Published: 18 July 2017

Technology group EOH's share price plummeted more than 12% at one point on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Tuesday as investors took fright at the resurfacing of corruption allegations involving a contract with South African welfare agency Sassa.

The share regained some composure in the early afternoon after EOH issued a statement to shareholders "strongly repudiating false and unfounded insinuations" published in Business Report, a newspaper owned by Independent Group.

In the statement, EOH said it has been a service provider to Sassa for eight years and is "proud of its track record and quality, depth of skills and expertise it provides".

Below is the full statement from EOH management:

EOH has noted an article carried by Business Report on 17 July 2017. EOH places the following on record:

This article is a regurgitation of a previous article published by another media outlet three months ago. The Business Report article has relied on the original article for its information, with no new information provided.

At the time of publication of the original article, EOH publicly responded and repudiated the content of the article, which was based on false and unfounded insinuations. EOH?s repudiation of the original article and full response was published by the media outlet the following day.

The Business Report article has ignored EOH?s repudiation response to the original article. As with the original article, this latest article is also based on unfounded insinuations and allegations relating to EOH.

The Company would like to reiterate that it has been a service provider to South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) for 8 years and is proud of its track record and quality, depth of skills and expertise it provides. All services provided to SASSA were awarded on merit, after having undergone open and transparent tender processes, in compliance with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

EOH is considering all options available for recourse and corrective action in respect of any harm caused to EOH and its stakeholders.
- Business Daily