Telkom bid ’beneficial’ to small firms, says forum

Skip said:

Is Tebogo Khaas (head of the SMME) still trying to buy Swiftnet from Telkom? If so then I consider any utterances over Telkom from the SMME Forum tainted.

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Turnaround

The SMME forum and its president, Tebogo Khaas, were very critical of Telkom only a few months ago, saying that the monopoly is denying SMME’s in previously neglected areas access to telephony services and specifically broadband.

At a recent broadband presentation Khaas even poked fun at Telkom, saying that their slogan should change from “Touch Tomorrow” to the Afrikaans “More is nog n dag” [Tommorow is another day].

At this event Khaas also criticized Government and Telkom for their lack of action concerning SMME’s, and questioned whose interests they have at heart.

He called Telkom’s ability to act as both a wholesaler and retailer anti-competitive, something both ISPA and Internet Solutions have reiterated and are currently trying to address.

This latest press release from the SMME Forum marks a tremendous turnaround in the previous criticism lodged against Telkom.

There is speculation that this latest endorsement of Telkom and the attack on its critics by the Forum may be related to Tebogo Khaas’ interest in acquiring 30% voting shares in Swiftnet, a subsidiary of Telkom.

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[Johannesburg, 24 July 2006] - A black economic empowerment (BEE) consortium of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), led by Digital IQ, has lodged an expression of interest to bid for 30% voting shares in Swiftnet, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telkom.

Khaas says the consortium has ambitions to acquire up to 49% shares in Swiftnet, if conditions permit and Swiftnet warms up to the idea.

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“I don’t expect our position to find favour with everybody in the industry, but people are opposing the deal without thinking through its merits because historically they don’t like Telkom,” said the forum’s president, Tebogo Khaas.

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Ant_Brooks said:

Does anyone know who the members of the SMME Forum are? I'm genuinely interested to know whose views they are representing, but I've looked on their web site and there doesn't seem to be any information about who makes up the forum...

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Small businesses and rural areas would only benefit if Telkom succeeded in its proposed takeover of Business Connexion (BCX), says the SMME Forum.
The organisation will submit documents to the Competition Tribunal either today or on Monday, to intervene in support of the deal, says SMME Forum president Tebogo Khaas.
He is adamant a successful merger would benefit SA's SME industry, as well as people in remote rural areas, by providing cheaper and easier access to ICT.

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The South African SMME Forum is an independent, not-for-profit association of SMMEs in South Africa

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Why do we need another organisation for SMME's?

The SMME forum is filling a gap in the market, which is not currently addressing the needs and challenges being experienced by SMMEs as a result of the BBBEE Charters in particular, and the supportive products and services which are available to black entrepreneurs. The Management consultancy responsible for the SMME Forum has participated intensively in Charter development such as the ICT Charter, and therefore can provide excellent insight into how the outcomes of the charter stand to benefit the owners of black empowered / black owned businesses. They can also advise skilled companies and staff who are not black empowered or owned, on the best ways to partner so that they are in a position to be involved in lucrative contracts.

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