Who should be minister?

It's new cabinet time again, and time to pick a minister of communications.

Last time around, the late Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri got to keep her job, and gave columnists and commentators another five years (less two weeks) to lampoon her and bemoan her policies.

The candidates tipped by political insiders this time around promise more of the same.

First, there's Pallo Jordan. He is eminently qualified, both politically and professionally. In fact, he has held the post before. He is an ANC stalwart, and was a key figure not only in the anti-apartheid struggle, but also in the negotiations and reconciliation that led to South Africa's liberation. He holds real degrees from real universities, in real subjects like economics.

However, it was Pallo Jordan who announced in 1995, to a packed room at the Carlton Hotel, that the government would not even consider competition for Telkom. This led to a walkout by high-profile representatives of potential foreign investors in the telecommunications sector, and shocked disbelief from business leaders and journalists, both foreign and domestic. I recall a conversation with someone from the London Financial Times, in which we agreed that universal service was a worthy and necessary objective of government policy, but that granting a monopoly to Telkom was the worst possible way to achieve it. We were right. The legacy of the notorious Green-Paper-White-Paper era surely counts against him.

Communications is a more complex portfolio than it seems, in part thanks to its history of over-regulation and exploitative state-capitalism.

Ivo Vegter, ITWeb contributor

Then there is Lumka Yengeni, ANC member by marriage, who sat on the parliamentary portfolio committee on communications. Her qualifications appear to be limited to unwavering loyalty, not only to The Party, but also to her husband, Tony, procurer of luxury vehicles and holder (but not drinker, you understand) of beer. Frequently seen hiding behind elegant suits and designer sunglasses, she accuses political opponents of “hiding behind the constitution” (isn't that what it's there for?) and, of course, of being unreconstructed racists. In an ugly parliamentary spat over last year's xenophobic violence, it was noted that a community meeting had been planned, which she was due to address, but she left the angry crowd waiting for hours and eventually didn't turn up at all. In this, she'll be an excellent successor to Matsepe-Casaburri, who had a bit of a reputation for turning up on time only if her boss was present.

Another name that has been mooted is Fikile Mbalula, the motor-mouthed and incoherent former leader of the ANC Youth League. Appropriately, he underwent his coming-of-age ceremony at the age of 37, and many of his rash outbursts involve calling his seniors names. For example, he has called finance minister Trevor Manual an arrogant, attention-seeking drama queen, derided Unisa rector and Zuma-critic Barney Pityana as a “clown” and a “flawed character”, and compared deputy defence minister Mluleki George to “comical Ali”, Saddam Hussein's infamous spin doctor. Psychologists might call this sort of teenage angst “projection”. More likely, he will get a deputy ministerial post, or something where the object of his loyalty, Jacob Zuma, can keep a short leash on him, but he has certainly been groomed for high political office.

Communications is one of those portfolios that might just be traded for party loyalty and revolutionary zeal. That his entertaining performance as head of the ANC Youth League has, improbably, been overshadowed by his successor, does not detract from the fact that he will likely provide years of fodder for cartoonists and columnists. Sadly, what's good for the media is usually terrible for the country, its people, and its economy.

Communications is a more complex portfolio than it seems, in part thanks to its history of over-regulation and exploitative state-capitalism. It requires a minister with experience and a grasp of its policy history. It requires a minister who is willing to forge good relations with all industry players, and is both able and willing to listen to their needs. It requires a minister who understands that communications is a basic need and input cost for all businesses and consumers. A minister who grasps the tragedy of past policy mistakes, which raised the price and limited the availability of communication and information, sapped South Africa's global competitiveness, curbed economic growth, hobbled our children's education, limited job creation, and ultimately denied ordinary citizens - and especially the poor - the opportunities that the digital age promised.

Two names come to mind, given these requirements. One is the “shadow minister” of the official opposition, Dene Smuts, who has worked this portfolio energetically for years, and is quoted in this month's Brainstorm magazine as saying that even ANC MPs agree that she should be minister.

The other is the deputy minister in the outgoing administration, Radakrishna “Roy” Padayachie, who has excellent political credentials within the ANC, and has proven to be an independent-minded and clear-thinking official, who is sympathetic to the needs both of ordinary people and the industry that should be free to serve them.

As a columnist, I'd rather have Mbalula, I admit. But South Africans deserve better.