The Department of Communications saw a whopping R3 billion increase in revenue over last year, which National Treasury says is off the back of the Vodacom sale.
The figure was revealed this afternoon in finance minister Pravin Gordhan's medium term budget, which says the DOC raked in a total of R5.291 billion, whereas last year, the department collected R2.420 billion.
“The main revenue increase compared to 2008/9 is due to the sale of Telkom shares in Vodacom,” the budget states.
Earlier this year, Telkom sold an additional 15% of Vodacom to Vodafone, giving it a majority ownership. Telkom's remaining shares were unbundled and listed on the JSE or passed on to its own shareholders.
Government was one of several Telkom shareholders that received a dividend kickback from the R22.5 billion deal. Government now owns 13.8% of Vodacom and has agreed to hold its shareholding until June next year.
While the department did gain on the back of Vodacom, it took a R200 million beating from the SABC. According to the budget, the department had to hand the cash over to the broadcaster, just to keep the business afloat.
The department's woes don't end with the SABC. It is also in the process of revising some of its key performance indicators, including the roll-out progress of the Nepad submarine cable, Uhurunet.
The cable was expected to be competition for the Eassy and Seacom cables.
In April 2008, potential investors were invited to consider investing in the $2 billion project for a period of 15 to 20 years. However, the budget explains that the global economic crisis has put a dent in finding investors.
“The department is experiencing difficulty in securing shareholder participation in Africa, and the global economic crisis has forced a review of the funding by international funders,” it says.
As part of the economic development cluster, the department will be looking at projects that boost development and economic growth over the coming financial half year.
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