MTN has appointed former Gold Fields executive Michael Fleischer to the position of chief legal counsel for the group, effective as of 1 February.
An admitted attorney of the High Court of SA, Fleischer joins MTN from local mining giant Gold Fields, where he held the position of executive vice president general counsel since November 2006.
Prior to his seven-year stint with Gold Fields, Fleischer served as a partner in the corporate services department at law firm Webber Wentzel Bowens.
MTN CEO Sifiso Dabengwa says Fleischer brings a wealth of experience to his new role. "[He has] had significant experience in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, regulation and compliance and commercial transactions."
Dabengwa says in his new role, Fleischer will be responsible for leading the MTN Group legal and regulatory team, and providing strategic legal counsel to the company.
Legal wrangle
MTN has been embroiled in a legal battle with Istanbul-based mobile operator Turkcell since March 2012, when the operator filed a $4.2 billion lawsuit against MTN in the US district court in Washington. Turkcell accused MTN of employing underhanded tactics to acquire a GSM licence in Iran in 2005.
The case was dropped in May last year, but the issue re-emerged in November when Turkcell said it was suing MTN - SA's second biggest operator - for a second time, again over the issue of the Iranian licence.
MTN owns a 49% stake in Iran's second cellphone operator, Irancell, and was awarded the licence in 2005. It is MTN's second-largest operation, after Nigeria, with 41.3 million subscribers.
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