The South African Communist Party (SACP) does not know where the deal to unbundle Telkom's 50% stake in Vodacom originated, says Department of Communications director-general Lyndall Shope-Mafole.
She was reacting to weekend statements by senior SACP members who claimed the proceeds of the R22.5 billion deal would fund the Congress of the People (COPE), the new political party that has broken away from the ruling African National Congress (ANC). The SACP, with the Congress of SA Trade Unions, is in a tripartite alliance with the ANC.
According to reports in The Times and Business Day, SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande said government must look at the role played by Shope-Mafole in the deal concluded last month.
He said the deal was “hurried” and done “behind the backs of South Africans”. According to The Times, Nzimande also said: “We believe the proceeds of this hurried fire sale are finding their way into the war chest of the Shikota gang of three.”
Shope-Mafole, who is a COPE member, after announcing her defection from the ANC last month, says the attacks are not entirely unexpected.
“What the SACP does not realise is that it was the Telkom board who originated the request to government to approve the deal. Approval was given by the president [Kgalema Motlanthe] who is also the ANC deputy president, and [at the meeting] there were three senior Cabinet ministers who are also members of the ANC national executive committee who also gave their approval,” she said.
Former presidential spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama, a senior member of COPE, is thought to have directly benefited from the deal through his involvement with the Elephant Consortium. The consortium, according to Telkom's records, holds a 5.9% stake in the telecoms utility and held 3.9% of Vodacom when the deal was consummated last month.
Nzimande alleged Ngonyama was using his proceeds to fund the formation of COPE, and he also called for an investigation into the deal.
“What shareholders do with their money is their own business,” Shope-Mafole says.
Anyone can investigate the deal and will not find anything that was unethical or illegal, she adds.
SACP members were not available for comment.
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