Johannesburg - The MTN Group [JSE:MTN] will cooperate fully
in the Hawks' investigation relating to a mobile phone licence in Iran, an
official said on Tuesday.
"As we have previously noted, MTN has a zero tolerance
for corrupt or unethical practices," spokesperson Xolisa Vapi said in a
statement.
He said MTN's board of directors had appointed the Hoffmann
Committee to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations made by
Turkish operator Turkcell.
Turkcell filed a $4.2bn (about R35.5bn) civil claim in March
in which it accused MTN of bribing Iranians and South Africans to get the
licence, which was originally awarded to Turkcell.
Hawks spokesperson McIntosh Polela earlier confirmed that the
elite police unit was looking into the claims.
"There are allegations. We first did an assessment (to
test) the strength of the allegations. After this we decided to do a follow-up
investigation," said Polela.
Democratic Alliance MP David Maynier said in a statement on
Tuesday that allegations against a high-ranking former MTN executive had
emerged.
The executive, who was named by Maynier in his statement,
allegedly engaged in "unprecedented corrupt acts" in order to win the
mobile operating licence in Iran.
Maynier claimed: "A payment of $400 000 (about R3.38m)
was made by MTN to Iran's former deputy foreign minister Javid Ghorbanoghli for
assistance in securing the mobile operating licence."
Maynier said MTN also allegedly made a payment of $200 000
(about R1.69m) to a South African diplomat - also named by the DA MP - to
assist with the delivery of a pro-Iran position at the International Atomic
Energy Agency.
"MTN financed a trip by Iran's nuclear negotiation
chief Hassan Rowhani to meet former president Thabo Mbeki, to discuss South
Africa's position on Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency,"
Maynier charged.
