You have to show a certain degree of decorum when you’re a man talking about women in business these days. Slip up and you’ll be panned, which is what we can expect to happen to Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos in the days that follow.

Dos Santos was appearing on CliffCentral when he made some ‘odd’ comments, starting off on the right foot when saying he would like a woman to take over from him when he hangs up his boots.

Here’s MyBroadband with the rest:

“We have good-looking women, we have clever women, we have smart women, and that has created a different environment,” said Dos Santos.

“I think we have to empower the female individuals. Today a lot of women are independent.”

He stated that Cell C’s next CEO should be a woman.

“I’m hoping that one day when I step down from Cell C, a woman will be the CEO of the company. They have a different way of managing, they have a different way of engaging in meetings, it creates a different dynamic,” he said.

“If I can use the term on your radio station, you know women do have a bitch switch, and boy if you see two women fighting it is worse than two men.”

And then this, talking about Cell C’s internship with the Miss SA pageant finalists:

“It brought a whole different atmosphere. Can you imagine you got 12 gorgeous women and you say four or five of them walk into your company – do you know what it does to the atmosphere in that company? The men dress better, they shave every morning.”

Yay for attractive women in the work place, they’re always good for helping men up their fashion game and keep the stubble to a minimum.

To be fair I think Dos Santos was trying to be decent, although he has clearly missed the mark with a few of his comments.

Tomorrow’s headline – Cell C CEO issues apology for comments.

You can listen to the interview in full HERE.

[source:mybroadband]