Entertainment Africa
Mega mobile communications company, Vodacom Group Limited has terminated the unlimited free airtime it has been giving to Mandela’s family members for over 20 years.
The cell phone company pulled the plug on the free airtime in March after the family’s data bill ballooned to alarming proportions.
Vodacom spokesperson Byron Kennedy confirmed this while speaking to reporters.
He said:
“It is no secret that the Mandela family have been long-standing customers of ours. As governance requirements and expectations in South Africa and around the world have progressively changed over the past two decades, so too has the contractual relationship between corporates and the likes of the Mandela family.”
Kennedy refused to reveal the reasons why Vodacom gave the family’s unlimited free airtime the chop. He, however, disclosed that the Mandela family had been adequately informed about the decision.
“While the Protection of Personal Information Act restricts us from commenting on how this has changed and what is currently in place, it isn’t true that we have not adequately communicated with the family,” he added.
Members of the Mandela family who have been enjoying Vodacom’s unlimited free airtime were Mandela’s former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, his daughters Zinzi and Zenani, and grandchildren Mandla, Mbuso and Ndaba.
A member of Nelson Mandela’s family admitted that the family’s bill skyrocketed exponentially since the arrival of smartphones.
“It was not like in the 1990s where there were no smartphones. Now they are using smartphones which use data, [and] this resulted in the account bill shooting up,” the source said.
The giant communication company has now downgraded Mama Winnie to a capped top-up contract of R2500 per month, while Zinzi, Zenani, Mandla, Mbuso and Ndaba were de-classed to R750 top-up contracts.
Similarly, South African television personality, radio host and businesswoman Bonang Matheba has also been downgraded from VIP status to a mere prepaid subscriber on Vodacom. This was after she lambasted the Titanic communication company on Twitter.
As a VIP subscriber, Bonang’s number had premium benefits, which are different from those of ordinary citizens. She reportedly racked up a bill running into R150 000 in one month only.
Vodacom’s Kennedy, however, said the former “The Front Row” radio show host was downgraded because she told Vocadom to do so.
