Dangerous Clowns
Aaargh! What a mess. Cell phone provider Vodacom listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange this morning despite trade-union grouping Cosatu and the supposedly independent ICT regulator Icasa launching a last minute court bid to stop the process. Sanity prevailed when the matter was dismissed – with costs.
Some background to this debacle:
- In April Icasa told Vodacom that there was NO decision to be made in the R22.5 billion sale of Telkom’s 15% share of Vodacom to UK’s Vodaphone since they already had a 50% ownership stake in Vodacom
- In early May, Cosatu challenged Icasa’s decision (in fact, non-decision) by filing court papers
- On Friday afternoon, the last working day before Vodacom’s JSE listing, Icasa rescinds its decision (or rather, non -decision) citing Cosatu’s action as a sudden new requirement for public hearings in the interests of “transparency”
- On Sunday, the High Court chucks the motion out.
So what we have here is clearly a case of Cosatu pressurising Icasa which then capitulates. This so-called independent body has always been a spineless plaything of the ruling party. I think the fact that Cosatu can now bully it, tells us a great deal about the new political landscape.
Zuma and his great champions, Cosatu and the South African Communist Party, are flexing their muscles based on their experience that they can bully state organs to get their way. They bullied the courts and almost got away with it. They bullied the National Prosecuting Authority and got away with it. They bullied the prisons system and got away with it. They bullied parliament and got away with it.
Clearly they now have business in their sights. Business is easily bullied. When they are told to virtually give away large chunks of their businesses to people of a particular race they roll over. When they are told not to complain, the shut up. It’s very telling that Cosatu has said they don’t want South African companies owned by foreigners since “the deal would remove any remaining South African control over the country’s biggest cellphone company“.
These clowns are dangerous. They are brimming with hubris and have shown they will destroy anything to get their way.
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