Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications is calling for public nominations for four vacancies that will occur later this year in the Council of ICASA.
Committee Chairperson, Ismail Vadi, said that the vacancies will occur when the terms of office of four councillors, including ICASA Chairperson, come to an end later this year.
“These vacancies must be filled in the current parliamentary year, as ICASA fulfils a vital regulatory function in the information, communications and technology sector,” said Vadi.
Vadi indicated that to date the committee had only received 19 nominations. “This is worrisome as in the past we had received over 80 nominations for a single vacancy,” he added.
ICASA has recently come under close scrutiny by the committee, particularly as it failed to determine interconnection rates for mobile operators.
Candidates for the vacancies should be committed to fairness, freedom of expression and openness and accountability. They must be representative of a broad cross-section of the population of the country and possess suitable qualifications, expertise and experience in the fields of:
* Broadcasting
* Electronic communications and postal policy or operations
* Public policy development
* Electronic engineering
* Law
* Marketing and journalism
* Education
* Economics and finance.
They must also be South African citizens permanently resident in the country.
The closing date for nominations is 29 March 2010, after which a shortlist of candidates will be interviewed by the committee. After the candidates have been interviewed their names will be submitted to the National Assembly for approval and the Minister of Communications.
Enquiries:
Modise Kabeli
Tel: 021 403 3403
Cell: 082 077 4682
E-mail: mkabeli@parliament.gov.za
Issued by: Parliament of South Africa
10 March 2010
Source: Parliament of South Africa (http://www.parliament.gov.za/)
