Trade union tries to halt sale of Vodacom shares

Telkom, Vodacom, Vodafone and South Africa’s Department of Communication have been served with notices of an urgent court interdict application in a bid to halt the sale of Vodacom shares to the UK based mobile operator by Telkom.

The legal action has been brought by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) because of Telkom’s sale of a 15 percent stake in Vodacom to London-based Vodafone.

The organization claims that it was not properly consulted by particularly Telkom SA, in terms of both legislation and the recognition agreement regulating relations between the company and the trade union.

Says CWU general secretary, Gallant Roberts: “We had no other option but to use the law to force all parties to properly consult CWU, as we have members in both Telkom and Vodacom and about 29000 members in the Information Communication & Technology (ICT) sector in general. We also believe that public interest has been deliberately ignored and compromised, instead of it been considered through a process of the convening of public hearings by the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa” (ICASA). These hearings were not held and the general public’s interests were therefore disregarded,”

“Telkom and all others involved in this transaction have shown gross undermining of our organization and the public in general, in the way that this matter was handled. CWU is equally not going to allow to be deceived by a memorandum of understanding entered into by Government, Vodacom and Vodafone, which our organization was given little or no platform at all, to either engage with or influence its contents and ensure that workers interests are adequately safeguarded.”

Roberts also said that Telkom’s CEO and Board Chairperson have deliberately failed to attend a meeting facilitated by the Department of Communications last week.