Jorge Mendes

Biography

Raised in South Africa, Jorge Mendes began working at a very early age to support his family. During his youth, he took on part-time roles delivering goods, working in liquor stores, and eventually owning shebeens. His career path shifted dramatically after surviving a violent liquor store robbery in which he was shot and his business partner was killed.

Seeking a safer work environment, Mendes answered a newspaper advertisement in 1994 and joined Teljoy as a entry-level call centre agent, abandoning his original aspirations of becoming an architect. Over the next three decades, Mendes worked his way up through every operational level of the telecommunications industry. He spent over two decades at Vodacom South Africa, holding various senior leadership positions across regional markets and sales divisions.

He eventually rose to Chief Consumer Business Officer at Vodacom, managing the mobile operator’s largest revenue-generating business unit before stepping down to take a sabbatical. In June 2023, Mendes was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Cell C, South Africa’s fourth-largest mobile operator, tasked with leading a major operational turnaround. Upon taking office, he launched an enterprise-wide restructuring plan aimed at achieving operational solvency, eliminating legacy inefficiencies, rebuilding customer trust, and establishing Cell C as an asset-light wholesale platform. Under his leadership, the operator stabilized its cash flow and positioned the company for long-term profitability and a potential listing on the JSE.

Career timeline

In their words

“I think it is worth starting from scratch... We were starting at a minus when you look at the significant amount of debt, but the momentum starts now.”

Jorge in the news