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 | Barney Harmse on building Paratus Group – and working with Starlink

Paratus Group executive chairman Barney Harmse joins the TechCentral Show to share the story of the telecommunications group’s rise from small beginnings in Angola and Namibia more than 20 years ago and how it became one of Southern Africa’s biggest ICT infrastructure players. Paratus started life in Angola in 2003,…
3 Sep 56 min

TCS | Maziv goes massive: CEO Dietlof Mare on Vumatel’s big roll-out plans

Maziv, the company that owns Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa, plans to spend R12-billion over the next five years as its ramps its deployment of fibre infrastructure across South Africa. Poised for a big injection of cash and assets from Vodacom, which is buying a 30% co-controlling stake in the…
26 Aug 52 min

TCS+ | Arctic Wolf on cybersecurity in the age of AI

What does it really take to defend a business in an era of AI-driven attacks? In this episode of TechCentral’s TCS+ ,Clare Loveridge, vice president and GM for Europe, Middle East and Africa (Emea), and Johnny Ellis, senior director of Emea channel sales, both at Arctic Wolf, go beyond the…
25 Aug 33 min

TCS | The story behind Nedbank’s R1.65-billion iKhokha deal

Nedbank announced last week that it was acquiring Durban-based fintech iKhokha in a R1.65-billion deal that could signal the start of further consolidation in the payments industry in South Africa. Nedbank described the deal as a “significant milestone” in its strategy to target small and medium enterprises. iKhokha co-founder and…
22 Aug 26 min