DA lashes out at Minister
In a statement issued by Dene Smuts, the DA spokesperson for Communications, the DA said that the Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri’s “clarification” in Mauritius on undersea cables confirms the Department of Communication’s determination to get a slice of the pie and to control telecoms.
“Her insistence that all cables landing here must be majority SA-owned is a mathematical impossibility if each African country makes similar demands. It is also contrary to SA’s interests to prevent the landing of the capacity we need,” said Smuts.
The DA believes commentators who think the ownership stipulations will simply require partnerships with local telcos or financiers are missing a major point. The Minister said in Mauritius that any cables landing here would have to become part of the Nepad Network.
“That Network will operate under a protocol which gives each signed-up African government a controlling golden share. She has already told her Director-General who is the driving force behind the protocol – to take SA’s landing guidelines to the interim Intra-Governmental Assembly. This body calls the shots on the protocol, which was adopted by the SA parliament against DA objections.”
Smuts said that it is becoming increasingly farcical that Director-General Shope-Mafole claims to be carrying the principles of our Electronic Communications Act into Africa.
“The ECA effectively brings government control of telecoms to an end and introduces competition. The Nepad approach has already blocked the Eassy cable.”
“Our information is that Seacom will, in fact, have a hefty SA shareholding – the name of Cyril Ramaphosa, among others, is mentioned – but also that the investment sector is fairly fed up with the ongoing and increasing confusion,” said Smuts.
“No one can make head or tail of the Minister’s thinking or her Director-General’s initiatives. The only thing that is clear is that both SA telecoms Ministries – Public Enterprises and Communications – are reinstating state telecoms against the tide of liberalisation and modern economic trends.”
Loading ...