The Communication Workers' Union (CWU) said it would do everything in its power to destabilise the listing of Telkom on the stock exchange next year.

"We will make the climate unstable to any shareholder… no-one would want to invest in the industry that doesn't seem to be stable," CWU spokesman Sizwe Matshikiza told reporters in Johannesburg.

He said the union would plan marches and picketing to oppose the process.

"We further call on members of the public to put pressure on the government to abandon this irresponsible action of privatising state assets," Matshikiza said.

The CWU was reacting to an announcement by the Department of Public Enterprises on Monday. The candidates short-listed for the co-ordination of Telkom's initial public offering (IPO) were made public.

The union said it was opposed to the IPO process because there was no clear framework to "guide the future of the telecommunication industry".

"The existing business plan submitted to us by Telkom is bereft of any cohesive human resource development programme aimed at developing the existing workforce to cope with technological development," Matshikiza said.

The union said the process would not enhance the objective of creating a better life for all.

"The process will negatively impact on the economy of our country," Matshikiza said.

"We will not simply fold our arms and wait to be thrown into the seas of poverty."

INet-Bridge earlier on Monday reported that the government announced a short-list of five financial consortia to advise it on the listing of Telkom next year.

In a brief statement the Department of Public Enterprises listed the five consortia -- Deutsche Bank/African Harvest Capital; Goldman Sachs/ING Barings/Nedcor & Nedcor Investment Bank/Gobodo Corporate Finance/Edward Nathan & Friedland; HSBC/SANCO/Mongmotse Capital; JP Morgan/Standard Corporate Merchant Bank Corporate Merchant/Legae Securities/CKM/Wipcapital/Fleming Martin/ White & Case; and UBS Warburg/African Merchant Bank/Krem Investment Holdings.

The list, reduced from the original shortlist of 10, contains the top international merchant banking names, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, UBS Warburg and Deutsche Bank, who have partnered local merchant investment bankers and empowerment financial services groups.

The department stressed that a selection panel made up of senior officials from the Departments of Public Enterprises, Communications and Finance would thoroughly review the remaining five bidders.

The next round of interviews will begin early in November with the overall winning bid expected to be announced by November 2000. The contract for Telkom's "Global Co-ordinator" is one of the most lucrative to date in South Africa and also positions the winning bidder for other future JSE listing by public sector companies.