Cosatu drops Vodacom boycott

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is no longer boycotting cellphone operator Vodacom because it would be a “difficult campaign to sustain”.

“The meeting discussed a proposal to launch a consumer boycott of Vodacom, but decided not to do so,” said Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi on Thursday following a central executive committee meeting.

“Legal contracts signed by consumers including unions make this a difficult campaign to sustain,” he added.

Cosatu considered boycotting Vodacom to protest against its listing and the sale of R22,5-billion worth of Telkom shares in Vodacom to the British company Vodafone.

Cosatu last month lost a last-minute court bid to prevent Vodacom’s listing on the JSE.

“The CEO of Vodacom has since requested a meeting with Cosatu to discuss our concerns,” said Vavi.

“We want to express our concerns ... will Vodacom still have a drive to roll out efficient communications to our people? We want to understand in greater details the impact of the split.”

He also said Cosatu wanted to meet the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) to find out if it was still going to hold hearings into the Vodacom listing.

Icasa said, shortly before the listing, it would hold public hearings in June.

“Is Icasa going ahead with the public hearings? What will be the purpose?” asked Vavi.

He also lamented the “poor service” by Telkom and slow and expensive broadband in South Africa.—Sapa