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Passing away of Benjamin Mophatlane, CEO of Business Connexion

Johannesburg, 13 Jun 2014

It is with a deep sense of sadness and loss that Telkom notes the passing of Benjamin Mophatlane, CEO of Business Connexion (BCX), on Wednesday, 11 June.

Telkom has had many dealings with Mophatlane over the past few months during talks on the possible acquisition of BCX.

"Benjamin was one of those larger-than-life people; a man who embraced life with passion and enthusiasm. His deep humanity shone through in the way he interacted with people, be it colleagues, staff, business associates, family or friends. It was always a pleasure to meet him," said Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko.

As a business leader, Mophatlane's will to succeed and his astute insight into business complexities enabled him to grow BCX into a formidable organisation. The story of BCX, Ben and Isaac, his brother, represents one of the most remarkable South African stories of success, resilience and the will to win.

His passing is a great loss, not only for BCX, but for business in South Africa, the Africa region and the world. His zest for life and energising presence will be deeply missed.

"On behalf of Telkom, I extend my heartfelt condolences to Ben's family and friends, and to all the people at BCX. I hope all of us will be able to draw comfort from remembering the years we shared with him," said Maseko.

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Telkom

Telkom SA SOC ("Telkom") is a full-service telecommunications provider for South Africa. The company offers wholesale, business, residential and payphone customers a wide range of voice and data services and products, in support of the company's mission statement - seamlessly connecting people to a better life. As of 30 September 2013, Telkom had approximately 3.7 million telephone access lines in service and 183 880 ports connected via MSAN access.

The company had consolidated operating revenue of R16.2 billion and profit after tax of R773 million for the six months ended 30 September 2013, excluding the net curtailment gain. Total assets amounted to R39.6 billion and equity attributable to the owners of Telkom to R21.5 billion as of 30 September 2013. The group generated free cash flow of R33 million for the period ended 30 September 2013.

The company offers business, residential and payphone customers a wide range of services and products, including:

* Fixed-line retail voice services using PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) lines, including ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines, and the sale of subscription based value-added voice services and calling plans;

* Fixed-line customer premises equipment rental and sales services both voice and data needs and these include PABX, computers, routers, modems, telephone handsets and other ancillary equipment;

* Interconnection services, including terminating and transiting traffic from South African mobile operators, as well as from international operators and transiting traffic from mobile to international destinations;

* Fixed-line data services, including domestic and international data transmission services, such as point-to-point leased lines, ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) services, packet-based services, managed data networking services and Internet access and related information technology services;

* Data Centre Operations includes e-commerce, application service provider, hosting, data storage, e-mail and security services;

* W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), a 3G next generation network, including fixed voice services, data services and nomadic voice services;

* Mobile communication services, including voice services, data services and handset sales through our mobile brand called Telkom Mobile;

* Telkom Mobile is continuously expanding its long-term evolution (LTE) coverage. It is the company's latest generation of mobile network technology that provides superfast mobile wireless broadband with low latency (or buffering) that gives users an unsurpassed experience for their everyday data connectivity needs. It is a step up from 3G offering up to 90Mbps download speed and up to 25Mbps upload speeds - approximately three to four times faster than current 3G speeds. It is an ideal option for use in areas where there is no ADSL infrastructure; and

* Convergence is one of Telkom's key strategic initiatives in building a sustainable future for Telkom. The company will lead the provision of converged services in South Africa in support of its mission statement: seamlessly connecting people to a better life.

The Telkom Group consists of Telkom as well as two main subsidiaries, namely Trudon and Swiftnet. Trudon provides several directory service offerings off both physical and electronic platforms and Swiftnet provides a suite of services including traditional connectivity services for point-of-sale, managed SIM services and customised wireless and wired Virtual Private Network Services.

Telkom is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and has a market capitalisation of approximately R17.5 billion (as at 31 March 2014).

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