Arrive late for work, take off your shoes and sleep on the job. In most companies you’d have limited career prospects, but not at communications regulator Icasa.
According to an exit report by a senior Icasa staffer, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (Icasa) chairperson, Paris Mashile, regularly arrived late, took off his shoes and slept on the job during his tenure as a councillor. Yet he was promoted to the top position.
Eleven exit reports in the possession of the Mail & Guardian show that the regulator is facing a mass exodus of senior officials who are fed up with council interference in management operations and the regular flouting of the regulator’s policies and procedures.
The Icasa council plays the role of a decision-making authority, having the final say with respect to all the authority’s policies and regulatory and licensing activities.
Insiders say the regulator has been crippled by a spate of resignations since January this year, with a total of 14 senior officials leaving.
The latest to rush for the door is Juliana Roux, who resigned this week as the acting general manager of the legal department.
Most of these senior officials have outlined their grievances and reasons for leaving in damning exit reports. Sources claim these have been on the council agenda, but that there is a lack of will to address them.
The reports allege:
- that there is a lack of leadership at Icasa;
- that councillors are exerting pressure on management during tender processes and forcing certain consultants on departments;
- that travel policies are continually flouted by officials;
- that overseas travel of no benefit to the authority is taking place;
- that certain councillors have intimidated, victimised and terrorised staff; and
- that councillors have intervened on behalf of staff with whom they have friendly relationships to protect them from disciplinary action by their supervisors.
Since January this year Icasa has lost its senior manager of telecommunications, general manager and acting general manager of the legal division, senior manager of broadcast policy, senior manager of public consultation, head of procurement, senior manager of media and stakeholder liaison, general manager of the telecommunications unit and the Durban regional manager. Five other long-standing officials have quit.
In addition, disciplinary action against suspended CEO Jackie Manche has yet to be concluded despite dragging on for months. And the regulator’s ability to replace the three Icasa councillors whose terms expire this month is in doubt after President Thabo Mbeki sent the Icasa Amendment Bill back to Parliament’s communications committee because of questions about its constitutionality.
In the exit reports Icasa staff members accuse Mashile of a lack of leader-ship, arguing that he has no control over the council. It is alleged that he does very little Icasa work, and that during his term as a councillor a staff member from his office had to ask the IT department for access to his e-mail account on his behalf, printing out his e-mails to make sure he read them.
It also alleged that whenever Mashile travels to Cape Town, he insists on hiring an automatic car that exceeds the limits set out in the regulator’s travel policies.
”His excuse is that he does not want to change gears in the Cape Town traffic,” said one of the exit reports.
Councillor Mamodupi Mohlala is also singled out in the reports, with one former Icasa staffer insisting that she resigned because of the council’s failure to attend to the staff member’s formal complaint against Mohlala.
”Council is aware of how councillor Mohlala terrorises staff, but there is a lack of commitment to rein her in,” says one of the exit reports. Icasa insists no complaints have been lodged against Mohlala.
Icasa said most of the allegations in the exit reports were baseless and that there were a number of avenues within the regulator through which staff members could raise complaints.
”This unfortunately sounds like cherry-picking bits from exit reports that are still being considered by council, by staff who have not initiated any formal complaint. The allegations sound like disgruntled employees found in every institution,” said Icasa spokesperson Jubie Matlou.
The terms of councillors Nadia Bulbulia, Lumko Mtimde and Mohlala expire on June 30 this year. According to Minister of Communications Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri’s parliamentary budget speech last week, they must be replaced and another two councillors appointed to strengthen the Icasa council.
This means that five new councillors must be appointed by June 30. If they are not, existing councillors whose terms have expired can be asked stay on for another 45 days.
The Icasa Amendment Bill, endorsed this week by Parliament and sent to Mbeki for approval for the second time, has been the subject of heated debate relating to proposed changes in the selection of councillors.
At the eleventh hour the National Council of Provinces, under pressure from the Department of Communications, modified the compromise Bill thrashed out in the portfolio committee, effectively handing power to hire and fire back to Matsepe-Casaburri.
Critics concerned about the Bill’s constitutionality argue that it would create a mechanism for the minister to select candidates. Successful candidates would then be viewed by the public as ministerial stooges.
With Icasa set to regulate important issues such as number portability, Telkom’s monopoly of the SAT3 undersea cable and allowing Internet service providers to develop their own networks, the independence of the regulator is seen as being of vital importance.
Inside the exit reports
The following are excerpts from exit reports penned by outgoing Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) staffers:
- ”When he was not sleeping, he would be doing his own work. It seldom was Icasa-related. In fact, the only typing I did for Paris Mashile (and I stress I only did one piece of typing for him) was not even Icasa-related but related to some assignment he was busy with.”
- ”At the moment, the council is looked upon as being ‘spineless’. Stakeholders and operators will not do anything about rectifying the situation because it suits their needs to have a weak authority.”
- ”The fact that three GMs, with about 15 years of experience between them at Icasa, resigned within weeks of each other, speaks volumes. This experience cannot be replaced no matter how council says otherwise.”
- ”The pressures that are imposed by some councillors on tender processes that may jeopardise the proper implementation of PFMA [Public Finance Management Act] and procurement policies by staff.”
- ”It is disturbing when councillors insist on certain consultants being appointed to do work on Icasa projects, regardless of whether the project leader and the department hosting the project agree on the suitability of such a consultant or not.”
- ”Management and staff need to be given enough room to properly implement Icasa policies and utilise their expertise to fulfil the mandate and objectives of Icasa without fear of victimisation or sabotage of their department’s projects from the councillors they disagree with.”
- ”It is discouraging and almost impossible to manage your staff due to interference by some councillors. Some staff use their relations with individual councillors to avoid accountability for poor performance.”
- l ”Decision-making and other considerations at Icasa are based on personalities and interests. Views and recommendations are supported based on who makes or expresses such views. Often personal interests become evident during decision-making.”
- ”Policies and procedures are often bypassed to suit individual needs. The focus is on self-fulfilment despite what the policies state.”
- ”At times people share information with operators before the decision is even made, which allows them to devise strategies to deviate Icasa’s attention from such issues through legal cases, among other things.”
— Lloyd Gedye
Icasa responds
On the exit reports: ”It is worth noting that your access to exit reports has been prepared by former staff, none of which used the processes in place to lodge any formal complaint, grievance or suggestion. That notwithstanding, the Icasa Council has set aside time to address all the exit reports received.”
On the staff exodus: ”A number of staff who resigned from Icasa were indeed head-hunted. Icasa has become a good training ground for the private sector and even other public institutions.”
On council interference in management operations: ”There are clear lines of responsibility between those of council and of management … The council is consistently finding better ways of keeping a bright line between itself and operations, however the high staff turnover and the mandate facing Icasa cannot be underestimated, and when required council is duty-bound to address operational issues … There is thus no basis to suggest that council interferes unduly in management issues.”
On allegations of violating travel policies: ”Icasa has internal policies that guide council, management and staff with regard to local and overseas travel on Icasa business. All Icasa internal policies are coherent and apply consistently to all, including council, management and staff.”
On allegations of councillors terrorising staff: ”Any ‘abuse’ that staff might have suffered remains unknown, as again no complaints have been lodged.”
On allegations that councillors exert pressure on managers handling tender processes: ”This allegation is completely baseless.”