Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the beautiful flowers you've laid out for me. [Laughter.] I also extend great thanks to Minister Gordhan for the R200 million he has given to the SABC. I think they really deserve that money and it will help them with their cash-flow problems.
Early last month I reported to the House that the Portfolio Committee on Communications had completed the process of interviewing candidates for a vacancy in the Council of the Independent Communications Authority of SA, Icasa. The committee, and subsequently this House, recommended two candidates for appointment to the Minister of Communications. They were Mr Khulile Boqwana and Mr William Stucke. The Minister had to decide on either one of the two candidates and refer the matter back to the House for a final decision.
The Minister has now done so. He recommends that Mr William Stucke be appointed to the Icasa Council. The committee, this morning, agreed to support the Minister's decision.
This is not your typical political appointment. This is not a mere affirmative-action placement. And this is not an appointment that the Minister had predetermined even before the parliamentary process had begun.
Minister Nyanda has considered the matter very, very carefully. He has taken into account many challenges that beset Icasa. He has opted for the candidate with the best possible technical skills and competencies, and the committee agrees with this refreshing approach.
Mr Stucke has a broad and in-depth understanding of technical and regulatory matters relating to the ICT sector. He has a BSc Honours degree in engineering and he is a certified electrical engineer. He has served as the chairman of the African Internet Service Providers Association. He is also the treasurer of the Internet Service Providers Association of SA. He designed and built the first fibre-optic Ethernet network in an underground mine, in our country. Taking these strengths into account, the committee is of the view that Mr Stucke will make an invaluable contribution to Icasa.
I have reported to the House previously that the committee was less than satisfied with the overall performance of Icasa. The committee is continually receiving negative feedback on administrative inefficiencies within Icasa. Icasa has not been successful in processing a number of regulatory decisions on the basis of proper and legally defensible procedures.
Only a few weeks ago, when the committee undertook an oversight visit to Icasa's offices, it discovered that there was no real cohesion between the Icasa councillors and its senior executive management. Here was a case where the left hand did not really understand what the right hand was doing. Lastly, I think by now we all acknowledge that Icasa had failed dismally to regulate interconnection rates in the cellphone industry.
Icasa cannot continue in this way, or in the way it has done over the past few years. It has to get its act together. The appointment of Mr Stucke signals, hopefully, that this is not business as usual. Mr Stucke strikes one as a person with energy, enthusiasm and passion. He has a good grasp of the legal issues at stake. And he is impatient to get on with the job of bringing about some change to Icasa.
The committee shares this sense of urgency. It, therefore, recommends that the House approve the nomination of Mr William Stucke to serve on the Council of Icasa. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
There was no debate.
Declaration of vote: