Government must sell Telkom: DA
DA shadow minister of communications, Marian Shinn, has called for Telkom to be fully privatised to prevent it from being plunged into a terminal crisis.
This follows the resignation of Telkom chief executive officer, Nombulelo Moholi on Monday (5 November).
“The news today that Telkom CEO Nombulelo Moholi has resigned is tragic and further proof that seasoned professionals find Communications Minister Dina Pule’s amateurish and reckless meddling in the affairs of a listed company intolerable, setting them up for possible prosecution under the Companies Act, and setting the company on a path to bankruptcy,” Shinn said.
The shadow minister said she would call for a debate in the National Assembly on the future of Telkom this week.
Shinn accused the Department of Communications of incompetence spanning 20 years which, she said, had crippled the economic growth of South Africa by hindering the rapid and affordable rollout of telecommunications infrastructure.
“Minister Pule’s ham-fisted actions over Telkom this year have rapidly exacerbated the problems,” Shinn said.
Government holds the majority shares in Telkom through its own 39.8% stake in the company and the 10.5% held by the Public Investment Corporation.
According to the DA, minister Pule is the Cabinet’s point person in the management of Telkom.
AGM ruckus
“Two weeks ago she disrupted Telkom’s annual general meeting by demanding to change her votes for the Telkom board, previously submitted by proxy. As a result, competent members of the board were voted out and the company left without the requisite number of board members and no audit and risk committee in place. This has jeopardised the legality of operations of the listed company,” Shinn said.
The shake-up at Telkom followed a decision by Cabinet to abort the Telkom-KT Corporation deal, which would have injected R3 billion into a risk-free expansion and skills enhancement programme, the DA said.
According to Shinn, no sound business reasons were given for this decision, while government clearly had no viable alternative in mind.
“Government has spent the past few months mulling options that have yet to see the light of day and has perpetuated uncertainty about Telkom’s strategic direction.”
“Should government persist in its naive and dangerous management of Telkom we may well soon see the company come cap-in-hand to Parliament asking for a financial lifeline. Government has a dismal record in managing state-owned companies and Telkom must not be allowed to become another state-controlled failure,” Shinn said.
The shadow minister called on Parliament to debate the future of the company and the potential benefits of full privatisation.
Related articles
Telkom CEO rubbishes resignation rumours
DoC hints at mobile and fixed-line partners for Telkom
Telkom turned around says Pule
Loading ...