The Department of International Relations and Cooperation is launching an investigation into claims that SA's former ambassador to Iran, Yusuf Saloojee, accepted a bribe from MTN.
The claim has emerged from an ongoing legal dispute between SA's second cellphone operator and rival Iranian licence bidder Turkcell. The case implicates Saloojee in a $200 000 payoff - part of a greater claim that MTN employed underhanded tactics to acquire its GSM licence in Iran in 2005.
MTN has denied all allegations against it, including those of human rights violations, shady arms deals and bribery.
International relations and cooperation minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, yesterday confirmed the department has instituted an investigation into Saloojee, who stands accused of accepting a payment of about R1.6 million towards the purchase of a home for himself in SA.
Maynier says the department's announcement comes as a surprise, given that Nkoana-Mashabane previously snubbed the suggestion of an investigation. Nkoana-Mashabane said it was unnecessary to investigate the issue and that any evidence of “improper payments” should be referred to law enforcement agencies for further investigation.
“It is not clear why the department has done an about-turn, but the institution of this investigation is nevertheless a welcome development,” says Maynier.
Key witness claims
At the core of Turkcell's case is the sworn testimony of whistleblower Chris Kilowan, a former MTN executive who orchestrated the operator's bid to win the Iranian licence and has emerged as the key witness.
According to Reuters, Kilowan has turned over some 7 000 pages of internal MTN documents to Turkcell's attorneys. The documents are related to “Project Snooker”, which Kilowan testified was MTN's code name for its Iranian quest. “We said we are going to snooker Turkcell,” Kilowan testified.
Kilowan says he fronted $200 000 of his own money over to Saloojee for assisting MTN in Iran. According to Kilowan, when MTN later refused to reimburse him for the “reward” he bestowed, he decided to cooperate with Turkcell. Saloojee is now SA's ambassador to Oman. MTN officials have denied the allegations set forth in Kilowan's testimony.
Dismissal plea
The minister's announcement comes a week after MTN asked the US court, where the matter is being heard, to dismiss the $4.2 billion claim filed against the company by the Istanbul-based cellphone operator.
This, on the grounds that the Washington court has not got jurisdiction over the subject matter of Turkcell's claims, according to MTN.
Turkcell is expected to respond to MTN's dismissal motion by 1 August; MTN should then respond by 15 August and a court decision is expected later this year.
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