A new levy could soon be introduced to the broadcasting and ICT sectors to provide the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) with additional funding.
This follows a decision at the ANC's national general council (NGC) that new ways of levying the sector should be considered to fund the regulator.
ICASA was one of four organisations named by the NGC's commission on media diversity and communications as requiring urgent increases in financial support and human resource capacity.
The regulator, which is funded by the Department of Communications, has struggled with capacity issues from its outset. Financially, it has often maintained it does not receive enough cash to fulfil its mandate.
In terms of human capital, ICASA has said it battles to compete with the remuneration packages offered by the private sector, which results in difficulties attracting and retaining staff.
Although it collected R2.2 billion in revenue over the 2009 financial year from application and licence fees, it was required to fund its operations from a communications grant of less than R250 million.
ICASA's revenue is transferred to the National Revenue Fund within 30 days of receipt as per the ICASA Act. In the 2009 financial year, the regulator declared an R18.5 million operational deficit.
Time for creativity
Despite the large profits reported by the telecoms and broadcasting sectors, independent telecoms analyst Richard Hurst believes a new levy will not result in the outcomes envisioned by the ruling party.
“Essentially, it will be a very complicated way of setting up yet another fund which just sloshes around, not benefiting the people it needs to. I would recommend that the regulator manage its funds - including licence and spectrum fees - more appropriately.
“If that is going to mean an increase in fees or levies, then you and I and the people out in rural areas hoping for connection will pay for it,” he comments.
Hurst believes the party should instead ask government to introduce a tax rebate around ICT-based products or training.
“The ANC's objective is to increase access to ICTs and media to the poor and those in rural areas. Instead of adding taxes to the operators, why not incentivise the broader community to invest more ICTs and ICT training? There are far more creative ways of getting ICTs into the rural areas; the ANC needs to look at these,” he notes.
At this stage, the proposed levy is just a suggestion from the ANC and can technically be disregarded by government. However, this is unlikely.
Although separate from the ruling party, SA's ANC-dominated government has been “refocused” following the conference, according to president Jacob Zuma.
Several declarations within the NGC's consolidated report also point to increased ANC monitoring of the government on implementing its decisions.
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