|  Telkom's
reported replacement of group executive for regulatory and
public policy, Victor Moche, with the current Chairman of
Parliament's communications portfolio committee, Nkenke Kekana,
is likely to wield unhealthy legislative and lobbying influence
in favour of the monopoly, the Communications Users Association
of South Africa warned this week.
"We
respect an individual's right to work for whomever they choose,
however, we do question the wisdom of a key political figure
moving directly into the private sector in a role such as
this," says CUASA's Ray Webber. "This is not a good
move for competition in South Africa as it is possible that
Kekana's contacts within government and the portfolio committee
will wield tremendous influence on regulatory and policy issues
in favour of the monopoly," he says.
Telkom's
CEO, Sizwe Nxasana, announced the move last month, commenting
that Kekana "brings a wealth of experience in telecommunications
policy and regulation to his new position at Telkom and will
help ensure that Telkom maximises shareholder value and maintains
its leadership positions." Nxasana's statement openly
admits that Kekana's new role as head of regulatory and public
policy would include dealing with issues that relate to the
interpretation and implementation of the Telkom License, regulations
and the Telecommunications Act.
Commenting
on Telkom's move, the International Telecommunications Users
Group's Ewan Sutherland said that in these circumstances,
the international norm would be for a quarantine period to
be established. "There was a famous case of Martin Bangemann,
who was European Commissioner for the Information Society.
He had hardly left office when Telefonica de Espana announced
he was to join their board. The resulting public outcry resulted
in a delay being imposed and he never did join Telefonica,"
he says.
Sutherland
said he suspects that even in the US, the Senate would view
such a move as odd, and that clearly it should be opposed.
He also questioned how long Kekana had known about his move,
as this could raise "severe doubts" about his decision-making
in previous months, even years.
"It's
generally understood in the telecommunications industry that
one of Victor Moche's key roles at Telkom has been to influence
the political leadership so as to receive favourable policy,
regulatory and legislative results for the monopoly. There
is nothing uncommon about this kind of lobbying, but we think
that Moche has always been an 'outsider' in his attempts to
curry favour with government and so-called 'independent' committees,"
says Webber. "Kekana has been involved in the information
and communication sector for the past 20 years, has been a
member of parliament since 1994, and has participated in the
formulation of major telecommunications and broadcasting legislation.
Perhaps most importantly, since 1999 he has served as the
chairperson of the Communications portfolio committee in the
National Assembly. As a result, he is, in real terms, an 'insider'
with way too much political influence in his new role at Telkom.
This situation is likely to unbalance an often fragile relationship
between Telkom and its corporate and consumer clients,"
he says.
"Furthermore,
in his capacity as the Chairman of Parliament's communications
portfolio committee, Kekana has hosted many public hearings
on communications issues. CUASA and other organisations dedicated
to the protection of business and consumers from unrepentant
monopolies such as Telkom have been obliged to open their
cards to him in terms of their goals, policy and strategy.
Now we find that, in essence, the referee in the telecommunications
playing field has been 'bought' by the opposing team. And
it doesn't matter if the referee is replaced, because Kekana
is likely to have the political power and influence to sway
their decisions anyway.
"How
much longer must business and consumers suffer before government
wakes up and recognises Telkom's dirty tricks for what they
really are? What must happen in our country for government
in general and the communications minister in particular to
cease dilly-dallying around the SNO process and implement
real competition for the good of South Africa? Once again
we call for real competition in the sector - competition that
will enable general development, and open doors to new and
existing business and much-needed employment for South Africans,"
says Webber.
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