The minister received a dismal four out of ten, mainly due to her inability to address the high prices and poor service delivery due to Telkom’s monopolistic position.

According to the 29 337 votes received by the public, Matsepe-Casaburri’s rating was even worse with dip of 0.3 points leaving her with a score of 3.7 out of 10. Matsepe-Casaburri’s score is also lower than the average cabinet score of 4.3 for 2006.

It is further telling that her score has decreased steadily over the past three years. Matsepe-Casaburri received a rating of six in 2004 and five in 2005.

According to the DA: “Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has fallen steadily in the DA’s rankings over the past three years because of her ongoing reluctance to take on Telkom, whose monopolistic practices make South Africa one of the most expensive places in the world to communicate.”

The DA Report was critical towards the minister’s attempts at gaining more control over ICASA.

“More of the same from Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe Casaburri in 2006, as she continued her efforts to turn the country’s communications authority into “Ivy’s Communications Authority of South Africa,” the DA report said.

As can be expected the Department of Communication’s shareholding in Telkom and its inability to influence the high prices of communications in South Africa came under fire.

“Communication costs in South Africa, especially for fixed-line telephony, are currently among the highest in the world. However, as a 38% shareholder in Telkom, the Minister has still not managed to convince Telkom to stop its discriminatory practices and set fairer access tariffs,” the DA said.

“From a delivery point of view, the Department’s inability to drive down the costs of, and promote access to, broadband communications and telephony remains a problem,” the report said.

Discuss this article