Communications regulator Icasa has expressed “concern” that the listing of MultiChoice Group went ahead on Wednesday “even though there is a complaint before the complaints and compliance committee” against the company about the listing.

Icasa said in a statement on Wednesday that that an entity called Khulisa Social Group NPC lodged a complaint with the committee against MultiChoice in respect of the listing. In its complaint, Khulisa stated that the upcoming listing of MultiChoice Group would result in a contravention of the Electronic Communications Act.

Section 13(1) of the act states that “an individual licence may not be let, sub-let, assign, cede or in any way transfer, and the control of the individual licence may not be assigned, ceded or in any way transferred to any other person without the prior written permission of the authority (Icasa)”.

The complaint presumably refers to Naspers’s decision to unbundle its controlling stake in MultiChoice to its shareholders.

MultiChoice appeared before the complaints committee on 18 February, where the broadcaster argued that the matter was not urgent and that the listing had not taken place, Icasa said.

“Icasa is indeed concerned that the listing seems to be going ahead while the complaints and compliance committee is still considering representations that were made and yet to make its final recommendations on the matter to the council of the authority.”

In response, MultiChoice spokesman Joe Heshu said the company is “satisfied that all the necessary regulatory approvals in relation to its listing on the JSE have been properly sought as required”.