A US District Court has given the go-ahead for an Anti-Terrorism Act lawsuit against Africa’s telecoms giant, MTN Group.
Image: Reuters
Just a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced MTN chairman Mcebisi Jonas as the country’s Special Envoy to the US in an effort to mend relations between the two countries, the spotlight has once again returned to an Anti-Terrorism lawsuit hanging over the telecom group.
LegalBrief Africa, an e-newsletter provided by Juta in partnership with the International Bar Association, reported on Thursday, April 17, 2025, that the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York has allowed a “high-stakes Anti-Terrorism Act lawsuit” against MTN Group to advance to the discovery stage. It stated: “MTN Group has wasted no time in submitting an appeal, setting the stage for a precedent-setting legal battle that could rattle courtrooms and boardrooms alike for years to come.”
However, MTN reached out to Business Report on Friday to clarify that “there are no new developments in the US regarding MTN.” They stated: “This is incorrect. There is no new court case against MTN in the US. We have previously reported on this case, most recently in our Q3 2023 trading update.” Business Report will be making further inquiries with the plaintiff.
Business Report will be making futher enquiries with the plantiffs that have filed the court case for the latest updates and to clear up confusion around the case.
The court action comes as Jonas’ appointment has been slated by some commentators because he labelled US President Donald Trump a “racist, homophobe” and “rightwinger” at an Ahmed Kathrada Annual Lecture in 2020. Also, he is chairman of a group that has business ties in Iran, a country that faces sanctions from multiple agencies and countries, particularly the US. MTN also faces allegations of human rights abuses due to internet shutdowns in conflict countries.
Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for President Cyril Ramaphosa, said on Wednesday in a televised interview in the Eastern Cape that the Ramaphosa was happy with Jonas’ appointment.
Magwenya said the government believed the Trump administration will accept that Jonas’ derogatory words were made while he was “a private citizen” and acting in "another context". Also, neither MTN nor Iran Cell were facing sanctions, he said.
He said Jonas’ appointment as an envoy had been vetted less formally compared with how the government vetted an ambassador appointment, but it was based on Jonas’ past experience as a deputy Finance Minister and in business, and the fact that he was comfortable dealing with trade and bilateral issues with his counterparts in other countries.
In the federal lawsuit, more than 50 Americans claimed MTN and other technology companies did business with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), even though they knew the transactions would help finance, arm, and support the Iranian group’s terror campaign in neighbouring Iraq. As a result, thousands of Americans were injured or killed between 2011 and 2016, LegalBrief Africa said, citing the lawsuit.
“Notably, the judgment also highlighted that even after the IRGC was officially designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in 2019, MTN retained its commercial ties,” LegalBrief said.
“While the appeal remains pending, the court’s decision has allowed the lawsuit to proceed to the discovery stage.”
The lawsuit and Jonas’ appointment come as the US Congress is dealing with a bill that might result in the US severing ties with South Africa, and it could possibly also result in sanctions being instituted against individuals, organisations, or companies.
“Whether intended or not, the controversial appointment of a senior MTN leadership figure is directly harming US commercial, investment, and trade interests, and that will have a negative impact on US foreign policy interests,” said US foreign policy analyst Michael Walsh.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, the Supreme Court of Appeal has yet to make a judgement on an appeal by Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri last August, on whether it may proceed with a $4.2 billion (R72.9 billion) court case against MTN on allegations of bribery and corruption in Iran.
Turkcell claimed MTN had bribed an Iranian and a South African government office more than a decade ago and had encouraged South Africa to support Iran’s nuclear development program at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in order to win the Iran telecoms contract. MTN has denied these claims.
“None of the evidence from Turkcell has yet been presented in a court,” a spokesperson for the Turkcell legal team said.
MTN does not operate in the US but interfaces with US companies, and for example, it this week announced a partnership with US group Meta to enhance the quality of voice and video calls on real-time calling applications such as WhatsApp across 12 MTN markets.
Walsh said the implications of the blowback extended beyond Meta.
“There is an entire ecosystem of US and foreign companies that will likely face increased government, media, and/or shareholder scrutiny of their business relations in South Africa as a result of this episode. One of the most important is Microsoft,” said Walsh.
He stated that in the US, a media firestorm about South Africa could end up having one advantageous benefit for the Ramaphosa administration. Any financial and/or reputational harm that the episode causes for US companies could generate industry pressure on the Trump administration to alter course in US-South Africa relations.
He cautioned, however, that the positive pressure for the Ramaphosa administration will likely pale in comparison to the negative pressure that would be generated if the US government pursues even harsher punitive measures against South Africa.
Democratic Alliance deputy spokesperson on foreign relations, Ryan Smith, said diplomatic envoys were the prerogative of the president; however, given the fact that the relationship with the US was in a perilous position, “we need to be extremely pragmatic and careful about who we send to represent us in Washington DC.”
Smith said that Jonas’ business experience and acumen were desirable traits for a diplomatic envoy whose primary objective must be repairing the trade relationship with the US, where there were grave trade-related consequences for South Africa should the relationship deteriorate further.
He said they hoped his comments five years ago would not be an impediment to getting the ear of the US government.
MTN did not responded to BR's questions by the time of going to print.
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