Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes. (Photograph by Nicola Mawson)
JOHANNESBURG – A corporate house of cards is being sold to YOU as a “milestone.” Cell C’s “maiden” results as a listed company are a SHOCKING facade, a masterclass in financial spin designed to hide a terrifying truth: this company has NEVER stood on its own two feet and is now a PARASITE on the very system it claims to compete with.
CEO Jorge Mendes boasts of “discipline” and “financial stability,” but insiders reveal a DEEPENING CRISIS. The so-called “profits” are a MIRAGE, propped up by a jaw-dropping R3.3 BILLION in “one-off items” from a pre-listing restructuring. This isn’t a turnaround; it’s ACCOUNTING TRICKERY on an industrial scale.
Even more alarming? Cell C’s entire business model is a FRAUD on South African consumers. It runs a “capex-light” operation, meaning it DOES NOT BUILD ITS OWN NETWORK. Instead, it LEECHES off the billions invested by rivals Vodacom and MTN, siphoning their infrastructure while offering cut-rate services. They are a corporate VAMPIRE, sucking the lifeblood of genuine investment while offering shareholders the hollow promise of “long-term value.”
Investment experts warn the company is a SINGLE-POINT OF FAILURE, dangerously exposed in a cutthroat market. While the share price saw a pathetic 0.17% bump, it has FALLEN nearly 4% since listing—a clear sign smart money is FLEEING this ticking time bomb.
This is not a success story; it is a DANGEROUS PRECEDENT that rewards financial engineering over real innovation, proving you can package failure and sell it to the masses. The entire South African telecom landscape is now rigged in favor of hollow players who contribute nothing but risk. Is this the future of business—where winners are those who build nothing, but manipulate everything?
Author: Kayitsi.com
