Vodacom has assured the market that its increasingly controversial black economic empowerment (BEE) deal is still on track.
This follows media speculation that the process is coming apart at the seams, with possible lawsuits pending and short-listed bidders allegedly trying to change the structure of their consortium.
At the top of the list of allegations is that prominent businessman Nkenke Kekana, former group executive of Telkom and former chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications, still wants to break with the greater Amandla Amoya consortium, said to be short-listed by Vodacom.
Allegedly, Nkenke is willing to take the chance of losing out on the bid completely rather than sticking with the likes of Bulelani Ngcuka, Saki Macozoma and Moss Ngoasheng, who are all part of Amandla Amoya.
While ITWeb could not reach Kekana for comment this morning, he said last week that the consortium would stick together and continue with the bidding process as a unit.
Meanwhile, secondary allegations have surfaced that the structure proposed by Vodacom for the BEE deal, one that would see Vodacom business partners being able to buy shares through public participation, infringes on a non-short-listed bidder's proposed bid.
The cellular giant is reportedly to be sued for R7.5 billion - the value of the complete BEE deal - for this alleged infringement.
This morning, Vodacom group chief communications officer Dot Field said the company would not comment extensively on any of these reports, or the issues they raise.
She did, however, note that "suffice to say, the [BEE] process is intact and is proceeding".
Vodacom has been reluctant to talk about the details of the bidding process, quoting a confidentiality agreement.
The company has, however, indicated that more details should be available by the third quarter of this year.
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