Flag at half-mast for Ivy

By Candice Jones, ITWeb online telecoms editor

Johannesburg, 08 Apr 2009

President Kgalema Motlanthe has ordered the national flag to be flown at half-mast in honour of the late communications minister, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri.

The minister died in a Pretoria hospital on Tuesday night, at the age of 71, after suffering ill health for several weeks. The flag will be flown at half-mast until her funeral on Monday, which is to be held in Kroonstad, in the Free State.

The president's honour has been echoed by Telkom CEO Reuben September, who says: “Our late minister has bequeathed an indelible legacy to our country and the ICT landscape in particular, and the fruit of her work will continue to have a positive impact in the years ahead.

“On behalf of Telkom's management and staff, I hereby express sincere condolences to the family and friends of minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, as well as the staff of the Department of Communications,” he adds.

Telkom was well supported by Matsepe-Casaburri throughout her tenure as minister and September says that, throughout, she faced the industry with nerve. “I know that we will all be able to draw fortitude from the outstanding courage and strong leadership that minister Casaburri had demonstrated throughout her years of service to our country and her communications ministry, especially her tireless efforts to bridge the digital divide and bring the previously marginalised into the ICT fold.”

Lasting legacy

While the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) may have had a sometimes strained relationship with the DOC, the authority met the news of the minister's death with shock.

“The authority believes Matsepe-Casaburri was instrumental in the transformation of the South African communications industry at large. She took the position of the minister of communications in 1999 and it was during her tenure that SA saw a number of remarkable developments, including the licensing of the third mobile network operator, Cell C and the second network operator, Neotel.”

The authority says Matsepe-Casaburri's involvement in the communications industry was not restricted to South African borders. “Her contribution to the communications industry will, forever, be cherished.”

“At MTN, we have benefited from her leadership as the minister of communications and have enjoyed a positive relationship with her in that capacity,” notes MTN Group president and CEO, Phuthuma Nhleko.

He says during Matsepe-Casaburri's tenure, significant progress was made towards the further liberalisation of telecommunications in SA. “We are deeply moved by this sad loss and on behalf of the MTN group board of directors, the executive and MTN staff, I wish to express our deepest condolences to Dr Matsepe-Casaburri's family.”

“Vodacom also pays tribute to Dr Matsepe-Casaburri's respectful and dignified manner,” says Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys. “Over the years, we had got to know her fondly as 'Minister Ivy' and she will be dearly missed.”

The minister championed an enabling course of action and has left SA with an important and far-reaching telecommunications legacy, he notes. “Dr Matsepe-Casaburri's major task was the overseeing of the promulgation of the Electronic Communications Act, which effectively liberalised the ICT industry and introduced more competition.”

Cell C had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication.