South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA) suggested that government sell its non-strategic assets in Telkom to generate more revenues. In a statement published prior to the speech of Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, on the 2016 budget, David Maynier, a DA’s deputy, said the government “should pursue aggressive fiscal consolidation” so as to face the risk of degradation of rating.

According to Maynier, cited by itweb.co.za, the State should sell its almost 40% stake in Telkom to raise billions of rands, thus preventing taxes from increasing during the next financial year. The website added that government’s stake in Telkom has been estimated at more than 11 billion rands ($708,400,000) if sold, as price per share is around 51,52 rands ($3.27420).

 Richard Hurst, senior analyst at Ovum, approached by itweb.co.za, said Telkom’s privatization “would certainly make sense and would also give more credence to President Zuma’s statement that South Africa is open for business”. “In the first instance, Telkom would be able to function just like any other player in the market, leaving government to play the role of facilitator. In the second instance, there would be the massive cash injection the government would need right now to get other projects and plans off the ground,” he added.