From Bloomberg

South Africa will probably first sell its stake in a Vodafone Group Plc unit as it disposes of state assets to raise funds for power plants needed to stoke economic growth, five people familiar with the matter said.

The government owns 13.9 percent of Vodafone-controlled Vodacom Group Ltd., worth about 28 billion rand ($2.4 billion) at its current share price. The state doesn’t deem the stake as strategic because of its size and a sale will probably not face opposition from labor unions, said the people, who include bankers and a person familiar with the government’s thinking, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. South Africa also owns 39.8 percent of fixed-line phone company Telkom SA SOC Ltd.

South African Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said in September that the government will sell assets so it can give state power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. 20 billion rand in assistance and increase guarantees of its bonds. The electricity provider is facing a 225 billion-rand funding shortfall as it builds power plants to try and keep pace with demand and end a program of rolling blackouts.

The first cash injection of 10 billion rand will be expected by about June, Nene told Bloomberg TV Africa in a Jan. 22 interview. While the Treasury has yet to appoint financial advisers for asset sales it has gauged the opinion of bankers on the planned sale, the bankers said.

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