The government is looking to dispose of a portion of its Telkom shares to avoid a breach of the expenditure ceiling‚ Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba announced in his medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) on Wednesday.
Gigaba said the government would have an option to buy back the shares at a later stage.
More details would be provided by March 2018. The re-capitalisation of South African Airways (SAA) and the South African Post Office put the ceiling at risk of a R3.9bn breach‚ he said.
Earlier in October‚ Telkom withdrew its cautionary notice‚ saying it was “not aware of any current decision taken by the government with regard to its shareholding”.
The government initially indicated in August that it was considering a sale of its 39% stake in Telkom‚ valued at about R13bn‚ to bail out the ailing national carrier‚ then backtracked in October. SAA has asked for a R13bn re-capitalisation over three years.
Government looking to offload portion of its Telkom stake
Gigaba said the government would have an option to buy back the shares at a later stage.
More details would be provided by March 2018. The re-capitalisation of South African Airways (SAA) and the South African Post Office put the ceiling at risk of a R3.9bn breach‚ he said.
Earlier in October‚ Telkom withdrew its cautionary notice‚ saying it was “not aware of any current decision taken by the government with regard to its shareholding”.
The government initially indicated in August that it was considering a sale of its 39% stake in Telkom‚ valued at about R13bn‚ to bail out the ailing national carrier‚ then backtracked in October. SAA has asked for a R13bn re-capitalisation over three years.
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