The South African government is still working out details of plans to sell its stake in mobile telecoms group M-Cell and has not yet received any bids, a top privatisation official said.

"We have not received any bids, and the bidding process has not even started...The suggestion that Orange is a front-runner is fundamentally wrong," said Leslie Maasdorp, the head of restructuring of state enterprises at the public enterprises department.

He was referring to a report in the Business Day newspaper that said European mobile operator Orange "has emerged as one of the top contenders" for the stake in M-Cell.

Maasdorp told Reuters the public request for proposals would be finalised this week. A formal announcement would then be made.

The government, through state-owned transport utility Transnet, owns around 24 percent of M-Cell. Maasdorp said the government had yet to decide on how much of its stake it would sell.

Maasdorp said Orange was among several international companies interested in the stake.