Ivor Powell
The controversial third cellular licensing process was thrown into jeopardy this week as embattled councillors from the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Satra)failed to reach a consensus to rubber-stamp its earlier decision to recommend the Cell C consortium.
In this week’s meetings, two of the five councillors who earlier reached a “unanimous” decision to recommend the Saudi-backed consortium for the lucrative licence expressed serious reservations with both the procedures leading to the decision and the reasons for the award. Only three councillors held firm.
Meanwhile, as the temperature around the cellular licensing process continues to rise, the Mail & Guardian has learned that Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri called on Wednesday for urgent clarification of a series of questions around the Satra decision. Her request could lead to a delay in the announcing of the winner of the licence, scheduled to be made on Friday.
Matsepe-Casaburri is required by the Broadcasting Act to make the final appointment on the basis of Satra’s recommendation. As minister she would also be held accountable in the case of possible court actions contesting the award.
The M&G understands the scandal surrounding the licensing process was raised in the Cabinet this week as having a deleterious effect on foreign in- vestment. This followed a meeting between Matsepe-Casaburri and President Thabo Mbeki, during which the minister was enjoined to sort the matter out as cleanly and quickly as possible. The meeting followed the submission to Mbeki and Matsepe- Casaburri of a National Intelligence Agency report on the probity of the licensing process.
The report, commissioned at top level in the National Intelligence Agency, is reportedly critical of both the process and the basis on which the decision to recommend Cell C was made.
Satra sources confirmed the Satra council itself split this week when two councillors registered reservations about the Cell C decision.
The council was meeting to review its provisional recommendation in the light of submissions made by disappointed bidders, and on the basis of possible legal action that could result.
The second-guessing this week comes amid mounting controversy over Satra’s choice of Cell C for the licence – against the advice of external consultants employed, as well as from Satra’s own expert staff committees. Reports from all three of these groupings rate the Cell C bid lower than those of two of its competitors, NextCom and Telia Telinor.
It has also emerged that tapes made from the four-day Satra bosberaad between February 16 and 20, where the decision was made, were found to be blank when they were submitted for transcription.
Sources said the taping facilities were installed by an outside company, whose representatives were then required to leave when the confidential meeting kicked off.
The taping was then left in the hands of advocate Ismail Semenya, who had been brought in as an impartial chair for the meeting.
It is understood repeated requests were made – and executed – in the early part of the bosberaad for Semenya to check that the taping was indeed going ahead.
However, after being taken to Satra offices for transcription, tapes from the early stages of the bosberaad were found to be blank.
This means there is no verifiable record of exactly what transpired at the meetings where the controversial decision to recommend the Cell C consortium was made.
Also lost is the exact sequence of events in the meeting which led to the withdrawal of Satra chair Nape Maepa from the adjudication.
Maepa was forced to recuse himself on the basis of a remote business connection with a businessman holding an interest in one of the bids.
Satra’s communications department said it had no information on either the state of the tapes or the split in the council over the Cell C decision.