Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos has apologised for comments he made about women employees after causing an outcry on social media.

The cellular company chief was discussing female empowerment during an interview on CliffCentral, saying the representation of women among the company's staff has increased from roughly 40% to over 60% since he joined the company four years ago, Fin24 reports.

His descriptions of the company work environment have sparked controversy after he said: "If I can use the term on the radio station, women do have a bitch-switch and, boy, if you see two women fighting, it's worse than two men having an argument."

The network head elaborated by saying that good looking women were a means to boost morale among male employees.

Dos Santos was attacked on social media, and accused of objectifying women.

Dos Santos subsequently issued an apology, saying: "I regret my choice of words which I realise were offensive. I mentioned that in my experience I have seen instances where women don't support each other to get to the top. This has purely been my observation."

Cell C's top female management has issued a press statement defending Dos Santos, saying: "While we know we might face some criticism for our decision to stand beside our CEO; we as women in leadership positions at Cell C cannot allow someone to be solely judged for one unfortunate comment, while what he has done to empower women, both within and outside the company, goes unnoticed."