Professor Rolf Heinrich Stumpf, board chairperson of Stadio [JSE:SDO], has resigned with immediate effect, the private higher education provider announced on Wednesday.
Stumpf's resignation is due to health reasons, according to a statement.
The board has not yet appointed a replacement.
Stumpf joined the board in 2017 as company chairperson and has played an "integral" role ever since, Stadio said, including in various acquisitions, its listing on the JSE, and laying the foundation for integrating the various subsidiaries into a single private higher education institution.
"The Board would like to sincerely thank Prof RH Stumpf for his valuable contribution and dedication to Stadio Holdings over his tenure and wishes him a speedy recovery," it said.
The group, which was founded by Dr Chris van der Merwe – who also founded Curro Schools with 28 children in a Cape Town church – said earlier this year that its student numbers were approaching 32 000 at the end of 2019.
In its prelisting presentation in September 2017, Stadio told investors that it was targeting 16 577 students by 2019 and its prelisting statement aimed for 56 000 students by 2026, Fin24 previously reported.
Van der Merwe said at the time that there was a "real chance" of attracting 40 000 students – its next target – in the foreseeable future.
Stadio's share price peaked at R8.78 not long after it listed in 2017, but has been in overall decline ever since. At the beginning of 2020, it had reached R2.00. At 16:55 on Thursday, Stadio shares were trading 3% down on-day at 93c.