S.Africa's Telkom cuts at least 1,650 jobs

JOHANNESBURG, S. AFRICA:  JOHANNESBURG, USA: At least 1,650 employees of South African fixed-line operator Telkom haven taken voluntary severance packages, trade union Solidarity said on Wednesday.

Telkom, which is nearly 40 per cent owned by the South African government, said in February it would offer some of its workers severance packages as part of its push to rein in costs.

A Solidarity spokeswoman, Moira-Marie Kloppers, told Reuters that about 1,800 Telkom workers initially applied for the severance packages, which were given to 1,650 employees by the end of March.

Additional packages may also have been granted as of the end of April, Kloppers said, adding the union did not yet have that information.

Telkom spokesman Pynee Chetty said the company was currently in a closed period ahead of the release of its annual results on June 13, and therefore could not comment.

Kloppers said that around 300 of the workers were staying on at the company as contract employees for four to six months.