Late communications minister Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, nicknamed "Poison Ivy" by the sector, was this weekend honoured for her contribution to the ICT sector.
The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) held its inaugural lecture in honour of Matsepe-Casaburri, under the theme of gender inequality within the ICT sector.
It was dedicated to her because "during her tenure as minister, she put a particular focus on reducing the gender inequality gap in the ICT sector," said deputy minister Hlengiwe Mkhize.
Matsepe-Casaburri was the first woman to serve as a board member of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, as the chairperson of Sentech, and as the chairperson for the South African Broadcasting Corporation. She was then communications minister from 1999 until her death in 2009.
During her tenure, she was widely honoured for her work, including a special African ICT Achievers award and an honorary doctorate in law from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
Mixed memories
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstruck comments there were aspects of the minister's role in government that were very good. "However, there were times when her impact was in fact damaging."
ICT veteran Adrian Schofield says his recollection of Matsepe-Casaburri was that she was affable with a great sense of humour, and highly respected within the ANC.
"She inherited a very strong DG, Andile Ngcaba and it was he who had set in motion the policies and legislation that shaped the SA telecommunications sector from 1994. As the minister, Ivy had to steer that through Cabinet and Parliament, which she did."
However, "the way in which the government approached the use of ICTs (and specifically telecommunications) during that era, laid the foundations for the poor performance of the sector," notes Schofield.
"It was the time when Telkom was regarded as an unassailable monopoly, when mobile phones were beginning to impact the market, and the notion of convergence was beginning to be seriously discussed.
"I think Ivy [Matsepe-Casaburri] dutifully followed the party line of control over telecommunications and broadcasting, of ownership of Telkom and of talking about digital inclusion but I do not hold her responsible for the way the sector turned out - that belongs collectively to the ANC in government."
Alison Gillwald, executive director for Research ICT Africa, said, in 2012: "South Africa suffered a moribund period under communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, whose reign held up the market and hindered technology developments."
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