Listening to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address (Sona), I wondered if this is the year we can take his promises seriously. It was filled with the usual worthy pledges, but this was new: "We all know that government does not create jobs. Business creates jobs."
I’m using the quote in full to highlight the phrase "We all know". At least we now know that the government knows. This hasn’t seemed to be the case in the past, and many ANC leaders don’t appear to agree — not least fossil fuel fan Gwede Mantashe.
The next part is where I really want to believe Ramaphosa.
"One of the greatest constraints on the technological development of our economy has been the unacceptable delay in the migration of broadcasting from analogue to digital," he said.
In Sonaworld at least, SA is on track. "The switch-off of analogue transmission has been completed in a number of provinces," the president said, reminding us of his assertion during last year’s Sona that the digital switchover would happen in March 2022. The agreed international deadline for this was July 2015. By ANC standards, we’re racing along.
"Our communications regulator, Icasa, will commence with the auctioning of the high-frequency communications spectrum in about three weeks … This will unlock new spectrum for mobile telecommunications for the first time in over a decade."
A fascinating thing happened: Ramaphosa told the SIU to open a Telkom can of worms
This is fantastic news.
Except he said pretty much the same thing last year.
The original auction was scheduled for March 2021, but Telkom — in which the government still has the major stake — conspired to thwart that plan with court action. Telkom, bizarrely, filed another application to halt this year’s auction.
And then a fascinating thing happened: Ramaphosa ordered the Special Investigating Unit to open various Telkom cans of worms, including its 2007 investment in Nigerian telecoms firm Multi-Links. Telkom initially paid $280m for 75% of Multi-Links, and a further $130m two years later. It invested more than R10bn before the Nigerian company collapsed and Telkom wrote off its debt.
Some, like TechCentral’s Duncan McLeod, believe Ramaphosa has resurrected this transaction as a way of punishing Telkom for not toeing the party line on the spectrum auction. After R1bn was wiped off its share price, Telkom (coincidentally) withdrew its urgent legal application.
The other part of its Icasa lawsuit will be heard only in April, after the auction, but it could still upset the apple cart.
Of course, Ramaphosa is expecting his compromised communications minister, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, to deliver these broadband dreams. She is the latest ANC-deployed cadre to feature in the Zondo catalogue of dubious characters, having sat on the board that reduced Denel to ruin.
Now she is in charge of the broadband rollout. What could go wrong?
Shapshak is editor-in-chief of Stuff Studios (stuff.co.za) and publisher of Scrolla.Africa
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.