In what comes as no surprise to industry watchers ? who said from the start the decision to split the former Department of Communications (DOC) and create two separate entities was a bad one ? it seems the new, controversial structure has started to unravel.
Citing insiders, the City Press yesterday said the Government Communications and Information System (GCIS) was being reinstated as a standalone entity, in response to unhappiness around the way in which minister Faith Muthambi had been managing government communications.
According to acting director-general of the DOC, Donald Liphoko, the department is in the process of "re-establishing the GCIS as a schedule one department reporting to the minister of communications".
Liphoko says this is in line with Government Gazette 37839, which was quietly published in July last year. "The GCIS will be led by a director-general who will also be the Cabinet spokesperson as delegated by the minister of communications."
This comes eight months after president Jacob Zuma's announcement that SA's ICT ministry would be spread across two different departments - the DOC under Faith Muthambi and the Department of Telecoms and Postal Services under former spy boss Siyabonga Cwele.
Since its induction, the "new" DOC has been plagued by criticism amid infighting, dubious decisions and a general lack of direction, to the point that it started to mirror the reputation of the former communications department under controversial minister Dina Pule (October 2011 to July 2013).
Last week saw the controversy box ticked again when questions were raised around Muthambi's R10 million spend on advertising in the New Age newspaper - a publication owned by the Gupta family, which is known for its ties with Zuma.
DOC dynamics
The "new" DOC comprises the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), Brand SA, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) and the Film and Publication Board (FPB). It essentially took over from the GCIS.
Post Zuma's new Cabinet, the DOC created a start-up organisational structure, with the assistance of the Department of Public Service and Administration, which was effected on 19 September.
"The start-up structure took over the functions of GCIS and added one branch called policy and entity oversight, which would enable the department to exercise oversight over ICASA, SABC, MDDA, Brand SA and FPB," explains the DOC.
Crumbling core
The latest move to re-establish the GCIS has been seen as a blow to Muthambi's control, to the point that it may negate her department's existence.
Dominic Cull, owner of Ellipsis Regulatory Solutions, says it looks like the decision to split the old DOC is unravelling fairly quickly. "It is to be hoped that the re-established GCIS creates a greater appreciation for the need for sanity and rationalisation in the split structure in SA's communications [sector]."
Shadow minister of communications for the Democratic Alliance, Gavin Davis, says "with rumours swirling" that the GCIS is to be moved away from the DOC, president Zuma should consider just doing away with the department altogether. "Shifting the GCIS away from the DOC would be a massive vote of no confidence in minister Muthambi. It would also see her role in government reduced to practically nothing."
Davis says the GCIS is the DOC, with a few other entities added onto it. "Muthambi does not have a job worthy of a minister. The SABC is run by a board and should be free from interference from a minister and all the other entities - including ICASA, which is a Chapter Nine institution - do not need a minister.
"Do we really need this communications ministry, if all the entities under her purview require a light touch from a minister - at best?"
He says the best solution is for Zuma to admit the creation of the new DOC was a mistake, and to quietly disband it.
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