Vodacom has received regulatory approval to acquire a 30 percent stake in Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH).

The acquisition is part of a JV with CIVH to create Maziv, a South African-focused fiber provider.

Approval comes four years after the deal was first announced by the South African telco.

Communications regulator ICASA gave the acquisition the go-ahead this week, with the deal set to complete next Monday.

Despite being conditionally cleared by regulators in November 2022, Vodacom and CIVH had to agree to a series of remedies to get the deal over the line.

The transaction, as reported by Techpoint Africa, had been blocked on several occasions amid competition concerns that Vodacom would become too dominant.

The deal will see Vodacom combine its domestic fiber assets with those owned by CIVH, which holds the remaining 70 percent stake. CIVH's assets include wholesaler Vumatel, open access provider Dark Fibre Africa, ISP Herotel, and more.

Although traditionally a mobile network operator, with more than 45 million customers, the acquisition will enable Vodacom to bolster its fiber focus.