DOC ministry 'MIA'

The high frequency at which the Department of Communications (DOC) changes ministers is the main reason for top priority projects stagnating.

Commenting on the performance of the department in 2011, especially around high-level projects, World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says, overall, the DOC has been far less effective than the strength of the leadership might have suggested, as there has been no continuity whatsoever.

“You can't have a new minister and deputy minister every year and expect to achieve anything. There has been a series of ministers that promise much but aren't around to follow through. The real need right now is for continuity. That needs to be the focus, along with delivery.”

Democratic Alliance (DA) communications shadow minister Natasha Michael agrees, saying the reason report cards on the DOC always say “too early to tell” is because the minister keeps changing and a sense of accountability vanishes.

“Priority projects get started, and then get stagnated. It's like taking two steps forward and one step back.”

Public service and administration minister Roy Padayachie was made communications minister in November 2010 and, in October 2011, he was given a new portfolio, and former deputy minister of performance monitoring and evaluation Dina Pule took over.

When Padayachie took the reins at the department in November 2010, he prioritised specific projects for 2011.

The turnaround strategy was expected to be implemented over 12 months, the first element being the appointment of a new director-general.

Padayachie initially wanted to conclude this process by February 2011 but Rosey Sekese was only appointed in May.

Goldstuck says Sekese and her team have proven to be energetic, but unfortunately still have to report to and take direction from the ministry “and in effect, the ministry has been missing in action”.

The second thrust of the intervention was to stabilise state-owned entities (SOEs) within the communications portfolio, including state signal operator Sentech and the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA).

Sentech CEO Setumo Mohapi said there had been a number of disciplinary cases involving senior officials, related to fruitless and wasteful expenditure, as well as irregular expenditure.

Parliamentary portfolio committee members questioned why Sentech is struggling to fill strategic vacancies, in some cases for more than 14 months.

The CEO said vacancies are being filled and the challenge is to find people who not only understand the industry, but who also have a keen sense of public service.

Universal service and access to ICT was also a priority for Padayachie, and he wanted to strengthen the roles, powers and functions within USAASA. However, in October 2011, CEO Phineas Moleele was placed on precautionary suspension.

On 5 October, ITWeb reported that the DOC had ordered a forensic investigation into the agency for financial mismanagement.

Padayachie said a service provider was awarded a R19 million contract for the provision of public access facilities in under-serviced areas; the project was not completed, yet more than R15 million was paid out.

The last leg of the turnaround strategy involved forging partnerships with the private sector, academia, civil society organisations and labour. The department hosted a roundtable with leaders of the top 30 ICT companies in the country.

Padayachie also signed an ICT Industry Competitiveness and Job Creation Compact with ICT industry leaders that commits to 100% broadband penetration by 2020. It also commits to the creation of one million additional jobs throughout the ICT industry.

Analysts said the targets of the compact are admirable but unrealistic, especially with regards to broadband penetration.

“Digital migration has been one of the department's biggest misses. We haven't seen any urgency with regards to achieving any deadline for digital TV,” says Goldstuck.

SA is set to turn on digital broadcasting in April, in preparation for shutting off the old-style signal distribution by the end of 2013.

However, there are still several issues that need to be wrapped up before SA can turn on digital television, and even more aspects that must be sorted out before anyone will be able to receive the upgraded signal.

Migration is the single biggest infrastructure intervention carried out since the introduction of TV in the 1970s, says Sentech.

Repeated attempts to gain clarity as to when the outstanding issues will be finalised from the DOC have been unsuccessful.

Goldstuck says the spectrum allocation not materialising is another big failure.

Allocating more spectrum in the 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz ranges has been on the cards since 2006, but invitations to apply for frequency in the bands were withdrawn in June 2010.

Movement on this only occurred in December, with a lengthy process to follow before allocations can be made.

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has been accused of sidestepping the issue of local loop unbundling (LLU), after publishing a document, which pushes out implementation for a year, on 1 December.

Freeing the last mile will enable more competition in the sector, which will trim prices, and also has the potential to add about R1 billion in revenue to the telecoms sector.

However, despite a directive by Padayachie that “the unbundling process in SA should be urgently completed and implemented in 2011”, it has been pushed out and will only happen this year.

The industry argues ICASA's timelines are disappointing and a setback for the sector, which had expected a proper implementation guideline from the regulator, and not its plans on how it intends getting to an unbundling framework.