Communications minister announces Icasa council candidates

Communications and digital technologies minister Solly Malatsi has selected four new candidates to serve on the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (Icasa’s) council.

The nominated candidates are Dr Charles Lewis, Dr Joshua Tshifhiwa Maumela, Karabo Mohale, and Andrew Dibi Matseke.

They were selected from a list of six sent to Malatsi by the Parliament in December last year.

“A properly staffed and independent regulator is essential to ensuring fair competition, protecting consumer interests, and enabling an environment conducive to investment and innovation,” Malatsi said in a statement.

“These individuals collectively represent the appropriate balance of professional expertise that ICASA requires and blending continuity with fresh perspectives to ensure the regulator remains robust and forward-looking.”

This list of candidates will be sent back to Parliament for review before Malatsi can finalise their appointments in line with Section 5(1A)(a) of the Icasa Act.

Below is an overview of each of the nominated persons’ qualifications and relevant experience:

• Dr Charles “Charley” Lewis holds a PhD and master’s degree in information systems from the University of Witwatersrand and was an Icasa councillor from 2020 until 2024.
• Dr Joshua Tshifhiwa Maumela is a senior machine learning engineer at Vodacom and holds a PhD and master’s degree in AI from the University of Johannesburg.
• Andrew Dibi Matseke served as the CEO of Broadband Infraco from 2017 until 2022 and holds a bachelor of science in electrical and electronic engineering and a master of business administration from UCT.
• Karabo Mohale is currently the executive deputy chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency and chair of the board of directors of the Tshwane Institute for Continuing Education. She holds a master of arts in development studies from the University of Sussex, a bachelor of commerce honours in marketing from Mancosa, a bachelor of technology in marketing from Tshwane University, and a national diploma in marketing.