Parliament has short-listed six candidates to fill an ICASA councillor post that will fall vacant in June, as the term of the telecommunications and broadcasting regulator's current chairman Parish Mashile ends then.
Yesterday, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications agreed to call Allison Gillwald, Norman Baloyi, Lahlang Somo, Tshepo Molai, Linda Dalbock and Steven Mncube for public interviews on 24 May, in Parliament.
In terms of the ICASA Amendment Act, the committee has to select one-and-a-half times the number of candidates for the vacant position, meaning two in this case.
Committee chairman Ismail Vadi was at pains to point out that, while the interviews are to select a candidate to replace Parish Mashile on the council, it does not mean this person will be the head of the council.
“It is the minister's (of communications) prerogative to select the chairperson. Parliament has nothing to do with that,” he said.
Material effect
Juli Kilian, COPE communications spokesperson, agreed with Vadi, but also pointed out that the selection of the candidate may still have a material effect on the appointment of a new ICASA chairperson.
Eric Khumalo (ANC) said his party would support the list for the time being, but it may change its mind, although he did not specifically mention any names.
Three other ICASA councillors are facing the end of their four-year terms of office, namely Brenda Ntombela, Robert Nkuna and Kobus van Rooyen. However, their terms end in September and the parliamentary committee decided to hold a separate round of hearings to fill those positions.
“We will advertise those upcoming vacancies around June, but many of those who have been nominated now will also be considered,” Vadi said.
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