Icasa: 'Fire them all'

Cape Town - If President Jacob Zuma's repeatedly stated commitment not to tolerate laziness and incompetence has any substance, the executive of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) should be fired, said analysts.

After the failed Pretoria High Court bid by Cosatu and Icasa to block Telkom from selling its stake in Vodacom for R22.5bn to Britain's Vodafone, CEO of Pan African Advisory Services Iraj Abedian said the real issue at stake is Icasa's blunder.

The regulatory body approved the transaction in April. A few weeks later - three days before Vodacom was due to list on the JSE - Icasa changed its mind, saying Telkom did indeed need its permission to do this transaction.

While the court ruled against Cosatu and Icasa, Abedian said: "The lesson in all this is that if you give regulatory bodies the power to exercise control over business and over the course of international investment, for goodness' sake make sure they have the capacity to fully understand the processes.

"This is a case where government should sack them all (Icasa executives) and make an example of how serious it is about not tolerating laziness and incompetence."

Paul Hoffman of the Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa added that the bloody nose Cosatu received from the court should be a lesson that if you do not want to be known as a banana republic, you can't mess with the sanctity of contract and property.

While Cosatu has not called for any Icasa heads, it has accused the regulator of abdicating its "legal obligations" to protect the public interest. Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven says the union will continue to use legal means to get the deal reversed.

Icasa dismissed suggestions that it buckled under pressure to change its stance. On the other hand, it has confirmed it will not be taking the matter further. Whether this is the end of the matter for the regulator will depend on what stand parliament takes as it prepares to resume work after the election.

Speculation on the motives for Cosatu's opposition centred on the Elephant Consortium, which holds a 15.1% stake in Telkom and now stands to benefit substantially from this deal.

Members of the consortium were prominent in former president Thabo Mbeki's government. They include Smuts Ngonyama, who headed Mbeki's office, and former department of communications director-general Andile Ngcaba, who also oversaw the privatisation of Telkom.

Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi described this deal as a "parasitic accumulation of capital".

- Fin24.com