MTN’s five-year-old BEE share scheme, Zakhele, listed on the JSE this week after FSB rules forced the closure of its over- the- counter trading platform. But the listing has come at a torrid juncture for the telecoms group, which is fighting off a $5.2-billion fine in Nigeria, and shareholders are upset at its poor disclosure. Business Times spoke to MTN Zakhele’s chairwoman, Sindi Mabaso-Koyana The timing is pretty dreadful - did it make you think of postponing the listing?We obviously did apply our minds; we couldn't ignore what was happening, especially now going into a regulatory environment like the JSE. However, this has been long in the planning. It isn't for raising new capital; this is to facilitate the trading among shareholders who have already been trading among themselves and because of the Financial Services Board's revised regulations [for over-the-counter trading]. So this allows the shareholders to continue trading among themselves.story_article_left1Are you worried there'll be a rush for the exits given the slump seen in MTN's ordinary listed shares?We certainly don't have a crystal ball, but what we have been anticipating is that the shareholder base is going to contract because most of our shareholders are individuals who carry small amounts of shares and who have been looking forward to exiting. And we are also equally aware that there are larger shareholders waiting to pick up those shares.The scheme ends next year. What are the options for investors?The scheme was always for six years and it was going to end on November 24 2016. Nothing has been firmed up, but the possibilities are that shareholders exit the scheme and get the cash back. The second option is that shareholders can be given their cash, but [in] a combination with MTN Group shares, and the third option, which is based on the fact that MTN has always been a proponent of empowerment, is to start a another [BEE] scheme, which might be totally new or might include existing MTN Zakhele shareholders. MTN is taking counsel from its advisers and we are waiting for them.How many shareholders are there? The market cap of the scheme is just under R9-billion.We've got about 102000 shareholders, who hold about 80million shares. Ninety-eight percent ... are individuals, and among them I would say almost 90% hold on average about 500 shares [each].Looking back at the process of creating this scheme, do you think it's been successful? Has it done what you wanted?Oh, certainly. Each shareholder bought these shares at R20 each. When we closed the platform on October 16, the last share traded at R102. And if we look at the debt and any expenses that a shareholder would have had to pay, a person who would have sold when the [over-the-counter platform] closed would have cleared around R60. To an individual this has definitely been a success, financially. But also in terms of enlightenment, and participation in a premium share like MTN.This was among the forefront deals to bring in new black investors. Do you think now it's actually necessary to create a follow-up scheme, or are we at a stage where people will rather go and buy ordinary MTN shares?story_article_right2A lot has been done but we've still got a long way. Anyone in the rural areas, for example, would not have been able to go and buy MTN shares, and from a financing mechanism the funding was quite significant, allowing people to buy the share for R20. So the truth of the matter is, where we are today, will that person in a rural area say, "I'm now fine, I don't need any scheme"? Definitely not. We're still far from that.What are your views on widening black ownership of listed companies? Especially in light of the EFF's march on the JSE last week?It definitely still requires facilitation, especially because as a black person there are so many other socioeconomic issues that grab your mind; active programmes that are run nationally, that make one stop and think, "I need to invest for the future." It's very important that we continue with them. My view is that a lot still needs to be done on the sustained ownership of businesses. In creating strong and lasting black businesses, we need to create second- and third-generation businesses, which is about people staying in business, knowing business, operating businesses. MTN is a success story. It is a black-owned, black-managed and black-controlled business. And the question is, why don't we have many of those?But MTN has not scored many successes of late. And the punishment it's taking on the market could well scare people off.How MTN is handling this issue, we can't comment about it as MTN Zakhele. All we do is alert [our shareholders] to the cautionaries and any communication from MTN group. That's our responsibility. But having said that, one of the shareholder education points is that investing is a risk.Talevi is a BDTV presenter..