Vodacom-maziv Merger Fight Heads To Court In July

The move by the appeal court comes even though the tribunal has still not provided detailed reasons for its decision to block the multibillion-rand deal - months after its deadline to do so passed.

"The parties still await the reasons of the Competition Tribunal for prohibiting the merger, which to date the parties have not yet received and which is necessary for the appeal process to progress as planned," Vodacom Group said in a statement to investors on Friday evening.

The parties to the transaction have extended the long stop date for the deal's completion several times already, and on Friday said they'd agreed to extend it once again - this time to 30 April 2025.

The protracted delays in the delivery of an outcome have resulted in uncertainty that has led to a sharp decline in investment in new fibre infrastructure, with the merging parties uncertain as to where to deploy capital and the rest of the market taking a "wait and see" approach.

Tau had participated in the tribunal's proceedings and had signalled his support for the transaction on public interest grounds. He noted in a media statement at the time that the deal was blocked that the merging parties had committed to 'substantial public interest conditions to significantly boost investments and growth of fibre and mobile connectivity in South Africa" and that this was "in line with South Africa's priorities for industrialisation, re-industrialisation and investment to foster economic growth and create jobs". - 2025 NewsCentral Media