South Africa’s elite police unit, the Hawks, have opened an investigation into allegations of corruption at MTN. This follows news reports yesterday of a senior former MTN Group executive admitting to bribing South Africa’s former ambassador to Iran following a successful license purchase.

City Press has obtained a transcript of Chris Kilowan’s evidence before a US court a month ago in which he implicates himself and top MTN executives in underhanded dealings to acquire a multibillion-dollar mobile licence in the pariah state.

In a chilling account of events before the Columbia District Court, Kilowan testified for Turkish cellphone company Turkcell in its $4,2bn (R36bn) lawsuit against MTN – South Africa’s fifth-biggest company – for “stealing” its ­Iranian mobile license. In his evidence, Kilowan testified under oath that:

• Irene Charnley, MTN’s former head of North African and Middle East operations, approved a bribe payment to Yusuf “Jojo” Saloojee, South Africa’s former ambassador to Iran, for his assistance in acquiring the license;

• He had to pay the $200 000 bribe to Saloojee himself because the ambassador urgently needed the money to buy a house in Pretoria and Charnley had left MTN at the time;

• He shook hands with Saloojee after making the deal and the ambassador promised he would pay back the money as soon as he had received payment from MTN; and

• Despite numerous attempts to reclaim the money from MTN and its former chief executive Phuthuma Nhleko, the company has to date refused to reimburse Kilowan.

When pressed for comment, Hawks spokesperson MacIntosh Polela only had the following to say:

“There are allegations of corruption. That’s exactly what we’re investigating.”

[Source: News24]