Dark clouds gather over MTN
MTN and its chairman, Mcebisi Jonas, have avoided questions about the national impact of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into its Irancell operations and its former subsidiary in Afghanistan.
MTN is embroiled in five active U.S. lawsuits involving the Anti-Terrorism Act, while Jonas was appointed special envoy to the superpower by President Cyril Ramaphosa in April 2025.
The mobile operator also disclosed that it was cooperating with the grand jury inquiry in its half-year financial results released last week.
However, to fully appreciate the precarious diplomatic position South Africa finds itself in with the U.S. and MTN’s role in it, a summary of “Project Snooker” and recent political events is necessary.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 that mentioned South Africa’s “reinvigorated” relations with Iran and genocide accusations against Israel.
The order stated that South Africa and Iran were developing commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements — allegations that SANDF General Rudzani Maphwanya’s recent visit to Iran did not assuage.
Iran’s potential nuclear capabilities are a sensitive subject for the U.S. It bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025.
In addition to South Africa’s relationship with Iran, Trump’s executive order also criticised South Africa for bringing genocide charges against Israel, and not Hamas, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The order stated that the United States could not support the South African government undermining U.S. foreign policy, as it posed threats to national security, its allies, its African partners, and its interests.
Following the executive order, the Trump administration announced that it intended to impose 30% tariffs on South African imports to the country as part of the U.S. President’s “Liberation Day” plan.
That same month, on 14 April 2025, Ramaphosa appointed Jonas as special envoy to the U.S., with the mission to mend fences with the Trump administration.
Liberation Day, Jonas special envoy, “Turn down the lights”
Jonas was appointed after former U.S. ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was expelled from the country for saying Trump and the MAGA movement were partly the result of a “supremacist instinct” during a webinar.
However, Jonas’ appointment was quickly criticised. Although he has a sterling reputation as a State Capture whistleblower, he had previously made disparaging remarks about Donald Trump.
As the keynote speaker at the annual Ahmed Kathrada Lecture in 2020, Jonas referred to Trump as a “racist, homophobic, and narcissistic right-winger.”
Following his appointment and the resurfacing of his comments, Jonas told Radio 702 that he was not in government at the time and speaking as an activist. He also suggested that his views had evolved.
Five weeks later, Ramaphosa led a delegation to Washington, where he met with Trump in a publicly broadcast meeting with government officials, celebrities, and businessmen in attendance.
Notably, Jonas was absent. It would later emerge that the U.S. had denied Jonas’ visa and rejected his diplomatic credentials.
Among those in the room where billionaires Johann Rupert and Elon Musk, golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and government ministers Ronald Lamola, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, and John Steenhuisen.
Infamously, Trump asked White House staffers to “turn the lights down” and wheel out a TV screen on which they played a supercut of Julius Malema singing “Kill the Boer” and people protesting farm attacks.
Project Snooker
Mcebisi Jonas is not the only reason MTN is entangled in the geopolitical storm between South Africa and the United States.
Old allegations brought by a rival bidder for Iran’s first cellular network licence, Turkcell, have returned to haunt the mobile network operator.
Turkcell’s allegations included that MTN bribed Iranian officials, arranged meetings for Iran with South African leaders, and promised Iran weapons and United Nations votes in exchange for the Irancell deal.
Court documents filed in the United States show that MTN referred to Iran as “Snooker” and its Iranian expansion as “Project Snooker”.
Among Turkcell’s allegations were that MTN had helped fund the travel of Iran’s nuclear negotiator to meet former President Thabo Mbeki in South Africa.
This allegedly led to South Africa abstaining from an International Atomic Energy Agency vote declaring Iran non-compliant with the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
MTN has denied facilitating such meetings, bribing officials, or having any influence over South African government policy.
Turkcell’s original dispute with MTN is ongoing through its subsidiary, the East Asian Consortium (EAC). When they filed the case in South Africa, they sought damages of $4.2 billion (R75 billion), excluding interest.
The Supreme Court of Appeal recently ruled that South African courts could hear some of EAC’s complaints. MTN has applied for leave to appeal in the Constitutional Court.
In addition to the allegations from EAC, five lawsuits have also been filed against MTN in the U.S. for alleged violations of the Anti-Terrorism Act to claim damages from the company.
Among the allegations are that MTN paid protection money to the Taliban to allow it to operate its former network in Afghanistan without its infrastructure being attacked.
They also claim that MTN was culpable in the casualties of hundreds of American soldiers and civilians while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2006 and 2010.
MTN said it would file motions to dismiss the cases on jurisdictional grounds. None of the merits of these cases have ever been heard.
“MTN has deep sympathy for those who have been injured or lost loved ones as a result of the tragic conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the company said.
“The Group conducts its business in a responsible and compliant manner in all its territories and will defend its position where necessary.”
Grand jury investigation
The U.S. Department of Justice’s pursuit of a grand jury investigation into MTN adds another dimension to the geopolitical turmoil surrounding the mobile operator.
Former U.S. civil rights prosecutor Nicholas Reddick, who now helps represent over 500 military veterans and their families in Anti-Terrorism Act cases against MTN, said grand jury investigations aren’t pursued lightly.
“When the Department of Justice opens a grand jury investigation, it’s because they believe they have well-founded evidence of wrongdoing. The legal standard is probable cause,” Reddick said in an interview with BizNews.
“The fact that the U.S. government has impanelled a grand jury means that they believe there is probable cause that MTN or individuals at MTN may have violated certain criminal statutes in the United States.”
Reddick works for Willkie Farr & Gallagher, which, together with the law firm Sparacino, filed the Anti-Terrorism Act lawsuits against MTN.
Reddick said they were encouraged that the U.S. government was taking the matter seriously and that they looked forward to any evidence that emerges.
“We would encourage anyone with information that might be relevant to MTN’s criminal liability to contact the U.S. government,” he said.
Reddick said it was difficult to predict the investigation’s outcome, adding that it could take weeks or months to determine whether criminal charges were warranted.
“They happen in secret. So, we don’t know and may never know the exact details of what’s presented to the grand jury,” he said.
Online publication National Security News, where veteran South African journalist Linda van Tilburg is deputy editor, reported that grand juries were among the most powerful tools of the American justice system.
“The investigation will reveal the full extent of the illicit partnership structured between Ramaphosa’s ANC and Iranian generals and their proxies,” it stated.
“It explains why Mcebisi Jonas was rejected as special envoy to the US — he was already under criminal investigation by the US Justice Department when Ramaphosa nominated him.”
This latter statement is strange considering that Jonas’ rejection was already explained by his disparaging remarks towards Trump.
MyBroadband contacted MTN and Mcebisi Jonas for comment regarding the report. We asked two questions:
- Is Mr Jonas under investigation by the grand jury? Does he feature in any of the current active cases against MTN?
- Did the grand jury investigation impact Mr Jonas’ ability to enter the U.S. as the President’s special envoy, as alleged by the article?
Jonas was only appointed MTN chairman in 2018, fourteen years after MTN obtained its licence in Iran and long after the first lawsuits were brought against the company.
Regardless, MTN avoided the first question, reiterating statements made when it released its interim results last week. It said it could not comment on matters related to the second question.
MTN did not refer or forward our questions to Jonas, and Jonas did not respond to requests for comment.
Information war and treason
While Jonas did not respond to our questions, he broke his silence in an interview with the Sunday Times.
Jonas reportedly said his work as special envoy was different from that of a diplomat and more behind-the-scenes.
He said the attacks against him were a dirty tricks campaign of “defamatory allegations and treasonous actions of certain South Africans that must be challenged”.
Jonas said the scale of the information war being waged was much larger than even the Guptas had launched with PR firm Bell Pottinger to distract from their cosy relationship with former president Jacob Zuma.
That campaign had used fake Twitter accounts to stir up racial tension by weaponising fringe terms like “white monopoly capital”.
“The nefarious characters involved, their command of resources and their stranglehold over decision-making in South Africa under their cloak of legitimacy make the Bell Pottinger project look like a Sunday school picnic,” Jonas said.
“These non-state actors have appointed themselves as spokespeople and negotiators on behalf of South Africa to service certain political and business interests.”
Jonas said the people behind the campaign were attempting to usurp authority over South Africa’s foreign policy.
“They prey on the issues that divide us and our internal weaknesses to render South Africa a pariah state,” he said.
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