‘Eskom leasing plan must be probed’
Official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) shadow communications minister Dene Smuts said the available information on the reported move by Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin "may have merit".
Although Erwin’s office was quick on Monday to dismiss a report in Business Day about the apparent plan, Smuts suggested that perhaps the Public Enterprises Minister had concluded that his only chance of exerting beneficial control over the SNO "is through the creation of this separate company".
Smuts argued that the Communications Minister – Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri – who was the shareholder-manager for the State’s hefty 38% holding in Telkom had never been able to steer Telkom beyond the maximising of its own and the State’s assets and towards the public interest.
Smuts noted that Eskom, represented by Esitel, and Transnet, represented by Transtel, were given 30% of the SNO by law under the old telecommunications Act.
"Much of the delay in getting the SNO, and therefore fixed-line competition, off the ground was due to the unusual legislated serial licensing
process, in which the composition of the eventual consortium of shareholders was determined, not by normal commercial process, but by law."
The licensing process moved beyond the law when the Communications Minister took over ICASA’s function and gave two local groups who had twice been rejected by Icasa, shares in the SNO, she said.
"By contrast with these goings-on, the DA believes the new Electronic Communications Act to hold the real hope of competition because it will allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and others to build networks and to compete with the traditional telcos once the question of bandwidth via submarine cables is resolved. The new law gives Icasa the tools and the legislated obligation to bring this bandwidth pricing under control."
Earlier Public Enterprises spokesperson Gaynor Kast said Erwin had expressed his regret about the Business Day report, adding that the DPE had repeatedly said that it was premature to divulge any information around the SNO.
"As the DPE we wish to place on record that the information in the story is inaccurate. An announcement will be made once the negotiations have been concluded. We are confident that this is in the best interest of the SNO and its launch. We have no doubt that the SNO will form an integral part of the telecommunications sector and contribute to lowering telephone costs," said Kast.
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