Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has welcomed the agreement reached between the merging parties and the Competition Commission in the Vodacom-Maziv merger deal.

The Competition Commission on Tuesday said it will no longer oppose Vodacom’s proposed acquisition of a 30% interest in Maziv after the parties reached an agreement on revised conditions that substantially remedy the competition concerns raised by the commission in its recommendation to the Competition Tribunal.

“The substantial public interest commitments made by the merging parties will significantly improve access to affordable Internet for underserved communities, thus enabling easier participation in economic activity, particularly for young people,” Tau said in a statement released on Wednesday.

The Minister further welcomed the investment committed by the parties, thanking all parties involved for their constructive engagement throughout this process.

“This commitment will ensure that South Africa participates meaningfully in the global economy through new sectors like generative artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and other information and communications technology-related sectors which will propel the world into the future.”

The matter will proceed, unopposed, at the Competition Appeal Court on July 22, where the agreement will be placed before the Court for its final consideration.

Last year, the Competition Tribunal prohibited the proposed transaction wherein Vodacom intended to acquire 30%, and potentially 40%, of the issued share capital of Maziv, which will house all of the fibre assets owned by private equity firm Community Investment Ventures Holdings, including Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa.

This followed the August 2023 recommendation by the Competition Commission that the proposed transaction should be prohibited on the grounds that it raised both competition- and public-interest-related concerns and that the proposed conditions tendered by the merging parties did not address these concerns.