Industry bids farewell to Ivy

Johannesburg, 07 Apr 2009

The telecommunications industry has bid farewell to Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri with mixed emotions.

Matsepe-Casaburri, who served for 10 years as the country's minister of communications, died last night at a Pretoria hospital at the age of 71, after weeks of ill health. Her career has been littered with as much criticism as political support.

Former Department of Communications (DOC) director-general Lyndall Shope-Mafole says Matsepe-Casaburri's death is a loss to the country and to her personally. She says they had developed a close working relationship over the years. Shope-Mafole's mother, Gertrude Shope, was a close friend of Matsepe-Casaburri; a relationship fostered by shared experiences in exile.

“Her death has been a loss to the entire country. She was a long-standing senior minister in government and had a pretty good grasp on ICT policies,” says Ismail Vadi, ANC MP and chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications.

“It is unfortunate that her health failed her, even though she was over 70. I send my condolences to her family.”

Memory lane

“The minister's contribution to the change of the ICT sector was extensive, if at times not understood or fully appreciated. She transformed the sector from what it was in 1994 so that all the state-owned enterprises that fell within her portfolio have proper representation on their boards and they took the issue of transformation seriously,” says Shope-Mafole.

She says the minister travelled extensively domestically and abroad, preaching the message that ICT could be used for poverty alleviation, improving education and health services, and ensuring it could be used by all people, not only an elite few.

Shope-Mafole admits that, while the DOC could have done more to engage with the sector, its resources in terms of people, in particular, were limited and this was a factor of which Matsepe-Casaburri was always painfully aware.

Clean slate

The industry has not always welcomed the late minister's policies and often questioned her lack of telecommunications experience. However, many generally outspoken industry critics were sombre in commenting this morning.

Dene Smuts, Democratic Alliance communications spokesperson, expressed her condolences to Matsepe-Casaburri's family and the government. “The minister had a grasp of the social importance of ICT, especially in health and education.

“However, her interaction with the line members of Parliament was limited, although this was in keeping with the executive staying at arm's length from the legislature. It is a sad irony that her policy of managed liberalisation saw its own demise in the courtroom recently.”

Frost & Sullivan ICT practice analyst Lindsey Mc Donald says Matsepe-Casaburri will be missed; however, a new focus must be placed on the future of ICT in the country.

Denis Smit, MD of research firm BMI-TechKnowledge, says while the industry did not always understand her policy, the death of Matsepe-Casaburri is sad. “I would not like to look at the past; rather we need to look at what is to come,” he says.

Now what?

The question on most industry players' minds is who would be the best candidate to replace her as the future minister. However, it is unlikely the current administration will make a new appointment before its term expires.

Irnest Kaplan, MD of Kaplan Equity Analysts, says deputy communications minister Roy Padayachie has been the industry's solid pick for several years. “He is well respected in the industry and would make a strong choice for the position. The industry needs someone to respect.”

Smit agrees that Padayachie would make a sensible choice, but notes it will be a political appointment and not a popularity decision. He says more likely the industry will see former communications minister Pallo Jordan take up the position again in the incoming administration.

However, he notes that a more important appointment will be who will take over as director-general of the department.