Belamant deserved his R103m – Net1 chief

Kotze reiterated he was not responsible for terminating an agreement to invest R2 billion in Blue Label Telecoms in a bid to acquire a 15% stake in Cell C.

This comes after Net1 announced on Thursday that it intended to pursue investments in Cell C and DNI-4PL Contracts, but that it would no longer be investing directly in Blue Label Telecoms.

Net1 is currently at the centre of a controversy around the distribution of welfare grants payments in South Africa after an affidavit by auditing firm KPMG revealed that it made R700 million in profit from its unlawful contract with the South African Social Security Agency over a period of five years.

Net1 subsidiary Cash Paymaster Services administers the social grants payments of more than R140 billion to more than 17 million beneficiaries in South Africa.

Kotze was already on the ground two days into his new post in Bizana, Eastern Cape.

He visited one of the busy paypoints in the area to interact with members of the community and respond to the plight of the people of the area.

He emphasised that his visit was elicited by stories in the media as well as information picked up by Net1 officials.