% increase in revenue to $2,98bn and a nearly six-fold increase in operating profit to $69m for the year to February 2006. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) rose commensurately to 26,91 US cents.