ANC 'not involved in business'

By Christelle du Toit, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 28 Mar 2008

Nkenke Kekana, rumoured to be the ruling party's favoured candidate for Vodacom's R7.5 billion black economic empowerment (BEE) stake, has denied any ANC involvement in the deal.

During an interview yesterday, Kekana asked: "What does the ANC have to do with business?"

He went on to deny that any pressure had been exerted on him - or anyone else - to distance themselves from Bulelani Ngcuka, former director of public prosecutions and part of the Amandla Amoya consortium, which includes Kekana.

Amandla Amoya is believed to be the favoured candidate in the long-awaited empowerment deal, although this is yet to be officially acknowledged.

The market has speculated that partners within Amandla Amoya have been pressured to distance themselves from Ngcuka, the man who played a central part in the decision to prosecute ANC president Jacob Zuma.

Now Kekana has categorically denied any ANC involvement in the process.

"The ANC, to my knowledge, has nothing to do with business," noted Kekana. "We are just business people - I don't understand why people bring politics into it."

Standing is irrelevant

Kekana said Amandla Amoya's involvement with Vodacom should be seen as purely professional.

"As a consortium, we have been interested in the deal since 2005, so there is no politics involved in this," he insists. "Bulelani [Ngcuka] and the others are business people. An individual's standing in society has very little to do with a business proposition."

Kekana revealed Amandla Amoya would meet today to re-evaluate its bid, as per the Vodacom deadline, but would not expand on this point. He said he was not in a position to comment on either the processes involved in the bidding, or the likelihood of Amandla Amoya walking away with the deal.

Vodacom has so far declined to detail the bidding process, apart from saying the shortlist for the deal has yet to be determined. The company has also insisted the empowerment deal will be broad-based in nature, and would not only benefit a small elite, adding that it has not experienced any political pressure at all.

This followed allegations, at the time Amandla Amoya was first rumoured to be breaking up, that the cellular giant told the company to stick together as it stood to lose out on the deal if it did not.

Analysts have subsequently pointed out that this is mostly a procedural matter, as a bidder's structure cannot be changed after its tender has been submitted and the bidding process has closed.