Telkom nonexecutive chairman Jeff Molobela, under fire for allegedly overstepping his mandate and interfering in the day-to-day operations of the group, has hit back at his critics, saying he’s been unfairly maligned. Molobela used a press conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday to slam “innuendo from a number of quarters” and refute claims that he “recklessly ignored corporate governance”.
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Outgoing Telkom chief financial officer Peter Nelson has sold nearly R1,8m worth of the group’s shares in the open market just days after he announced he would be stepping down from the telecommunications group. Telkom informed the market late on Tuesday that Nelson sold 53 421 ordinary shares last Friday, 23 July, a week after he surprised shareholders by announcing he would step down.
Trading on the cash equities market at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was still halted by early Tuesday afternoon following a technical problem. It’s the second time in a month that technical problems have prevented trading on the local bourse. A similar closure on 12 July was attributed to an international connection problem between the stock exchange and MTN.
Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda needs to appear before parliament’s communications portfolio committee to explain his reasons for dismissing his director general Mamodupi Mohlala, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday. “It is deeply concerning that the minister seems to have taken this action on his own accord amid allegations that he is trying to centralise the control of departmental tenders in his own authority, apparently without due consultation in cabinet or with the president,” DA chief whip Ian Davidson said.
One of the country’s leading business intelligence software companies, Harvey Jones, has been forced into a dramatic restructuring after its UK parent, London-listed Avisen, refocused its business. It’s understood that Harvey Jones, which had employed about 30 people, has been forced to reduce its headcount dramatically. Now MD Keith Jones is leading a management buyout of the local company but he says he is unable to comment until the deal is wrapped up, probably sometime next week.
The Congress of the People (Cope) found it “unacceptable” that communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda was reportedly let off the hook on four out five complaints they lodged against him relating to comments he made about former Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama. “We find it unacceptable,” party member Julie Killian said on Monday. “We believe that this is the time that President Jacob Zuma must demonstrate that he is against corruption,” she said by phone from Brazil.
UK-based tower infrastructure company Eaton Telecom has opened an office in Tanzania. Eaton, founded by three top-level telecommunications industry executives, has had its sights set on the booming African mobile market for some time. The company builds, buys and manages base stations on behalf of cellular operators, a business that is starting to gain traction with African operators.
Pay-TV incumbent MultiChoice will unveil a streaming mobile television offering at R59/month on 1 August. DStv Mobile communications manager Maiyo Simapungula says the service is already available in a soft-launch phase. The service is not technically a broadcast, but rather is streamed over 3G compatible handsets using Vodafone Live, Vodacom’s content platform.
Durban-based software developer and occasional TechCentral columnist Greg Mahlknecht has built a free map showing the world’s submarine telecommunications cable systems. The map, which took Mahlknecht several months to complete, is free of charge and will remain so. It’s available at cablemap.info.
Telecommunications research and training body, the Link Centre at Wits University, has called on the department of communications to scrap the proposed Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) Amendment Bill. The Link Centre says the proposed changes to the act will have “profound public interest implications and potentially a far-reaching impact on policy, governance and regulation across the entire communications technology sector”.