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Johannesburg - The communications ministry said on Monday it noted with concern media reports about a "dossier" containing allegations of widespread corruption at Telkom [JSE:TKG] .
However, Minister of Communications Roy Padayachie said he was confident that the Telkom board was "well capacitated" to deal with the matter.
Last week Telkom said it was aware that a series of memoranda containing a wide range of unsubstantiated statements relating to an alleged lack of corporate governance in Telkom had been circulated to the media and other parties.
"The board believes that the release of the memoranda is designed to distract them from its ongoing investigations. Some of the allegations in the documents which have been brought into the public domain have tarnished the reputation of Telkom," the group said in a statement.
It said some of the allegations were "in various stages of investigation".
Padayachie said he believed Telkom board had a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the group observes principles of good governance at all times.
"I'm encouraged to note that the board and its senior management view the allegations in a serious light, and that they have committed to institute a thorough investigation into these issues.
"I urge them to move swiftly in attending to these allegations to restore investor and public confidence in this crucial asset," he said.
Padayachie said he was keen to ensure that corporate governance principles were upheld without fail in all institutions that fall under the jurisdiction of his ministry, and would work closely with the boards of directors of these entities.
Telkom emphasised that its board had already taken decisive action on the findings of several investigations into matters at Telkom and its Nigerian subsidiary Multi-Links over the past year.
It said that forensic auditors at Ernst & Young were tasked by the Telkom board to investigate many aspects of Multi-Links, and this culminated in criminal and disciplinary processes being pursued.
"The findings of the Ernst & Young investigations have been handed to the South African Police Services and the National Prosecuting Authority for consideration. The Saps and NPA have subsequently instituted criminal investigations into certain activities at Multi-Links.
"Telkom is not in a position to provide further details of the criminal investigations," it said.
The group said that an internal disciplinary process had also been instituted against Telkom employees for failing to comply with company policies and for mismanagement.
"All disciplinary processes are a confidential matter between Telkom and the affected employees, and Telkom cannot disclose further details."
In addition to the Ernst & Young investigation, Telkom said that at the end of 2009 its board recommended that a task team be convened to gain better insight into the challenges confronting Multi-Links.
Last week, acting in her personal capacity, Telkom SA MD Pinky Moholi labelled allegations of corruption as unfounded and unsubstantiated.
"It is alleged that I failed to take corrective action on an allegation of corruption by Mr Narainsamy, owner of RSSS (surveillance company)," she said.
"On the contrary, Telkom authorised the investigation into the RSSS contract as far back as January 2010," she said, adding that two forensic reports on the allegations had been completed.
"It is alleged that I may not have declared my spouse's interest in the company, Hezeki, which was awarded a contract by the board in November 2008. It is important to note that I was not in the employ of Telkom from December 1 2005 to April 30 2009, the period in question," Moholi said.
