Cell C has responded to weekend media reports linking it to political corruption and clandestine export deals, despite a policy of not commenting specifically on allegations and speculation. Enough is enough, it says.
"[Some articles] contained what we consider degrading statements targeted at the Saudi royal family," says Cell C spokesman Zwelakhe Mankazana. Saudi Oger, a company based in Saudi Arabia, backs Cell C financially. Reports linked Saudi prince Abdelaziz bin Fahd to Saudi Oger, something Cell C denies.
"No member of the Saudi royal family has a stake in Saudi Oger," the company said in a statement.
We feel it is time to actually send the message to journalists that you cannot link a cellular bid to every other event in a country.
Zwelakhe Mankazana, spokesman, Cell C
The South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (SATRA) council announced in February that Cell C was the bidder it intended to refer to the Minster of Communications as its preferred applicant. However, the controversy that has long surrounded the selection process has delayed that recommendation. The choice has been at issue in various legal and procedural actions by other bidders, notably Telenor/Telia and Nextcom, first and second runners-up respectively in the evaluation released by SATRA.
In its statement, Cell C denies allegations of government involvement and lashes out at the media. "We tell the truth and yet the same tired old lies emerge in the newspapers," Mankazana is quoted in the statement.
Conspiracy theories around the selection range from greasy government palms to clandestine arms deals linking Saudi Oger to export contracts with South African arms manufacturer Denel.
Lambert Moloi, a retired lieutenant general, Denel director and special advisor to the chief of the South African National Defence Force, chairs Cell C holding company 3C Telecommunications. "The fact that he is a non-executive director of Denel is of no interest to Cell C," says Mankazana. "We have many black businessmen with a wide range of interests."
He adds that Eskom, Transnet and Denel were approached in the early stages of preparation for the bid as parastatal organisations with telecommunications activities, but says nothing came of the talks and describes Denel`s telecommunications interests as "nominal". "I do not even know that Moloi was involved in those discussions," he told ITWeb.
"The proposed arms deal [between Saudi Arabia and SA] was made long before Cell C came into existence and we have never been connected with the transaction in any way," reads the statement.
Also addressed in Cell C`s statement are allegations linking former president Nelson Mandela to Saudi Oger`s Rafiq Hariri, who are said to have met as guests at a dinner hosted by the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Washington while SATRA was conducting public hearings. Saudi Oger is owned by the Hariri family. "The dinner was a social occasion and no business discussions took place, nor would we expect our former president to engage in any business discussions around the third cellular licence," says Cell C.
"We feel it is time to actually send the message to journalists that you cannot link a cellular bid to every other event in a country," Mankazana says, noting that he is surprised that Cell C has not been linked to the so-called Hansie-gate affair.
While speculation, possible legal action and the re-evaluation of the controversial BDO Spencer report by SATRA delays the recommendation of the preferred bidder, Cell C has begun evaluating tenders worth an estimated R4 billion over the next several years. "I can confirm that we have received and are looking at seven bids on the network infrastructure and four or five on the total IT solution," Mankazana says.
Cell C maintains that it will launch it service in November and says its marketing strategy remains unchanged, although it plans to be more aggressive in its entry because of lost time. "If we take our foot off the accelerator there would be little benefit in being a preferred bidder," says Mankazana.
Related stories:
Share