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ICASA shortlists the usual suspects

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 04 Nov 2015
Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications named candidates to fill the vacant posts on ICASA's council.
Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications named candidates to fill the vacant posts on ICASA's council.

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has made recommendations of candidates' names for its board, following the halt in the nomination process in June.

Business Day reports Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications (PPCC) recommended seven names to fill the vacant councillor posts at the regulator.

The candidates are: Lumko Mtimde, Botlenyana Mokhele, Dimakatso Qocha, Yengwayo Kutta, Peter Zimri, Keabetswe Modimoeng, and Paris Mashile.

However, this shortlist still contains a candidate whose chequered past has raised concerns.

Dodgy list

ICASA's council has been four members short since October 2014. Communications minister Faith Muthambi ushered out William Currie, Joseph Lebooa, William Stucke and Ntombizodwa Ndhlovu, while another councillor, Marcia Socikwa, resigned in January.

It was previously reported that all four of the outgoing ICASA councillors who left last year reapplied for the positions, but none were selected.

However, it now appears that top of the list of councillor recommendations is former head of Media Development and Diversity Agency, Mtimde, whom the Democratic Alliance (DA) previously rejected.

According to the DA, Mtimde "is openly and unapologetically supportive of the Media Appeals Tribunal first proposed by the ANC back in 2007". The DA argues ICASA needs councillors whose instincts are to promote media freedom, not to curtail it.

Mtimde also made news when he was barred from being in the running to chair the state broadcaster's board, after his CV was not lodged with the entity in time.

Despite the DA's concerns over scandal and controversy, Mtimde's name is back on the shortlist.

No comment

Department of Communications (DOC) spokesperson Mishack Molakeng told ITWeb the department doesn't speak on behalf of the PPCC.

He noted the DOC will only make its comments once it receives the names of the councillors.

Commenting on the subject, Molakeng previously said: "The process of appointing ICASA's councillors and the chairman is at an advanced stage. The Electronic Communications Act section 11-12 stipulates that the quorum for any meeting of the council is a majority of the councillors in the office at the time."

ICASA failed to respond to ITWeb's questions by the time of publication.

ICT veterans

The shortlist does contain some familiar faces and candidates' names regarded as industry veterans, namely Mashile and Zimri, and both have a history with the regulator.

Mashile is a former ICASA board chairman, while Zimri is a frequency spectrum specialist who was senior manager for spectrum at the authority between 2002 and 2004.

Subsequent to his two-year tenure at ICASA, Zimri served as director at the then Department of Communications for three years.

According to the ICASA Act, those appointed to the regulator's council must be individuals who:

* Are committed to fairness, freedom of expression, openness and accountability on the part of those entrusted with the governance of a public service.

* Are representative of a broad cross-section of the population of SA.

* Possess suitable qualifications, expertise and experience in the fields of (among others) broadcasting, electronic communications and postal policy or operations, public policy development, electronic engineering, law, IT, content in any form, consumer protection, education, economics, finance or any other relevant expertise or qualifications.

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