South Africa Communiqué
2 July 2010
Minister appoints Mncube as Icasa chairperson

Communications minister, Siphiwe Nyanda, has appointed Dr. Stephen Sipho Mncube as the new chairperson of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) effective from 1 July 2010. His appointment comes after the five years end term of Paris Mashile which expired on 30 June 2010.  Nyanda said upon his decision to appoint Dr. Mncube, he hopes that he will together with the council members continue to steer the regulator in the right direction.

Mncube accepts this position after he had been the former chairperson of state owned signal distributor Sentech. Nyanda further added that Icasa needed to be strengthened with the necessary capacity in order for the regulator to efficiently deliver on its mandate, emphasising that it was important for it to align its business of regulation with the policy objectives of government and the developmental goals of the country.“This is important, especially due to the fact government has placed ICT’s at the centre of the country’s developmental agenda. We must utilise ICT’s to accelerate service delivery and empower our people,” said General Nyanda.

He added that government will continue to respect the regulator’s independence. “We will continue to engage Icasa within the available frameworks as stipulated by law. Having positioned ICT’s as an agent for the change we want to see in our country, it means government is a player in this sector, hence the need for an independent, strong and competent regulator to play referee,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Icasa Amendment Bill has been gazetted. The Bill deals with a few critical issues including proposals to ensure that Icasa operates more efficiently. It ensures tighter turn-around times for decisions. It also introduces a number of new powers for the Minister. These include the following:

- Icasa must implement policy and policy directives issued by the Minister
- The Chairperson of Council must "perform such functions as the Minister may determine, subject to prior notification being given   to Parliament".
- The Minister will determine what roles councillors play on Council.
- The evaluation of Councillors will be conducted by a panel constituted by the Minister in consultation with Parliament. The panel must be chaired by the Minster or someone delegated by the Minister.
- The Complaints and Compliance Committee members will be nominated by the Minister in consultation with Parliament.

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