South African businessman and chief executive officer of the Business Connexion Group (BCX), Benjamin Mophatlane, has passed away at the age of 41.

The company made the announcement in a statement on Thursday, which said Mophotlane died following a cardiac arrest on Wednesday 11 June 2014.

BCX is a cloud based services provider in South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya, Botswana, the United Kingdom and Dubai.

It also employs more than 6,800 people on the African continent and generates revenue in excess of R6 billion per annum.

BCX is further in line to be bought out by converged telecommunications provider Telkom, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.

"As CEO, he left an indelible mark on the company, the employees of the group and our clients. Benjamin was instrumental in building BCX into SA’s leading IT company and led BCX business activity in the rest of Africa,” BCX has said in a statement.

"The board and employees of BCX wish to honour Ben for his leadership, vision, integrity and esteemed contribution to the company. We express our heartfelt sympathy and condolences to his wife Abena Saah and their three children, his mother, sister, twin brother Isaac and the entire Mophatlane family. Benjamin will be remembered for his entrepreneurial spirit, enthusiasm and exceptionally warm personality, which are aspiring attributes for us all," the statement reads.

Mophatlane founded Business Connection back in 1996 with his brother, Isaac Mophatlane. At the time the company was a computer reseller focused on government and parastatals.

After merging with Seattle Solutions in 2001, it changed its name to Business Connexion Group (BCX) and became one of the largest ICT services providers listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

In 2002, Mophatlane was named the IT personality of the year by the Computer Society of South Africa in association with the ITWeb and Meta Group for his contribution to ICT.

After serving as managing director he took the helm in 2007 as company CEO until his untimely death.

Tony Ruiters, chairman of BCX also said in the statement, "We have lost an irreplaceable brother, colleague, leader, husband and father. Ben was a leader with a big heart and who considered wisely decisions in all facets of his life. He had impeccable judgement and most of all, was a man of deep integrity and honour. His death is a great tragic loss to the Company and the South African business community."

BCX said in the statement that it will make further announcements in due course.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mophatlane family during this difficult time," the statement concludes.