Ivy fails yet again
Matsepe-Casaburri has been an underperforming minister for years, but in 2008 she shifted her incompetence down a gear by actively preventing liberalization of the sector.
Embarrassed by the Johannesburg High Court’s ruling in favour of Altech, which took the minister to court to win the right for value-added network service (Vans) providers to provide their own networks, she attempted to appeal, before the court quashed her bid. But the propose fee structures for new telecommunications licenses could put a damper on the victory celebrations, as Vans could be hammered by a 30-fold increase in fees.
There are one or two bright spots. The Seacom cable is set to land in mid-2009, delivering much-needed, affordable international bandwidth. And Neotel has finally entered the market with its competitively priced converged voice an internet offerings.
But many opportunities have been missed because Matsepe-Casaburri is asleep at the wheel. The government is too heavily invested in the sector to be a policy director too; yet this year she oversaw further government investment by allowing the state to be tied into a 10% shareholding in the newly unbundled Vodacom until mid-2010.
A weak minister previously tied to Mbeki’s apron strings, Matsepe-Casaburri is certain to be dropped after the election. But it is far from clear that her replacement will improve matters. Is the communications policy vacuum a product of her ineptitude, or does it suit the government to continue with the failed policy of ‘managed liberalisation’, which allows it to rake in money from its investments in the major telecoms players?
Grade: F (2007: F)
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