Teljoy was founded in 1969, by the current Chairman and Group CEO, Theo Rutstein, in anticipation of the introduction of television broadcasting in South Africa. It soon became the country's leading rental brand. With the introduction of cellular communications in 1994 Teljoy was appointed a Service Provider to Vodacom. Again Teljoy dominated the market and soon established itself as the leading distributor and service provider of Cell phones in South Africa. In 2000 Teljoy was acquired by Vodacom. In April 2002, Theo Rutstein led a management buyout of Teljoy from the Vodacom Group.