CELL LICENCE DELAYED AGAIN

The Pretoria High Court has reserved judgment until Monday on Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri’s application to appeal to the Constitutional Court against an interdict preventing her from awarding South Africa’s third cellular phone licence. The Minister wants the Constitutional Court to decide whether the High Court has the power to prevent her awarding the licence before she had officially named the winning bidder. Judge Nico Coetzee ruled that interim orders granted in favour of Nextcom stopping the minister from making a final decision pending the outcome of a court application to review the South African Telecommunications Authority’s (Satra) decision-making process, remained in force. Satra had recommended that the Saudi-backed Cell C consortium was the winning bid.