DOC deputy minister eyes top spot

Johannesburg, 10 Dec 2008

Deputy communications minister Roy Padayachie has slammed minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri's managed liberalisation policy, saying the country has lost two years of development in the telecommunications sector. He also seems to be positioning himself to replace the minister.

Speaking at the ITWeb Technology Roadmaps conference yesterday, Padayachie explained that the lack of liberalisation, which he said should have happened in 2005, had created a deteriorated relationship between the private sector and the department.

He added that the Department of Communications (DOC) now needs to “seriously heal the rift between the private sector and other stakeholders” and itself. He also invited the telecoms private sector to enter into a dialogue with the department with the aim of repairing those relationships.

Change afoot

The deputy minister said Matsepe-Casaburri's decision not to appeal the Altech case (for value-added network service providers to self-provide) was a positive change for the department's strategy.

“...it could very well be argued that the department should have embraced this development [self-provisioning] way back in 2005 and assisted the sector by accelerating liberalisation at that time. We would not have lost the two years of potential development since and the devastating deterioration in relations between the private sector and the department that has more recently emerged.

“The critical matter going forward is to not make the assumption that things ought to remain the same as they are.

“What we will need to ensure is that there is policy certainty and that assurance that investment in the ICT sector will be continually supported and enhanced by workable policies that must bring good returns to the investment community, while, at the same time, advancing our national and development objectives of improving people's basic living conditions and improving their lives.

“We need a radical break from the past when the private sector is seen as an adversary. What is needed is a basis for a strategic partnership between the private sector and government.”

Minister in the making

Responding to a question posed by an audience member, Padayachie said he would make himself available to the new government should it want him to step into Matsepe-Casaburri's shoes after the next election.

“I have certainly made myself available to Parliament; whether that takes me anywhere is in the hands of the incoming president and the ruling party. Nonetheless, I am always willing and able to serve the people,” he explained.

Padayachie has not been quiet about his views on the minister's decision to contest the Altech case. When the minister made this decision in late November, he welcomed the move, saying it had been his view that the appeal should not have happened. At the same time, he expressed the need for the private-public sector relationships to be repaired.

Altech recently beat out communications minister Matsepe-Casaburri in a protracted battle to gain the right to self-provide. She has been widely criticised for her ongoing attempt to prevent providers from gaining that right, saying it undermined her strategy of managed liberalisation of the local telecoms market.

Sleeping giant?

Padayachie has adopted a low-key role as deputy minister, in line with many others of his governmental rank. However, he was instrumental in drafting the September 2004 liberalisation announcement that opened the door for self-provision. Matsepe-Casaburri tried to rescind this announcement by press release in January 2005 and the issue was settled recently in the courts when communications group Altech took on the minister in a legal action.

While he is not a member of the national executive committee, he is not excluded from becoming the next minister should the ANC take power in the next elections. Ministerial positions are appointed by the country's president.

Padayachie has indicated he remains a loyal member of the ANC and his name has not been associated with any of the defections and controversies that engulfed the ministry and DOC.

DOC director-general Lyndall Shope-Mafole was an early defector from the ruling party to the breakaway Congress of the People (COPE) and Matsepe-Casaburri has, according to media reports, been targeted for possible expulsion from the ANC for surreptitiously supporting COPE.

Padayachie's hard-hitting criticism yesterday seems to be his first move into the limelight.

The deputy minister earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Durban-Westville, as well as a Masters degree from the University of London. Before his election to the DOC in 2004, he worked as a business development specialist and economic development advisor to small and medium businesses.

At a recent conference on SA's broadband, telecoms lawyer Dominic Cull said the DOC lacked good leadership and was incompetent. However, he added that should Padayachie head up the ministry, things may well improve.

Meanwhile, it appears Padayachie is keen to mend fences with the industry: “It is about time that we began a new dialogue to construct a better basis for this partnership so that we may work together in the challenges that are ahead of us.”

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