Cape Town - British Telecom SA (BTSA) managing director Bertrandt Delport admitted on Monday afternoon that he had no first-hand knowledge of board level discussions at the company in the period prior to his joining the board in mid-2018.
Delport was testifying for the second day in the case in which JSE-listed AYO Technology Solutions is defending itself against claims by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) that a R4.3 billion shares subscription agreement between both parties in 2017 was illegal.
Delport had been in charge of the legal aspects of the PIC’s deal with AYO at the time.
The admission came after AYO senior counsel Karrisha Pillay, who was leading the cross-examination, had asked Delport, who began working as BTSA’s internal legal counsel in April 2017, about the extent of his involvement in discussions at board level.
“So, it would be fair to say that prior to that you had no first-hand knowledge of what was being discussed in the issues from this period (2017) is that right?” asked Pillay. To which Delport replied, “Yes.”
“Given that you started working there in April 2017, you have no knowledge of discussions relating to matters, for instance concerning the AYO transaction that predates your employment?” he continued.
“Not first-hand,” Delport said.
During questioning by PIC counsel Duncan Wild, Delport had answered “No” to questions about whether AYO had sought historical financial information from BTSA. In her cross-examination, Pillay wanted to know how he knew this for certain.
Delport said he had had to check the records after the issue was raised in media reports in 2018.
Pillay also quizzed Delport about his answers last Thursday about a partnership between AYO and BTSA, known variously as the “key strategic relationship with BT” and the “alliance agreement” (the BT transaction) and internally at BTSA, as “Project Zebra”.
She wanted to know how this partnership affected BTSA’s BEE Level 4 rating at the time. Delport said a higher BEE rating would have been a competitive advantage for BTSA.
Delport testified last week about how the deal, following the inception of the new updated Information and communications technology codes in terms of B-BBEE, would allow AYO (and de facto BTSA), to engage with a greater number of large multinationals operating in South Africa and abroad.
Earlier yesterday, Delport had testified in his evidence as to how AYO would acquire the stake in BTSA from African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI) and made its intentions for the acquisition known in its pre-listing statement published in 2017.
He also testified that he had been in email contact with then AYO chief executive Kevin Hardy who had left BTSA to join AYO.
In his communication, he had wanted to know how the news of particulars of the deal had leaked to the Stock Exchange News Service (SENS) which had published them.
He said he had investigated the matter internally, and when nobody admitted to leaking the information, he said he wanted Hardy to understand that there were certain matters he had learnt at BTSA that were still confidential.
Asked by Wild what the reaction to this leak to SENS had been, Delport said it had been “allergic”.
Delport’s cross-examination will continue this morning and he is expected to be followed by former AEEI Chief Investment Officer, Malick Salie.