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20
Aug 2004 |
Mpumalanga’s controversy-ridden department of public works has been at it again. This time, a top official of the department is alleged to have helped a Telkom employee to hijack a R10-million provincial government contract from the telecommunications parastatal.
The allegations are contained in a confidential draft report compiled by Ramathe Fivaz Forensic and Investigative Accounting Services.
The report, dated November 2003, and now in the possession of the Mail & Guardian, represents the latest in... |
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20
Aug 2004 |
Johannesburg - The Online Publishers Association (OPA) has added its voice to those of other groups accusing Telkom of negatively affecting economic growth because of its telecommunications tariffs.
OPA, the association representing the 16 biggest online publishers in South Africa, states in a letter to the department of communication and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) that the high cost of telephone bills is delaying business development and the growth of internet use i... |
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20
Aug 2004 |
Johannesburg - Telkom chief executive Sizwe Nxasana said the company had no intention of dumping 4 000 staff through forced retrenchments, SABC radio news reported on Friday.
He said certain staff had been identified as redundant owing to technological efficiencies and improvements in certain areas.
Telkom was consulting with trade unions and reskilling and redeploying those people in other areas of the business. Only some 5% of redundant staff would be compulsorily retrenched.
"We have the proce... |
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19
Aug 2004 |
[Cape Town | ITWeb, 19 August 2004] - Parody site Hellkom is shoring up its defence for an anticipated Telkom lawsuit by launching a premium rate SMS service, which allows people to send messages of support at a cost of R30 per SMS.
Hellkom owner Gregg Stirton says there have been a number of changes since the site came under Telkom's legal spotlight a week ago. Some of the controversial logos have been removed and the domain name has been transferred to his name.
“Unfortunately, someone has reactiva... |
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19
Aug 2004 |
Johannesburg - Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri is willing to meet with the three unions at Telkom to discuss the fixed-line monopoly's retrenchment proposals, her spokesperson Donovan Cloete said on Thursday.
"The meeting will happen. The minister will engage with the unions," he said.
The request by the unions to meet Matsepe-Casaburri follows her statement on Wednesday that Telkom would have to explain its retrenchment plans concerning 4 000 workers.
The unions - Solidarity, the C... |
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19
Aug 2004 |
Pretoria - Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri is calling fixed-line telephone monopoly Telkom to account for its intention to retrench around 4 000 workers.
In a statement on Wednesday the minister said job creation and job retention was at the centre of government's programme.
"The recently reported retrenchment of workers at Telkom is cause for great concern," Matsepe-Casaburri said.
"We have asked Telkom to explain why it is reported that no consultation has taken place as the law r... |
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18
Aug 2004 |
Telkom's trademark infringement case against Hellkom has sparked an interesting legal battle, but it is ultimately a perceptual war the monopoly can never win.
There is a fine line between freedom of speech and encouraging hateful dialogue, between parody and trademark infringement, which makes the current Telkom versus Hellkom legal battle an interesting one to keep an eye on.
Telkom, possibly the only non-monopoly in the world that still has no competition, has instituted a claim against parody Web... |
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16
Aug 2004 |
[Cape Town | ITWeb, 16 August 2004] - Telkom says it will go ahead with legal action against the owners of the hellkom.co.za and telkomsucks.0catch.co.za sites, saying they have not responded “adequately” to demands that the sites be shut down.
Last week, Telkom sent a letter threatening legal action against the owners of the two sites, accusing them of infringing Telkom's trademark protection on the corporate logos. In a separate media statement, Telkom also implied that Hellkom.co.za encouraged hate sp... |
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16
Aug 2004 |
Telkom will not start offering voluntary severance and early retirement packages from Monday following a court interdict granted to three unions on Sunday.
However, spokesperson Ravin Maharaj said the Sunday night sitting of the Labour Court, in Braamfontein, had also granted the telecommunications giant the right to appeal against the judgement.
Maharaj and Dirk Hermann, spokesperson for one of the unions, Solidarity, said that the court had ordered that Telkom first go through proper consultation wi... |
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16
Aug 2004 |
Johannesburg - Telkom can forget about any libel case against the webmasters of Hellkom and telkomsucks.co.za.
In light of the various new rulings, courts are likely to see the comments and websites as "fair comment and freedom of speech", says Luandri Partington, director of IT- and trademarks of the Sandton law firm Hofmeyr.
"It is, after all, entrenched in the Constitution," she says.
"The consumer has a voice and will no longer accept bad service. Large companies must start realising this."
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16
Aug 2004 |
Johannesburg - Telkom will not start offering voluntary severance and early retirement packages from Monday following a court interdict granted to three unions on Sunday.
However, spokesperson Ravin Maharaj said the Sunday night sitting of the Labour Court, in Braamfontein, had also granted the telecommunications facility the right to appeal against the judgement.
Maharaj and Dirk Hermann, spokesperson for one of the unions, Solidarity, both said that the court had ordered that Telkom first go throug... |
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16
Aug 2004 |
Johannesburg - Telkom will not start offering voluntary severance and early retirement packages from Monday following a court interdict granted to three unions on Sunday.
However, spokesperson Ravin Maharaj said the Sunday night sitting of the Labour Court, in Braamfontein, had also granted the telecommunications facility the right to appeal against the judgement.
Maharaj and Dirk Hermann, spokesperson for one of the unions, Solidarity, both said that the court had ordered that Telkom first go throug... |
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16
Aug 2004 |
Johannesburg - The court interdict against Telkom severance packages was the beginning, not the end of the fight, an alliance of Telkom unions told journalists on Monday.
The three unions, Solidarity, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the South African Communication Union have formed an alliance to try to prevent the retrenchment of more than 4 000 Telkom employees, due to have started this month.
"This is a war situation. We are opposing the very rationale for the retrenchments," CWU preside... |
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16
Aug 2004 |
Johannesburg - Telkom on Monday vowed to go ahead with plans to cut 4 000 jobs despite a court injunction forcing the state-run enterprise to seek agreement with the unions.
Telkom said it would continue to hold talks with the three leading unions in line with the court ruling, but added that it stuck by a September 14 deadline to start reducing staff.
"Telkom will be able to start implementing voluntary severance and early retirement packages from September 14 whether Telkom and organised labour rea... |
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16
Aug 2004 |
Johannesburg - Three Telkom unions have jointly appointed a commission of inquiry "to investigate the legal, economic, and technical motivations for Telkom's retrenchments".
Advisers to this commission include economist Dawie Roodt and advocate John Grogan.
Also taking part are Charles Snyman, an investment consultant, Peter Benjamin of the Open Knowledge Network, Charley Lewis from the University of the Witwatersrand, legal advisor AC van Wyk, as well as three former senior Telkom managers.
The ... |
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