Browsing: Reuben September

Jeffrey Hedberg is quitting Telkom. The acting group CEO will leave at the end of March, TechCentral has learnt exclusively from reliable senior sources at the JSE-listed telecommunications group

Telkom looks set for a big management shake-up in the next few months as government moves to appoint a permanent CEO and a chairman to lead the telecommunications group. The two crucial roles are likely to be filled

Things have gone awry at Telkom. It’s already facing a growing barrage of lawsuits and competition complaints, and anonymous dossiers leaked to the media in recent weeks suggest a deeper malaise. Can the group be fixed?

Telkom has been plunged into crisis following the release of damaging dossiers that accuse top management of poor decision-making and even corrupt and irregular dealings

The apparent collapse of pay-TV operator Super 5 Media is unfortunate. It means less chance of the kind of rivalry that fosters innovation and drives down prices. At the top end of the market, however, competition to DStv may come from a less obvious source. Super 5 Media, formerly known as Telkom Media, was cursed almost from the start. When Telkom, under former CEO Reuben September, decided to end its investment, the writing was already on the wall.

Outgoing Telkom chief financial officer Peter Nelson has offloaded more of the shares he holds in the JSE-listed telecommunications group. Telkom announced late on Friday that Nelson had sold nearly 40 000 shares worth more than R1,3m. He sold the shares last Thursday.

Telkom sold its controlling stake in Telkom Media, now Super 5 Media, for just R68m, the JSE-listed telecommunications group’s 2010 annual report has revealed. This means Telkom lost a net R403m from the failed venture. It had loaned the business R471m, which it has now written off, according to the report.

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”.

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.

Senior managers at Telkom must be brought to book for alleged corruption and fraud at the parastatal, the Communication Workers Union said on Friday. This included managers who were resigning, said union spokesman Matankana Mothapo, who questioned the timing of the resignations.