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More than 300 managers at
South African fixed-line operator Telkom SA have left
the company voluntarily as part of a restructuring, the
Solidarity union said on Thursday.

The partly state-owned company is slashing jobs from a
management layer of 2,650, saying it aims to become more agile
in a competitive environment. Most of those remaining from that
total have been placed in new positions, but 104 do not have the
skills needed for 168 positions yet to be filled.

Telkom had said on Oct. 14 it would cut a number of
management posts by the end of the month, though it did not say
at the time how many would go in its drive to bring down costs
by 1 billion rand ($91 million) annually for the next five
years.

The redundancies, first signalled by Telkom in July, reflect
government efforts to tighten the screws on state-owned
companies which have for years relied on government bailouts to
remain afloat.

Telkom managers yet to find a new position might still lose
their jobs, Solidarity spokesman Marius Croucamp said. "They are
still trying to match that group of 104 within the 168 posts
still available in the new structure. And those that cannot be
reasonably matched will be forcibly retrenched."

Telkom shares, which have doubled in value so far this year
as a result of a turnaround strategy being implemented at the
company, were up nearly 2.3 percent at 55.74 rand by 1227 GMT.

Last week, Telkom said staff had suggested voluntary
severance and retirement options instead of forced lay offs.

Staff who have not been appointed to a new role by the end
of September would be issued with termination notices and they
would have to leave at the end of October, it said.

"Simply placing people into positions, regardless of their
competencies, qualification or experience just to avoid their
retrenchment, would be a huge disservice to the business,"
Telkom said in its Oct. 14 statement.

The government holds 39.76 percent of Telkom and an indirect
10.61 percent through the government employee pension fund
manager, the Public Investment Corporation.

Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said on Wednesday the
government was aiming to improve governance in other public
corporations such as South African Airways and the Post Office,
and would sell some non-strategic assets to finance its power
utility.

His Public Enterprises counterpart said on Thursday the
country would consider a strategic partner for struggling flag
carrier South African Airlines.

(Editing by David Dolan and David Holmes)