Turkish telecommunications group Turkcell on Thursday said that the Constitutional Court should decline to hear South African telecommunications MTN’s appeal against the Supreme Court of Appeal’s (SCA’s) decision that South African courts did have jurisdiction to hear a years-long legal battle between the parties.

In 2013, Turkcell accused MTN of bribery and corruption by paying off both Iranian and South African officials to overturn a GSM licence public tender, which it said it lost to MTN after initially being awarded the contract.

The SCA in April 2025 set aside a 2022 High Court judgment, which Turkcell appealed, that dismissed Turkcell’s $4.2-billion case against MTN on the basis that the South African courts did not have jurisdiction.

The SCA determined that the case can be tried in South Africa and that South African courts have jurisdiction over such matters.

In a statement, Turkcell said that the SCA’s majority judgment was well-reasoned and correctly applied the established legal principles regarding jurisdiction.

Seeking leave to appeal the recent SCA decision, MTN approached the Constitutional Court, which will now decide whether to hear the appeal filed by MTN and the other defendants in this ongoing legal battle.

“This is the latest attempt by MTN and the other defendants to delay trial. The SCA clearly decided that South African courts have jurisdiction in this matter and unequivocally rejected all of the objections raised by MTN,” said Turkcell global counsel Cedric Soule.

“After 12 years of procedural delays, Turkcell looks forward to the opportunity to present its evidence in court and seek appropriate redress for the more than $4.2-billion in damages suffered owing to MTN's alleged misconduct.

“We remain confident that when the full evidence is presented at trial, it will demonstrate that MTN engaged in corrupt practices to secure the Iranian licence initially awarded to Turkcell,” Soule added, concluding that the SCA’s decision also represents a significant victory for the principle that South African companies should be held accountable in South Africa for their conduct abroad.