$5.2tr Fine On MTN Worries S’Africa, Says Minister

 Says It Won’t Affect Bilateral Relations

The government of South Africa,
on Thursday in Johannesburg admitted that itis naturally concerned about a $5.2 billion (about N1.004 trillion) fine imposed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the MTN Group.

The fine for which the telecoms giant has tried unsuccessfully to get a waiver, according to Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe, would not affect relations between both nations.

MTN was last month fined N200,000 for each of the 5.1 million unregistered GSM Sim cards it failed to deactivate from its network after the set deadline.

The NCC said all telecom firms except MTN complied with the directive which was first issued in August.

The directive followed concerns over the use of unregistered SIM cards for criminal activity in a country facing an insurgency by Islamic militant group- Boko Haram.

Radebe told reporters during a post-cabinet briefing in parliament that the “issue is between MTN and the Nigerian authority. Obviously as government we are concerned about this matter and we do hope the talks between MTN and the Nigerian authorities bear fruit.”

He said South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma and Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, had not discussed the MTN matter.

Reuters recall that relations were strained by outbursts of xenophobic violence in South Africa and the death of 115 South Africans after the collapse of a church guest house in Lagos.

“We are still in talks with authorities at all levels to try and arrive at a speedy resolution,” MTN spokesman Chris Maroleng said.