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ICASA councillors sworn in

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 07 Apr 2016
The appointment of new councillors comes after a rigorous process, says ICASA.
The appointment of new councillors comes after a rigorous process, says ICASA.

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has appointed four new councillors.

The appointees are Botlenyana Mokhele, Paris Mashile, Peter Zimri and Keabetswe Modimoeng, who began their four-year terms on 3 April.

In a statement this morning, the regulator says the appointment of new councillors comes after a rigorous process by the Portfolio Committee on Communications which began in February 2014. The ICASA council will now have seven councillors in office.

Twelve names were shortlisted in May, and then cut to seven.

The four councillors were sworn in today at ICASA's offices in Sandton.

The new councillors come almost two years after communications minister Faith Muthambi ushered out William Currie, Joseph Lebooa, William Stucke and Ntombizodwa Ndhlovu, while another councillor, Marcia Socikwa, had resigned earlier.

Mashile and Zimri are both industry veterans who have a history with the regulator, with Mashile being a former ICASA board chairman.

Zimri is a frequency spectrum specialist who was senior manager for spectrum at the authority between 2002 and 2004. Following his two-year tenure at ICASA, Zimri served as director at the then Department of Communications for three years.

Mokhele is a consultant at Pygma Consulting and was previously a researcher at ICASA. She also spent a tenure at the Department of Communications from 2007 to 2012.

Modimoeng was a business and labour journalist at the Sunday Times before working in communications for a number of big corporates. He currently sits on the board of the South African Weather Service and was previously shortlisted for a spot on the SABC board.

According to the ICASA Act, those appointed to the regulator's council must be individuals who:
* Are committed to fairness, freedom of expression, openness and accountability on the part of those entrusted with the governance of a public service.
* Are representative of a broad cross-section of the population of SA.
* Possess suitable qualifications, expertise and experience in the fields of (among others) broadcasting, electronic communications and postal policy or operations, public policy development, electronic engineering, law, IT, content in any form, consumer protection, education, economics, finance or any other relevant expertise or qualifications.

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