ICASA Amendment Act signed into law

By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent

Cape Town, 26 Jun 2006

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) Amendment Act has been signed into law by president Thabo Mbeki, but like the closely-related Electronic Communications (EC) Act, no effective date has set down.

According to the Government Gazette, the ICASA Amendment Act, Act number 3 of 2006, was signed by the president on 15 June and gazetted on the 22 June.

The law, which governs the telecommunications, broadcasting and postal regulator, ICASA, had to be changed in order to bring it into line with the EC Act, which will replace the current Telecommunications Act and sections of the various broadcasting laws.

"The legislative has done its part and we have a law that now reflects what parliament wants," ICASA chairman Paris Mashile says.

The ICASA law was originally returned by the presidency to parliament earlier this year on constitutional grounds. There were concerns with sections seven, nine and 11 of the law concerning the appointment of councillors, and performance management system for councillors, that the presidency objected to.

The main issue was the proposal that councillors be selected by a panel of experts, appointed by the minister of communications, and so take the process out of parliament`s hands.

Unconstitutional

According to a letter by the presidency to parliament, the process, especially with regard to ensuring an independent broadcasting regulator, was unconstitutional. Now the appointment process is back in parliament`s hands, although the minister retains some say in the process.

Karabo Motlana, head of regulatory affairs at network operator Cell C, says the signing into law of the ICASA Amendment Act was good news.

"There is a sense of urgency, especially as they have to start looking for new councillors," he says.

Dene Smuts, DA member of parliament says: "This is very good news and highly relevant as the Portfolio Committee on Communications has agreed to set the last week of July aside for looking at new ICASA councillors."

Smuts says she is puzzled as to why no commencement date has been set yet, but that she suspects it could be a procedural matter.

Godfrey Oliphant (ANC), acting chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio on Communications, says he also does not know why no commencement date has been set.

"I am trying to find that out myself. However, we shall be looking at appointing new councillors in terms of the new Act. The appointment process is not substantially different from the previous Act, however, there are some new rules in play, such as the performance management system," he says.

No comment has been received from the Department of Communications as to when the ICASA Amendment Act and the Electronic Amendment Act will have commencement dates.