A High Court judge today extended an interdict that prevents communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri from issuing the third cellular licence.
The interdict specified that Matsepe-Casaburri could not issue the licence within five days of a final choice of a winning bidder being announced. The court today ruled that it would extend that deadline to the end of the week because of the amount of information and documentation involved in the application by spurned bidder Nextcom.
Nextcom wants a full judicial review of the process that led to the selection of Saudi-backed consortium Cell C. Nextcom says the selection was inherently flawed and should be overturned. "The SATRA recommendation is tainted and flawed by countless procedural irregularities, many of them serving to allow Cell C to strengthen a bid that was clearly weaker and less deserving than ours," says Nextcom CEO Bushy Kelobonye.
A full judicial review of the selection could take up to one year, but the various consortiums say they will try to expedite the matter because it is time-sensitive. Legal experts say that should a review be decided on, the discovery process could run while the review is underway, cutting its duration to six months or less.
Cell C spokesman Zwelakhe Mankazana says his consortium has the patience to wait for the law to take its course. "Cell C is under no illusion that legal issues are protracted and we don`t expect a quick fix," he says.
Arguments for and against a long-term interdict, while the courts decide on the merit of a judicial review, are to be heard on Friday, with a ruling expected early next week at the latest.
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