Vodacom DRC ‘not for sale’

Vodacom wanted to retain 51 percent ownership of its unit in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), chairman Peter Moyo said on Friday. “Our intention is not to sell,” Moyo said at the company’s annual shareholders meeting in Johannesburg. “The (DRC) is a great opportunity for us.” Vodacom was hoping a court case with a Congolese consultant would be heard in South Africa, before its shares in the DRC venture were confiscated and auctioned, Moyo said. The commercial court in Kinshasa in January ordered that Vodacom’s shares in the Congolese operation be confiscated and auctioned to pay Moto Mabanga’s Nameco Energy $21 million (R174m) to settle a consulting dispute. The auction was later postponed by the president of the Supreme Court. Vodacom appealed the judgment. The legal dispute was withdrawn from the South Gauteng High Court, where Mabanga originally sued Vodacom for $40.8m, Moyo said. “I took the matter back to the (DRC) because they were selling their shares there.” Mabanga said his lawyer, Stuart McCafferty of law firm Webber Wentzel, withdrew the case at the court in South Africa when it was taken to Kinshasa last year. Vodacom stock rose 1.75 percent to close at R93.45 on the JSE on Friday. – Bloomberg