Parliament and communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda have agreed on the names of four people to become Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) councillors later this year.
The resolution is expected to be tabled before the National Assembly this afternoon.
They are William Currie, who is with the Association of Progressive Communications; Joseph Lebooa, a business liaison manager with MTN; Ntombela Ndhlovu, a legal advisor with MTN; and Stephen Mncube, an information and library sciences doctorate holder.
The names were agreed to at a meeting held late yesterday afternoon by representatives of the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Independent Democrats (ID).
During the meeting, ID leader Patricia de Lille and DA communications spokesperson Niekki van den Berg expressed reservations about Nyanda's first list, which did not include either Currie or Ndhlovu. They were worried about the fact that the list did not cater for broad-based representation as stipulated in the law governing ICASA.
However, Nyanda's parliamentary liaison officer, Tshidiso Molukahele, presented the revised choices to the committee, and this satisfied all the requirements that the political parties were looking for.
In terms of procedure, the committee interviews candidates and then selects a short list of at least one-and-a-half times the number of council positions to be filled. The minister then makes his preferred choice and reverts back to the committee, which then either accepts it and passes a resolution to the National Assembly for a final vote, or rejects it on grounds of specific disqualifications.
Should the preferred candidates meet all necessary qualifications, including having disposed of all business interests directly related to the sector, they will assume their appointments at varying intervals in June, August and September.
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