Icasa CEO’s shock exit scuttles money probe
A LENGTHY investigation into alleged wrongdoing by controversial Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) CEO Jackie Manche has been quietly dropped, after she was allowed to resign rather than face a disciplinary inquiry.
Manche resigned on December 22 but the news was kept so quiet that not even members of Parliament’s communications portfolio committee were aware that she had quit and that Icasa had curtailed its probe.
The development raises questions about government’s bid to beef up accountability of officials, and it was unclear whether it is in line with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
The resignation also means it will not be disclosed whether Manche was guilty of violating the PFMA, the Icasa Act and the internal procedures of Icasa, which regulates the telecoms and broadcasting sectors.
“Because she didn’t want to get into the matter of the case, she opted to resign and the investigation wasn’t completed,” Icasa chairman Paris Mashile said yesterday.
Manche herself declined to comment.
Yesterday, Icasa claimed that it issued a statement on December 22 informing media of the development. Business Day, however, has no record of having received it last month.
The statement, received yesterday, says: “With her decision to resign, council has decided not to continue with the protracted disciplinary process, and all charges placed against Ms Manche have been withdrawn.”
The statement also expressed “sincerest gratitude” for her service, while Manche expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve and contribute to national development.
Her contribution was sporadic, however, as Manche was suspended on full pay for 10 months after her behaviour came up for scrutiny. The probe began when a senior official resigned after the theft of R110000 from a safe and the theft was not reported timeously. Procedures for procuring 11 vehicles were also investigated.
Manche’s resignation surprised Democratic Alliance MP Dene Smuts, who serves on the communications portfolio committee. She said Manche’s suspension on full pay for 10 months had been absurd, and now the truth would never be known.
“What was going on was clearly outrageous, with cash disappearing from a safe, but we as a parliamentary committee have never managed to glean real information.”
That was due partly to the eva-siveness of Icasa’s chairman and because the African National Congress (ANC) had “backed off” from dealing with Icasa’s governance problems, she said.
Although that chapter had an unsatisfactory ending, it was an opportunity to appoint a strong CEO to clean up the host of problems at Icasa, Smuts said.
Icasa recently advertised 17 vacancies, including posts for six managers and three advisers to its councillors. Even then it will still lack GMs, technical experts and specialists in competition and economic analysis.
It also lacks a ninth councillor, but that vacancy has triggered a row between the portfolio committee and the ANC.
The ANC wants to pick a replacement from a short list of three approved by Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, but Smuts said those candidates were not strong enough and Icasa should re- advertise for someone with economics experience.
Smuts said she would protest “very vehemently” if the councillor position went to one of the short-listed trio, Mashila Matlala. Matlala was a senior manager in the communications department but was demoted after leaking information to the second network operator. “I established the fact of that with a parliamentary question,” Smuts said.
It was crucial that Icasa ran effectively, as new legislation to cut the cost of telecommuni-cations was entirely dependent on a strong regulator, Smuts said.
Manche resigned on December 22 but the news was kept so quiet that not even members of Parliament’s communications portfolio committee were aware that she had quit and that Icasa had curtailed its probe.
The development raises questions about government’s bid to beef up accountability of officials, and it was unclear whether it is in line with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
The resignation also means it will not be disclosed whether Manche was guilty of violating the PFMA, the Icasa Act and the internal procedures of Icasa, which regulates the telecoms and broadcasting sectors.
“Because she didn’t want to get into the matter of the case, she opted to resign and the investigation wasn’t completed,” Icasa chairman Paris Mashile said yesterday.
Manche herself declined to comment.
Yesterday, Icasa claimed that it issued a statement on December 22 informing media of the development. Business Day, however, has no record of having received it last month.
The statement, received yesterday, says: “With her decision to resign, council has decided not to continue with the protracted disciplinary process, and all charges placed against Ms Manche have been withdrawn.”
The statement also expressed “sincerest gratitude” for her service, while Manche expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve and contribute to national development.
Her contribution was sporadic, however, as Manche was suspended on full pay for 10 months after her behaviour came up for scrutiny. The probe began when a senior official resigned after the theft of R110000 from a safe and the theft was not reported timeously. Procedures for procuring 11 vehicles were also investigated.
Manche’s resignation surprised Democratic Alliance MP Dene Smuts, who serves on the communications portfolio committee. She said Manche’s suspension on full pay for 10 months had been absurd, and now the truth would never be known.
“What was going on was clearly outrageous, with cash disappearing from a safe, but we as a parliamentary committee have never managed to glean real information.”
That was due partly to the eva-siveness of Icasa’s chairman and because the African National Congress (ANC) had “backed off” from dealing with Icasa’s governance problems, she said.
Although that chapter had an unsatisfactory ending, it was an opportunity to appoint a strong CEO to clean up the host of problems at Icasa, Smuts said.
Icasa recently advertised 17 vacancies, including posts for six managers and three advisers to its councillors. Even then it will still lack GMs, technical experts and specialists in competition and economic analysis.
It also lacks a ninth councillor, but that vacancy has triggered a row between the portfolio committee and the ANC.
The ANC wants to pick a replacement from a short list of three approved by Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, but Smuts said those candidates were not strong enough and Icasa should re- advertise for someone with economics experience.
Smuts said she would protest “very vehemently” if the councillor position went to one of the short-listed trio, Mashila Matlala. Matlala was a senior manager in the communications department but was demoted after leaking information to the second network operator. “I established the fact of that with a parliamentary question,” Smuts said.
It was crucial that Icasa ran effectively, as new legislation to cut the cost of telecommuni-cations was entirely dependent on a strong regulator, Smuts said.
posted by Jopie Fourie at 7:00 AM
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