Staffing issues compound licensing delays
Tracy Cohen, a councilor at ICASA, noted that the Regulator was heavily understaffed with 5 vacant councilor positions needing to be filled.
Currently councilors are busy fulfilling management tasks instead of getting on with the job of being councilors noted Cohen but there is very little that the Regulator can do to rectify this situation.
The blame for ICASA’s dire lack of councilors can be laid wholly at the feet of the Department of Communications who is responsible for appointing new members of the ICASA council.
According to Cohen there is around a 3 month gap from when a councilor leaves to the date that the position is filled.
ICASA have no authority over this process as it is up to parliament to appoint new councilors and the process is long and arduous.
Whilst the appointment of councilors is Government’s job the appointment of staff falls under ICASA’s jurisdiction.
It seems that the ICASA councilors are in desperate need of a few additions to their panel.
With the applications for new licenses and a 24 month deadline to convert all the old licenses it is vital that Government equip the Regulator with the councilors required to perform these tasks.
But help may be on the way.
According to an ITWeb report the list of nominees are out with former ICASA councilor Mamodupi Mohlala, MyADSL founder Rudolph Muller, Hellkom’s Gregg Stirton, Debbie Love and Lee-Ann Cassie, an ICASA telecoms enforcement manager forming part of the fray.
Muller is however surprised to see his name on the list as he did not submit any documentation or agreed to be involved in any process. While he says it is encouraging to see some consumer minded nominees, it is not clear what protocol was followed to compile the list.
From the list of almost 60 nominees a shortlist of 8 potential candidates will be submitted to the Minister of Communications for her final decision. The committee is expected to meet on Friday, 18 August, to table a shortlist of candidates.
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