Top South African CEO bets R20.81 million on his company

Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes has purchased R20.81 million worth of the company’s shares on the open market.

This comes as Mendes has been leading Cell C’s turnaround since July 2023 and also oversaw the company’s listing on the JSE in November 2025. 

On Tuesday, 22 September, Cell C announced that Mendes purchased 792,187 of the company’s shares on-market.

This was done over two transactions. The first took place on 17 September, with Mendes having bought 52,187 Cell C shares at R23 per share.

The second transaction was made on 21 September, when Mendes purchased 740,000 Cell C shares at R26.50 per share.

At the time of writing, Cell C’s shares were trading at R24.08.

Mendes’ first transaction totalled R1.20 million, while the second was valued at R19.61 million, for a total of R20.81 million.

These transactions come roughly a month after Cell C reported its results for the year through May 2026, which revealed an improved performance for the telecoms giant.

This was Cell C’s first full-year results as a listed entity, and Mendes declared that it marked the end of the company’s turnaround journey.

“FY26 was the year Cell C’s turnaround became a platform for growth,” he said in the company’s results report. 

“We completed our restructuring and listing, integrated CEC, strengthened our balance sheet, and demonstrated that our asset-light, partnership-led platform can deliver growth with discipline.” 

Cell C reported a 13.5% increase in revenue to R12.64 billion and an 87.65% increase in profit to R4.16 billion.

While some challenges still remain, this turnaround has been a long time coming for Cell C, which struggled to remain profitable under its previous owner, Blu Label Unlimited.

Mendes said the 2027 financial year will focus on converting its momentum into higher-quality growth, stronger cash generation, and lasting shareholder value.

Cell C believes its future growth will largely be driven by South Africa’s rapidly growing mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) market.

Cell C is currently the largest MVNO partner in South Africa, accounting for between 80% and 85% of the market.

“The group’s asset-light, partnership-led model continues to support profitable growth, capital efficiency and strong cash generation,” Mendes said. 

This, he said, will enable Cell C to compete effectively while maintaining disciplined investment levels.