Former SABC chief executive Dali Mpofu, who left the public broadcaster under a cloud of controversy, was tipped to be in the running for the soon-to-be vacant top position at Telkom, unions linked to the firm said yesterday.
Two union officials, who did not want to be named, said the company had already interviewed two candidates for the top job, who included Mpofu.
One of the officials refused to disclose the name of the second candidate, but revealed that Mpofu was interviewed on Thursday last week.
While news that the contract of the incumbent chief executive Reuben September will not be renewed surprised the market last week, the union official said the matter was discussed as early as March.
Mpofu was twice suspended and later dismissed by the board of the national broadcaster in 2008 for suspending former SABC news head Snuki Zikalala on allegations of misconduct. He later won a multimillion-rand court case against the board.
Mpofu yesterday denied Telkom had interviewed him.
Last Friday, the fixed-line telecoms provider announced the retirement of September in November when his contract expires. On the same day a newspaper suggested September had allegedly tried to renew his contract a week before but the board had refused.
Sources have said this was because his relationship with chairman Jeff Molobela had allegedly deteriorated and relations with the rest of the board had subsequently soured.
September's tenure has been tarnished by many poor business decisions that have led to profit declining since 2006.
The investment in Multi-Links, the Nigerian cellular and fixed-line operator that has so far cost Telkom $140 million (R1 billion) and has yet to deliver profit, is one of these poor business decisions.
In 2008 a KPMG forensic audit commissioned by Telkom found that the company had paid three times fair value for Multi-Links.
Tender irregularity issues have also dogged Telkom and recently the government pressed it to increase its black-held stake to meet state empowerment requirements.
Analysts steered clear of the politics, but welcomed the announcement of September's retirement as a positive step.
Irnest Kaplan, the managing director of Kaplan Equity Analysts, said it meant the board acknowledged it needed to make changes in the management team, adding that many of Telkom's top executives had been with the firm for more than two decades.
"Telkom finds it is operating in a changing environment," he said. "Competition is increasing and the landscape presents many new opportunities and threats.
"Telkom needs a management team that has experience in leading a fixed-line incumbent in a competitive market."
Spiwe Chireka, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said the past three years of September's appointment had been one of the most challenging in Telkom's history. "Telkom has gone from bad to worse," Chireka said.
But she said September's "brave step" to sell 50 percent of Telkom's stake in Vodacom allowed the company to build its own cellular business that would help the company keep up with competition.
Steve Minnaar, a fund manager at Abax Investments, blamed Telkom's board for approving poor decisions and destroying more than half the company's market value over the past three years. "I'm not sure one can blame all Telkom's problems on Reuben when the board isn't functioning as it should," he said.
Telkom said the process to appoint a chief executive was driven by the board and it was not in a position to comment until advised by the board.