Telkom has hit out at a media report that places the company at the centre of a black economic empowerment tender row, saying a dispute between tendering partners has nothing to do with it.

On Monday, Business Report detailed a clash between black-owned IT business Kwezi Technologies and outsourcing and software business Amdocs SoA Joint Enterprises. The newspaper said Kwezi had accused Amdocs of using its information to win tenders from Telkom to the value of R870m.

The contracts reportedly involved services for Telkom’s fixed-line business as well as billing services for its mobile arm 8ta.

“Telkom dismisses the story and the headline it is published under as an unprofessional and unethical attempt to fabricate a link between Telkom and a partnership disagreement between two independent parties who provide services to Telkom. The writer has deliberately dragged Telkom’s name into this dispute, in which Telkom is not involved,” a company spokesman says in a statement.

Telkom has been the centre of several tender irregularities in recent years. However, it is adamant that it has had no hand in the current dispute between Kwezi and Amdocs.

The operator also says the story published by the newspaper insinuates that it did not follow procedure when awarding contracts to Amdocs. “Telkom emphatically points out that the tenders referred to in the article were awarded directly to Amdocs, and not individually to any of the organisations that make up its empowerment equity shareholding,” it says.

“Telkom is dismayed that the daily publication has insisted on naming Telkom in the report, especially when it was explicitly stated to the reporter that the matter under dispute was strictly between Amdocs and Kwezi, and did not involve Telkom in any way.”

Telkom says it raised the matter with the attorneys of both businesses to get further clarification on the matter and was told it was a dispute between the vendors.

“Telkom exercises caution when dealing with shareholder matters involving suppliers, and the company does not act as arbitrator in these matters.” — Staff reporter, TechCentral