Author: Duncan McLeod

Communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said on Thursday that she will meet urgently with Telkom management to discuss the company’s plan to let go of as many as 3 000 employees.

Trade union Solidarity has slammed Telkom over its plan to cut up to 3 000 jobs, or 20% of its 15 000-strong workforce, describing the move as “reckless” and “merciless”.

Telkom shares jumped on Thursday after it emerged on Wednesday evening that the company plans a major retrenchment round that could see up to a fifth of its workforce let go.

It’s turning out to be a bleak start to the new year for employees at the partially state-owned telecommunications operator Telkom, with as many as 3 000 jobs on the line.

Ka-ching! Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk just made a cool R1-billion through the sale of shares in the group. However, he intends to reinvest most of the proceeds back into the group in the form of bonds.

Rain will sell its Broadlink telecommunications business to Internet and cloud service provider CipherWave, TechCentral has learnt.

Retail group Massmart Group, whose assets include Makro, Game and DionWired, warned on Monday that it’s likely to close a range of stores affecting the jobs of nearly 1 500 employees.

Shares in Telkom have rocketed more than 21% since reaching a multi-year low in intraday trading last Thursday, signalling that investors believe the sell-off was overdone.

In some rare good news for MTN Group, Nigeria’s attorney-general has withdrawn a $2-billion (R28.5-billion) tax demand against its subsidiary in the West African nation.

Telkom fell through R30/share on Thursday as the six-month-long slide in its share price – which has now wiped out more than 70% of its market value – continues.