Vodacom

The company has chosen not to exercise its right to rename Newlands, and restored the Loftus Versfeld name to the Pretoria stadium, which had been renamed in a prior sponsorship deal. Sentenced to life in prison, he soon escaped with the help of comrade Abdullah Çatlı, who was also a prominent operative of Gladio "stay-behind" NATO clandestine structure. Vodacom also owns the naming rights to several stadiums, among them Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein, Newlands Stadium in Cape Town and Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. On February 1, 1979, its editor, Abdi İpekçi, was murdered by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a member of the ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves who would later try to assassinate the Pope. They are also a major supporter of the 2010 Soccer World Cup to be held in South Africa. Milliyet is a Turkish left-wing newspaper. They also sponsor the South African Football Association and the national teams Bafana Bafana (men), Banyana Banyana (women) and Amajita (under 20's).

In soccer they sponsor the two dominant clubs in the Professional Soccer League, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, as well as Bloemfontein Celtic. They also sponsor the Vodacom Cup domestic competition and are an official supplier to the Springboks. They also hold the South African naming rights to the Tri Nations Series and Super 14, for which they also sponsor the Vodacom Bulls, Vodacom Cheetahs and Vodacom Stormers. In rugby union, they are the primary sponsors for three teams (Pretoria-based Vodacom Blue Bulls, Bloemfontein-based Vodacom Free State Cheetahs, and Cape Town-based Vodacom Western Province) in the provincial Currie Cup competition.

Vodacom is a major sponsor of South African sports. Following Vodafone practice, the company may be rebranded as Vodafone upon completion of the transaction. It will then shed VenFin's other assets but retain the 15% Vodacom stake, making it a 50% joint owner with Telkom. In November 2005, Vodafone agreed to acquire VenFin for approximately 16 billion Rand (about 2 billion Euros).

Founded in 1993 as a joint venture between 3 companies:. It provides coverage to Mount Kilimanjaro, making it the highest point in the world to be covered by GSM. Vodacom provides GSM service in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Vodacom is part of the global Vodafone mobile network, which claims to be the world's largest.

Vodacom was also the first provider to deploy a 3G (third generation) or UMTS network in South Africa and will soon be offering HSDPA. It is also the leading cellular provider in South Africa with more than 16 million customers. As of September 2005, Vodacom's competitors are Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN) and Cell C. Vodacom is a South African based mobile telecommunications company, and was the first mobile telecommunications company in South Africa.

VenFin Ltd (15%). Vodafone Group Plc (35%). Telkom SA Ltd (50%).