The workers at the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) have painted a bleak picture about the Council and senior management during a meeting with Members of the Portfolio Committee on Communications on Wednesday.

The meeting at the Icasa offices formed part of the Committee’s week-long oversight visit to Gauteng. During its visit, the Committee met with staff members and listened to their work challenges before meeting the Board and senior management to hear their responses.

Issues raised by Icasa workers included allegations of wasteful and fruitless expenditure, particularly with the use of consultants; victimisation of junior staff; management reneging on implementing a settlement agreement after a 2016 strike, and human resource policies.

Visibly emotional workers, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, packed an auditorium in one of the three Icasa buildings. They had similar stories to tell about the issues affecting them. They made an impassioned plea to the Committee to facilitate a process of amending the Electronic Communications Act to create a non-executive Icasa Council through statutory obligation. According to workers, the Council does nothing to address their challenges, despite the fact that it is appointed on a full-time basis. 

The Chairperson of the Committee, Mr Humphrey Maxegwana, assured workers that the Committee will deal with all the issues after the constituency period on 2 May 2017 and revert to them by the end of June.

Although acknowledging the existence of some of the challenges raised by workers, the Council together with senior management disputed most of the allegations, insisting that Icasa did everything according to the provisions of the law.

“We needed to consider issues, such as cost implications, before implementing the strike agreement and that is not to say we are not doing anything. We agree that the lack of open internal communication between the Council, senior management and workers has created a vacuum for speculation, rumour and mistrust,” said Ms Nomvuyiso Batyi, a member of the Council.

Similar challenges with salary inconsistencies and victimisation were raised by workers at the Department of Communications, the Government Communication and Information Systems and the Media Development and Diversity Agency on Tuesday during their interaction with the Committee.  

Justice Molafo
29 March 2017