JOHANNESBURG, March 30 (Reuters) – Shares in MTN Group
(MTNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) slid on Friday after rival Turkcell (TCELL.IS: Quote, Profile, Research) filed a
$4.2 billion suit against the South African mobile operator,
alleging it bribed officials and lobbied support for Tehran’s
nuclear programme to win an Iranian licence. [ID:nL6E8ETA6U]

Turkcell, which lost the 2004 bid for the Iranian licence to
MTN, filed the suit in a U.S. federal court in Washington,
accusing the Johannesburg-based firm of using its influence with
Pretoria to arrange support for Iran’s military.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Greg Smith was a principled and competitive student, the kind of person whose strong sense of right and wrong probably pushed him to resign from Goldman Sachs in a scathing letter to an international newspaper, his former teacher and coach said.

A quiet, unassuming child, the South African first attended the private Jewish King David’s High School in suburban Johannesburg before winning a scholarship to Stanford University in the United States.

JOHANNESBURG, March 15 (Reuters) – Greg Smith was a
principled and competitive student, the kind of person whose
strong sense of right and wrong probably pushed him to resign
from Goldman Sachs in a scathing letter to an international
newspaper, his former teacher and coach said.

A quiet, unassuming child, the South African first attended
the private Jewish King David’s High School in suburban
Johannesburg before winning a scholarship to Stanford University
in the United States.

JOHANNESBURG, March 7 (Reuters) – South African mobile
phone operator MTN Group said it is struggling to get
its money out of Iran due to tougher Western sanctions,
reflecting the tightening international noose around Tehran.

Africa’s biggest mobile operator, which has units in the
Middle East, is no longer able to use Dubai-based banks to move
money out of Tehran and is looking for ways to swap cash with
companies that need to move payments in, Chief Executive Sifiso
Dabengwa told reporters following its annual results
presentation.

JOHANNESBURG/TOKYO, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Japan’s Mizuho
Financial Group will sign an agreement to cooperate
with South Africa’s Standard Bank in corporate lending
as early as this week, according to two people familiar with the
matter.

The non-exclusive agreement will focus on bringing more of
Mizuho’s Japanese clients to Africa and Standard Bank’s clients
to Japan, said one of the people, both of whom declined to be
identified because the information is not public.

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 3 (Reuters) – South Africa denied on
Friday it had been pressured by MTN Group into backing
Tehran’s nuclear programme and aiding its military when the
Johannesburg-based mobile operator was bidding for a telephone
licence in Iran.

“South Africa’s foreign policy is independent and it cannot
be influenced by anyone,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Clayson
Monyela said.

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 2 (Reuters) – MTN Group,
Africa’s largest telecom group, said it faces a potential
lawsuit from rival Turkcell that it asked South
Africa to back Iran’s nuclear development in return for a
cellular licence in the country.

Johannesburg-based MTN said in a statement the Turkish
mobile operator, which unsuccessfully bid for the same licence,
will also claim that MTN asked South Africa to aid Iran’s
military and that it bribed officials of both governments.

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 27 (Reuters) – South African stocks
retreated from a record high on Friday, edging down half a
percent after retailers Shoprite and Woolworths
declined on concerns their valuations may be stretched
from a recent surge.

Shares of Investec fell nearly 1 percent after the
investment bank and asset manager said it would pay about $42
million for unlisted Irish financial firm NCB.

DUBLIN/JOHANNESBURG, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Investec
has agreed to buy Irish unlisted broker and wealth
manager NCB for 32 million euros ($42 million), as part of the
South African bank’s strategy to cut its reliance on traditional
lending.

Investec, a $1.9 billion investment bank and fund manager,
said it planned to pay for NCB in cash, although it could issue
preference or ordinary shares to help fund the deal.

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 23 (Reuters) – An appeal that will
determine the future of South African political rebel Julius
Malema started on Monday, giving the firebrand a last chance to
retain his influential position in the ruling African National
Congress (ANC).

Malema, head of the ANC’s Youth League, rose to prominence
with calls to nationalise mines and seize white-owned land. He
is now fighting for political survival after being suspended by
the ANC in November for five years for bringing the party into
disrepute.