This time last year, SA knew government's telecoms department as the DOC (Department of Communications) - an acronym that, some seven months later, has very different, muddled connotations.
This time last year, the DOC - according to industry watchers - was marred by the disarray former communications minister Dina Pule left in her wake. The department was then under the leadership of Yunus Carrim, a man that inspired optimism among industry watchers, who had by that time all but given up hope.
Now, as 2014 - a year that has been beset with infighting and confusion - draws to a close, the department that is essentially "the new DOC", the Department of Telecoms and Postal Services (DTPS), has a familiar dark cloud hanging over it, with industry watchers still ruing president Jacob Zuma's decision to split SA's ICT ministry and drop Carrim.
Power struggle
Government's largest political opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), said in its annual "report card" on Zuma's Cabinet ministers this week, the biggest challenge facing DTPS minister Siyabonga Cwele is the battle for control between his department and minister Faith Muthambi's DOC.
Analysts largely agree, with some saying the upheaval consequent to the ministry split could set the sector back by a year - if not more.
Dominic Cull, owner of Ellipsis Regulatory Solutions, says Cwele's shoelaces were tied before the starting gun even went off. "The new department has fallen flat on its face - all because of the illogicality of creating two new departments at a time when we are seeing convergence on all levels of technology and industry."
Cull says, as predicted at the time Zuma made the fateful 25 May announcement, the ICT sector has been struck with a "double-whammy tragedy" as the progress built by Carrim "dissipated in a moment" and the transition phase that comes with a new Cabinet was elevated beyond the usual ephemeral process - to a major operation that has, to this day, seen neither clarity nor resolution.
Ovum analyst Richard Hurst says the outlook for the DTPS is tainted because the department has been "born into a constant turf war with the DOC". He says future initiatives are doomed to be bogged down and hampered by this, but adds: "Hopefully some sanity can come to light during 2015 and the sector will be able to gain some clarity as to portfolios and remits."
Scoring the leaders
The DA grades Cwele 4/10 for his performance so far, which amounts to a South African "E" (a fail). Last year, the party rated Pule - who had been sacked after a controversial 21 months of tenure - an "F". Carrim, who had by that time been communications minister for about five months, was awarded a considerably better "C".
ICT expert Adrian Schofield, who reckons Carrim could have achieved a "C+" - or even a "B" - grade, says the biggest mistake Cwele has made is not picking up from where his predecessor left off. "Carrim was not the enemy, not the opposition, and he was presumably available to brief Cwele on what was in hand. There was no logical reason not to continue [with the plans Carrim had put in motion]."
Schofield says Cwele might scrape an "E" grade, "in that he hasn't done anything really negative (yet)." The promotion of the DTPS minister from an "F" to an "E" is thanks to the department's creation of a discussion document around the National ICT Policy. "It's the only sign of activity that I can recall."
While some suggest Cwele should be cut some slack, in that he inherited a complicated portfolio with real problems - such as the protracted post office strike or the fact that the sector regulator was plucked from his ministry - the general sentiment is that he has failed to deliver on his promises.
Hurst, who rates Carrim a "C", based on his "keen understanding and attempts to balance sector and ICT policy objectives", also rates Cwele an "E". While Cwele may not have perpetuated the infamy bred in the DOC of old, says Hurst, "he has failed to deliver on his promises [so far]".
"The real issue is that this sort of delay will only serve to undermine any confidence that the sector may have had in his ability to deliver." Cull echoes Hurst's hope for "sanity to prevail" in 2015, but says "I'm afraid the outlook is not good at all".
Schofield, too, predicts a bleak outlook for the DTPS going into the new year. "The policy discussions will drag on through the White Paper and into draft legislation. That might be delayed if there is anything deemed to be unpopular, since the ANC will have an eye to the 2016 elections. The SA Post Office will still be in a shambles. The telcos will still be fighting about what belongs to who and who gets what spectrum."
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