Vodacom is an African mobile communications company providing services to over 61 million customers on a range of different platforms. The company has expanded from its initial roots in South Africa, growing out of the mobile network business to include operations in Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Lesotho.

Through Vodacom Business Africa (VBA) it also offers business managed services to enterprises in over 40 countries across the continent. The complexity behind the geographical remit the legal team covers, requires constant vigilance on legislative and regulatory change. The South African legal team is led by Nkateko Nyoka, chief legal officer, who was a former executive director of Vodacom SA. Nyoka joined Vodacom as chief officer for regulatory and stakeholder relations and has since led the legal department through a number of transactions and projects.

The team has been tasked with securing pivotal deals and drafting comprehensive documents that have helped shape Vodacom as a leader in the industry and one that is able to meet Africa’s unique challenges. In September 2016 Vodacom secured a deal with the national treasury worth up to R5bn, and announced that it had won a 15-year contract with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) worth R1bn; both of which necessitated market-leading advice from the legal team. Vodacom is known for its pioneering advertisements at the early stages of the democratic South Africa, which includes the yebo gogo campaign that is still in effect today. With an estimated market share of 58% Vodacom is the leading cellular network in South Africa, but the continued success in the competitive mobile communication sector demands a legal, competition and regulatory team that is at the leading edge of best practice in the market.