Communication minister’s vital mistake
Roy Padayachie’s short tenure as communications minister was brought to an abrupt end on Monday, after President Jacob Zuma announced that he would be replaced by Dina Pule, deputy minister for performance monitoring and evaluation.
Despite being ranked as one of the best communications ministers the country has had, Padayachie’s ousting appears to have come as a result of the digital TV migration debacle.
At the same time his deputy, Obed Bapela, was appointed deputy minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation. His replacement is parliamentary member, Tembisa Stella Ndabeni.
According to the Sunday Times, Padayachie was on a collision course with parliament after the communications portfolio committee demanded the axing of the board which was supposed to oversee the switch to digital TV. Padayachie was opposed to this and had extended the board’s term for another year.
Padayachie took over from Siphiwe Nyanda in October last year and at the time, the appointment was hailed as a victory for the industry due to his vast knowledge of the field. Pule served as Nyanda’s deputy and was involved with the digital migration process.
Denis Smit, MD of technology consulting firm BMI-TechKnowledge, told TechCentral that he is “shocked” that Zuma decided to redeploy both the minister and his deputy, saying the changes will “inevitably result in delays to crucial projects, including digital migration and the allocation of new radio frequency spectrum needed by telecommunications operators to build next-generation wireless broadband networks”. He added that the impact on the sector could be enormous as “Roy had the respect of the industry, as did his deputy. It will slow everything down. Stuff that’s important will be delayed”.
Industry bodies were however largely positive on Pule’s appointment.
Ashleigh Dubbelman, from Vodacom’s Corporate Communications said “We welcome the appointment of Dina Pule … Tembisa Stella Ndabeni. We look forward to working together…
“We would also like to take this opportunity to thank outgoing minister Roy Padayachie and deputy minister Obed Bapela for their solid leadership over the last year.”
Karel Pienaar, MTN SA managing director, also welcomed the appointments, adding that Pule’s experience in the Presidency will be brought to bear on the communications department.
“The onus is now on the Working Committees to work together in delivering on the mandate of universal broadband penetration,” he added.
Nombulelo Moholi, Telkom Group CEO, said: “We look forward to a good working relationship with the minister and her deputy as we work together towards better service delivery to the South African state, its communities and businesses.”
Padayachie’s replacement will have her work cut out for her, and she will need to deal with:
- The migration from analogue to digital television;
- The Post Office being leaderless after CEO Motshoanetsi Lefoka was placed on leave of absence pending the outcome of a probe into the lease of new offices, involving irregular and wasteful expenditure of nearly R450m;
- The removal of the Post Office’s chief operating officer John Wentzel, who was also acting MD of Postbank, during a key phase in Postbank’s corporatisation;
- A ministerial oversight committee set up by Former minister Padayachie to monitor and speed up the introduction of retail banking in the Post Office;
- The allocation of new radio frequency spectrum.