/ 9 November 2004

Telkom welcomes BEE partner, shares soar

Following Monday’s announcement that a black economic empowerment (BEE) consortium had concluded an agreement to acquire the remaining 15,1% interest held by Thintana Communications in Telkom, the South African telecommunications giant on Tuesday said it welcomed the new BEE strategic

shareholder.

The consortium is led by technology entrepreneur Andile Ngcaba and Women Investment Portfolio Holdings, and is advised by Smuts Ngonyama. Ngonyama is

also head of presidency at the African National Congress and the party’s official spokesperson while Ngcaba is Dimension Data South Africa’s chairperson designate and former director-general at the Communications Department.

The consortium will acquire the “class B” ordinary share in Telkom held by Thintana, which will give the consortium certain rights as a strategic equity investor.

“This is a positive new development and we welcome the consortium as a new strategic shareholder and look forward to the value they will add to Telkom. I would also like to thank Thintana for their support and input over the last seven years,” said group chief executive officer Sizwe Nxasana in a statement.

Telkom shares have rallied more than 7% so far and their intra-day best is R92,75 per share from R86,10 when the JSE Securities Exchange closed on Monday. – I-Net Bridge