R2K Submission on the proposed ICASA Amendment Bill
The Right2Know campaign believes that the proposed ICASA Amendment Bill (Notice No 970, Government Gazette Vol 569 No 35901, 23 November 2012) should be withdrawn in its entirety, pending the outcome and recommendations of the ICT Policy Review process.
The R2K_Submission states that there are a number of provisions within the proposed Bill that fundamentally undermine the independence of ICASA. Foremost amongst these is the proposed Section 4(4)(a), which requires ICASA to perform its functions “in accordance with sector policy and policy directions”. The effect of this new clause is to reduce ICASA to a mere implementation arm of the Department of Communications and of the Minister, with little or no discretion in the interpretation, consideration and implementation of policy.
R2K believes that the structural independence of ICASA is crucial for the effective regulation of a converging ICT sector. The role of the Minster in relation to entities like Telkom, Sentech and so forth requires effective separation of ICASA from the Department of Communications and the Minister in order to avoid structural conflicts of interest.
The Right2Know recognises that there are substantial problems with the functioning and effectiveness of ICASA as a regulatory institution. It is essential that we have a strong, independent Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). Simply put the Campaign believes that without a strong ICASA, R2K’s vision for entrenching the right to communicate will not be realised in the current context.
ICASA needs to systematically drive down telecommunication costs and create a broadcasting landscape conducive to the thriving of a host of diverse players including in particular public and community players. Further, it needs to rigorously enforce local content quotas and African language programming.
In terms of resourcing issues, R2K wants to place on record its deep concerns about government’s systematic underfunding of ICASA. The Campaign believes that this is one of the key reasons for ICASA’s weakness and inefficiencies the proposed Bill seeks to address. The Campaign believes that one of the first issues that needs to be addressed is adequate resourcing of our Regulator.
Download the Full R2K_Submission ICASA Amendment Bill here.
