Neotel has been implicated in an alleged bribery scandal, which may influence Vodacom\u2019s plans to acquire the company.<\/p>\n
The Mail & Guardian reported that<\/strong><\/a> Neotel\u2019s auditors Deloitte blew the whistle on R100 million in questionable payments to a company called Homix.<\/p>\n These payments were allegedly linked to a bid to clinch R2-billion worth of deals from Transnet.<\/p>\n A week later the newspaper reported<\/strong><\/a> that Transnet had awarded two CCTV projects worth R835-million to Neotel without going to tender.<\/p>\n The impact of this possible scandal could affect the Vodacom-Neotel deal. Apart from the allegations of bribery, losing deals with Transnet could influence Neotel\u2019s financial situation.<\/p>\n The Sunday Times reported that David Lewis, executive director of Corruption Watch, said the deal will not proceed until the bribery matter is settled.<\/p>\n He added that if Neotel hid information about corruption from Vodacom, the mobile giant will\u00a0likely pull out of the deal.<\/p>\n MyBroadband asked Vodacom if the corruption allegations against Neotel would influence its plans to acquire the company, but Vodacom\u00a0would not answer that question.<\/p>\n Vodacom would also not say whether it will renegotiate the purchase price should Neotel lose its Transnet contracts.\u00a0Vodacom said\u00a0it is\u00a0\u201ca matter for Neotel, its board, and shareholders\u201d.<\/p>\n Vodacom added that it is\u00a0\u201cmonitoring developments, and at this stage have nothing to add to the statements made by the relevant parties\u201d.<\/p>\n Neotel in alleged bribery scandal: report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on Neotel<\/h3>\n