It is not clear if Alan Knott-Craig would return to Cell C as CEO after he recovers from the “mild stroke” he suffered two weeks ago.

But some commentators, who questioned his sanity when he joined Cell C early last year after suffering two heart attacks which forced him to retire as head of Vodacom in 2008, would feel satisfied if he retires again.

Bruce Whitfield, a talk radio business journalist, once asked Knott-Craig why he returned to an industry that nearly killed him twice.

In 2006, Knott-Craig was ill with a second heart attack while he was head of Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator.

He stepped down from Vodacom in 2008 before being appointed CEO of Cell C in April last year.

Jose Dos Santos, Cell C’s current acting CEO, said the position Knott-Craig will return to when he fully recovers from the mild stroke would be decided by the firm’s shareholders and Knott-Craig himself.

“He’s put in a very, very solid team and the entire team understands Alan’s thinking. It’s easy for us to step in, there’s a strong succession plan in place,” Moneyweb quoted Dos Santos as saying.

Dos Santos said Knott-Craig was recovering well and was walking about and taking strolls, adding that he was expecting a full recovery very soon.