SA's historically under-resourced telecoms regulator's council is in for significant changes as four of its nine members are set to leave in the next three months.
They will be replaced by a fresh complement, selected by government's newly-formed communications and information arm.
According to Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) spokesperson, Paseka Maleka, Joseph Lebooa and William Currie will abandon their positions on 30 September, while William Stucke and Miki Ndhlovu will leave on 31 October. The councillors' four-year terms come to an end at that time.
The four vacant seats will need to be filled quickly, in a process that starts with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Communications (PPCC) placing adverts for the posts; and ends with the National Assembly approving new appointments. Approval needs to be given before the incumbents leave, notes shadow minister of telecoms and postal services for the Democratic Alliance, Marian Shinn, who until 25 May had close dealings with ICASA-related issues.
This comes as SA's now split ICT industry is getting to grips with two new ministries - the Department of Communication (DOC) and the Department of Telecoms and Postal Services (DTPS). ICASA now falls under the former, a situation that has left industry observers baffled and sceptical.
Shinn says, in the past, the former DOC (now DTPS) always managed to meet deadlines when it came to the appointment of new councillors - even if it meant interviewing people day after day and into the nights. "The appointment process takes anything from a few weeks to about two months. I'm sure the current communications committee will be able to find replacements in the time available."
Council concern
Where Shinn does express concern, however, is the idea that "so much experience is leaving at once". With the current uncertainty around the status of ICASA, she says, "independent-minded individuals with a passion for the ICT sector and its potential will be lost".
Dominic Cull, owner of Ellipsis Regulatory Solutions says, while the upcoming exodus will see "a lot of institutional memory and learning walking out the door", his concern for the regulator lies more with its actual staff complement, which has long been deficient.
"One of the [outgoing] councillors is maybe the only one who is able to really get to grips with the important technical issues like spectrum planning. Hopefully the portfolio committee will really go to the effort of ensuring technically qualified people are appointed to the council."
However, while this all constitutes "big changes" for ICASA, Cull says this is not where the changes ultimately need to be taking place. "Change needs to happen in the staffing complement. We need ICASA to have a full staff complement that is qualified to do what it has been mandated to."
He says there are glaring insufficiencies when it comes to ICASA's staff complement and resources, while there is a sentiment among some in the industry that ICASA does not need the number of councillors it employs. "In my personal view, if they could replace each departing councillor with five engineers, the whole thing would work better. ICASA needs competent engineers, lawyers and economists for it to successfully carry out its mandate."
ICASA CEO Pakamile Pongwana recently told the PPCC that ICASA spends 65% of its annual budget on salaries. According to Parliament's Web site, Pongwana revealed the regulator's employees were highly paid, and said the agency's management had instituted an investigation into the organisation's structural realignment and remuneration.
Share