Vodacom's long-serving group chief technology officer (CTO) Andries Delport has resigned.

In a statement, the mobile operator says Delport is leaving to pursue external interests with effect from May 2020.

He had been with SA's number one mobile operator for 23 years.

Delport held a number of senior positions in the company since joining Vodacom in June 1996 before being appointed CTO and a member of the Vodacom Group executive committee in November 2010.

He will also relinquish his role as director of Vodacom Tanzania and director of VMSA (Mozambique), the operator says.

It adds that during his tenure at Vodacom, Delport played an important role in establishing network leadership across all five of Vodacom's operating countries – DRC, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania – and building capabilities in technology and security for the group.

He was also integral to teams responsible for a number of firsts, including the first commercial 5G network in Africa in Lesotho.

Vodacom Group chief executive officer, Shameel Joosub, says: "Andries has been a key member of the Vodacom family for the past 23 years and his contribution to the Group has been immeasurable.

"I would like to thank Andries for his leadership in building world-class networks and his commitment to transforming our technology capability across the group. Andries has been instrumental in building strong teams renowned for innovation. On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Vodacom Group, I wish him well in his future endeavours."

Vodacom says it will announce a successor for the group CTO position in due course.

Nonetheless, in August, former Absa chief information officer Jacques Barkhuizen told ITWeb that he had been appointed Vodacom's CIO and managing executive for digital.