MTN mourns its executives

The week started with the tragic news that four MTN Cameroon executives were among the 114 people on board an ill-fated Kenya Airways flight, which went down on Saturday, some 20km south-east of Douala, in Cameroon.

By Monday, the South African-based mobile operator was still holding out hope that survivors may be found, as rescuers struggled to get to the crash site and updates filtered through sporadically.

However, the last glimmers of hope slipped away on Tuesday, as Cameroonian authorities confirmed that there were no survivors.

ITWeb, which has been closely following the chaos brought about by government's new electronic National Traffic Information System (eNatis), on Tuesday broke the news that government has gagged Tasima, the system's developer, from speaking to the press.

This move, reminiscent of East Bloc-style censorship and propaganda tactics, raised many an eyebrow, and served to remind us that some of those in power were, indeed, groomed in the USSR during the dark days of apartheid.

The eNatis press conference provided some real pearls, as the powers-that-be scrambled to save face before the country's media.

Martin Czernowalow, news editor, ITWeb

This was followed by a hastily-organised press conference that afternoon, where transport minister Jeff Radebe took the unprecedented step of apologising to the country for the fun and games caused by the system. This conference provided some real pearls, as the powers-that-be scrambled to save face before the country's media.

One of my personal favourites came from project manager Werner Koekemoer, who was responding to why the system kept collapsing, saying that no amount of simulation can ever completely replicate reality. "You test as well as you can."

Yeah, right. And I wish I could bullshit as well as you can.

And as just as we thought that maybe its not all so bad, at least government has the grace to apologise for its R408 million mistake, we were just as quickly reminded that there is no such thing as a free lunch, or in this case, a free apology. The transport department announced that, from 1 July, motorists and other users of eNatis will have to pay R30 more per transaction to help pay for maintenance of eNatis. Ever had that sinking feeling?

With the eNatis hysteria dominating most of the news this week, you may be forgiven for missing some of the other stories. On Tuesday, Virgin Mobile moved to deny that it is making a play for troubled third mobile operator Cell C.

However, Cell C did confirm that there is interest in buying shareholding in the company, so it's not unlikely that a serious bidder could pop up soon.

Meanwhile, Virgin Mobile has insisted that it is not its philosophy to buy a network operator. Guess there's always a first time.

On Wednesday, ITWeb exclusively reported that five companies have been shortlisted to submit formal bids for parastatal IT outsourcing group arivia.kom. The privatisation of the ailing group has been closely watched by industry, much with the same morbid curiosity usually reserved for bloody car wrecks.

While Transnet is refusing to officially comment on the process, rumour has it that bidders are keen on the R900 million-a-year Eskom and Transnet contracts that come with the company. The rest of arivia is not really worth the effort.

It has also been rumoured that IBM missed the expression of interest deadline, and is now scrambling to get on the list. Perhaps they were the lucky ones...

The State IT Agency (SITA) has vehemently denied that it is running around like a headless chicken. This follows the resignation of CEO Mavuso Msimang, whose departure has been known to the organisation since last year.

Not that anything has really been done in view of this, as far as we can ascertain. The company will now appoint an acting CEO, before beginning a serious search for Msimang's replacement.

Is it unreasonable to say that SITA should have had its ducks in a row by now and be ready with a replacement CEO? Obviously, yes.

SITA chairwoman, Thenjiwe Chikane, responding to questions by ITWeb said: "In light of the process to appoint a new CEO, we believe it prudent not to speculate on a likely timeframe to conclude the appointment. Notwithstanding, we are making every effort to expedite the matter."

No rush guys. Take your time.