EOH was caught up in state capture 'war': Asher Bohbot

Loading player...
Thank you for listening to the TechCentral podcast. We take a break from our normal interview style in this podcast to bring you an extraordinary presentation delivered by Asher Bohbot, the former CEO of EOH -- and now its nonexecutive chairman -- at the company's interim results presentation in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
In the presentation, Bohbot said EOH was caught up in a "war" over state capture in South Africa.
Bohbot described the past year as one of "shock, anxiety and drama" for EOH and its employees.
In his extraordinary remarks, he both lashed out at the media's coverage of the company in the past year while at the same time praising journalists for unearthing corruption and state capture in South Africa.
"We can feel bitter, twisted, angry ... or we can choose to think about it differently," he said. "The way we see it is that EOH (and) our own people were part of the struggle for the changes that happened in this country in the middle of December. Without the media, pushing so hard ... I have zero doubt that the change that has happened -- and it was touch and go -- happened because of the media. The media carried that battle."
He continued: "...We don't see ourselves as victims. We are not victims. We have been part of that battle. In 20 years' time, we can say we were there... Maybe we were used as cannon fodder, but looking back (at it) in the scheme of the next 100 years, it's nothing. It's a cheap price to pay, for EOH and all of us in the country."
So, make it of it what you will, but it's certainly worth a listen. And please visit TechCentral.co.za for the full story.
28 Mar 2018 English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

TCS | Piet le Roux on Sakeliga's fight with Icasa over BEE

Business group Sakeliga is taking Icasa to court over the 30% ownership rule for telecoms licensees, and its CEO, Piet le Roux, says the regulator has "clearly misunderstood" the law. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Le Roux tells Duncan McLeod why Sakeliga has asked the high court in…
13 Nov 19 min

W&W | AA’s Bobby Ramagwede on a car industry running out of road

AA CEO Bobby Ramagwede tells Watts & Wheels that South Africa’s car manufacturing industry could be decimated within five years. Is South Africa’s car manufacturing industry running out of road? Automobile Association (AA) CEO Bobby Ramagwede thinks it might be. In this episode of Watts & Wheels, he tells William…
12 Nov 30 min

TCS | Pick n Pay fights back in online grocery wars

Pick n Pay will keep Smart Shopper Pro, its new paid loyalty tier, at its R99/month launch price "for a very extended period", says Vince Viviers, executive: innovation and digital transformation at the retailer. If the price does change, customers will be told well in advance, "so that there are…
11 Nov 27 min

TCS | Nomvuyiso Batyi on the battle over Sim registration

South Africa’s mobile operators want tougher Sim registration, but not on the terms communications regulator Icasa has proposed. Draft amendments to Icasa’s numbering plan regulations, published for comment last month, would require a fingerprint or face check against home affairs records for every new Sim, reactivation and Sim swap. Subscribers…
9 Nov 33 min

TCS+ | Old Mutual's Celiwe Ross on leading people through AI

AI is the defining technology of our era. At one extreme, it fuels fears of job losses, robot wars and computers ruling over human beings. At the other, it holds out hope: curing diseases such as cancer, bolstering global food security and even freeing people from the need to work…
6 Nov 36 min