Statement by Ray Webber for CUASA
With Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri announcing on Friday that the ministry will not petition the Supreme Court of Appeal with regard to the "Altech matter", some sense seems to have finally prevailed within the Department of Communications.
There has been considerable coverage in the press over recent months regarding the court case lodged by Altech Autopage on 16 May, concerning the right VANS had to self-provide telecommunications infrastructure. This initially came to a head on 29 August when the Pretoria High Court ruled in Altech's favour, stating that VANS did, under the old Telecommunications Act, have this right. ICASA at that point indicated that they would commence issuing ECNS licenses to previous VANS.
Then, at the eleventh hour, on 19 September, Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri made an application for right to appeal this ruling. On 31 October Acting Judge N Davis refused this on all points, with costs.
Matsepe-Casaburri had also, on 17 October, filed an interdict against ICASA, to prevent them from converting VANS licenses to ECNS licenses. Then, on Friday 6 November, the Pretoria High Court ruled against her again, with costs.
While Matsepe-Casaburri's somewhat badly-written statement on Friday asserts that the " . . . Minister has been made the villain over the past few months for opposing Altech's court action . . .", one can't help thinking that the fracas has all been in Matsepe-Casaburri's own making.
Matsepe-Casaburri's spokesperson continued in Friday's statement by asserting that she was merely ensuring the country's laws were being adhered to. If this was the case, then she should have settled with the findings of the Pretoria High Court and rested the matter months ago. There is no doubt that her insistence in this matter has seriously damaged her credibility within the industry, to the point where the Minister is now openly and perhaps disrespectfully referred to as "Aunty Ivy".
Prior to Matsepe-Casaburri's capitulation in the matter, one had ask oneself just how much of an appetite the Minister had for punishing tax payers. After all, it was surely in the interests of the vast majority of tax payers that the Minister drop her apparently futile and repeated legal processes, thereby saving us from what must have amounted to huge sums in terms of legal costs. It would be interesting to know how many low-cost houses could have been built with the tax payer's money spent on Matsepe-Casaburri's futile legal dalliances in this matter.
In the meantime, the clock is running and ICASA only has until 19 January next year to finalise the license conversion process. Another question is what these much-needed licenses will cost industry players and, therefore, ultimately consumers? We can only trust that the licenses will be priced appropriately in order to stimulate competition.
Another aspect which bears consideration in the Altech matter is what part Department of Communications Director General Lyndall Shope-Mafole has played in all of this? Was it her, or the Minister, who was hell-bent on limiting competition and the number of real players in the telecoms infrastructure space? Was she pushing "Auntie Ivy" to keep lodging these appeals and interdicts? If she was, does her resignation from the ANC and its NEC on 31 October change things? She stated at the time of her resignation that she wanted to remain in her position as DG, but will that happen? Or has the Government decided they can now actually have non-ANC members in senior DG portfolios?
While we would prefer it if our country's elected representatives would embrace industry liberalisation rather than continue to attempt to stifle it, one thing is for sure - the South African telecommunications space is far from boring.
Ray Webber
CUASA Spokesperson
|
