Johannesburg - Telkom had spent close to R26 billion on empowerment in the last seven years, its spokesperson, Xolisa Vapi, said yesterday.
In the six months to September, empowerment suppliers received R2.3 billion, accounting for 60.3 percent of the group's total procurement budget.
Vapi said the company had also spent more than R400 million on black small businesses to provide core and non-core services.
Chia-Chao Wu, a director of empowerment rating firm Empowerdex, said Telkom was setting a trend in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector with its internal empowerment scorecard.
Telkom has increased the number of black executives in top management to 79 percent, and black women occupy 29 percent of executive positions.
One top woman executive is the chief sales and marketing officer, Nombulelo Moholi, who is tipped to take over from the group's chief executive, Sizwe Nxasana, when his contract expires.
The board of directors is also chaired by a black woman, Nomazizi Mtshotshisa.
Telkom has also increased the number of black managers to 36 percent from 2 percent in 1994, and women now make up 19 percent of management.
The company is to get a direct empowerment shareholder via the controversial deal with the Elephant Consortium, which is buying a 15.1 percent stake.
The consortium, which includes Women Investment Holdings, is headed by Andile Ngcaba, the chairman-designate of Dimension Data.
The public owns 46.6 percent of Telkom, 38.3 percent is held by the government and the remainder by the Public Investment Commissioners on behalf of Elephant.
Telkom shares closed at R104.99 yesterday, dropping 0.02 percent in line with the telecommunications services sector.