The woes besetting the Department of Communications (DOC) bubbled to the fore yesterday, when it presented its 2009-2012 strategy before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications.
Initially, DOC acting director-general Gerda Grabe and deputy director-general for finance Harry Mathabathe delivered an upbeat presentation outlining the department's priorities. However, once the members of Parliament started asking questions, the extent of the department's challenges became apparent.
This was the first presentation by the DOC to its oversight committee since the April general elections, the death of former communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, and the resignation of former director-general Lyndall Shope-Mafole.
Five priorities
The DOC said its top five priorities for the 2009/10 financial year are:
* The digital broadcast migration, including managing an awareness campaign, and the roll-out of the infrastructure with Sentech and the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
* To develop a policy for the national radio frequency spectrum that includes an audit up to the 3GHz frequency.
* To develop cyber security policy and undertake identification of critical information infrastructure.
* To develop a national broadband policy that will include a programme of action to address the country's telecommunications costs.
* To implement an information society and the development of “hub” programmes that will include a national youth programme, the Meraka e-Skills Institute and the publication of an “e-Barometer”.
In terms of the ICT policy development, the DOC's plans for the development of the national broadband policy will result in the writing of an Integrated National ICT Act. However, no details were given on exactly what the goals of this piece of legislation will be.
Budget allocations for the current financial year show the biggest slice of the R1.3 billion goes to ICT enterprise development, mainly to state-owned enterprises such as Sentech and others. R34 million has been allocated to the Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development. ICT policy development was allocated R94 million, while R45 million was allocated to ICT international affairs, R458 million to ICT infrastructure development, R89 million to cover operational costs for ICT infrastructure development, R18 million for ICT policy development and R152 million for administration.
The department also showed its human resources capacity is lacking, as it only has 306 employees for the 429 available positions and a large number of its senior staff members are in an acting capacity.
Serious concerns
Committee chairman Ismail Vadi said he understood the department was going through a difficult time following the death of the previous communications minister, but he had serious concerns about a number of issues.
These included the role of the Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development (PNC on ISAD), with a major concern that it appeared to be creating a “department within a department”; that the DOC did not seem to be fully aware of the financial problems surrounding the SABC; and that the Uhurunet undersea cable project did not have Cabinet approval, as well as why it was still on the DOC's list of tasks.
Other members of Parliament also asked about the school e-rate issue and insisted it become one of the department's priorities.
Grabe and the rest of the DOC senior management said the PNC on ISAD was being looked into and that some consideration was being made to transfer it, or some of its functions, to the Presidency. They also said they were under the impression that Uhurunet had been given Cabinet approval, but that they would find out.
They explained that the reason so many senior members were in acting roles was due to a cascade effect caused by Grabe taking up her role as acting director-general, and then having to appoint someone to act in her position as head of human resources and operations.
Compounding the cross talk between the politicians and the DOC is the fact that many MPs are new to the committee. These include the Democratic Alliance's Niekki van den Berg and the African National Congress's Johnny de Lange.
“This information... What do you call it?” De Lange asked Grabe at one stage. “Society,” she responded. “Yes, well, we have to determine how big it is or how small it is,” De Lange then said.
He was trying to state that there was no means of measuring the DOC's, or its portfolio companies' success over the past 15 years.
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