House Chair, in my first BRRR speech in this House six years ago, I asked then Minister Cwele whether the South African government would meet the international deadline of July 2015 to switch off the analogue signal and finally release the digital dividend - of which spectrum is one part of it. Cwele assured me with confidence that we would meet it with no problem.
There is too much movement, please.
Fast forward to today, and if confidence translated into results, we would be downloading a full feature high definition movie in seven seconds flat.
Instead, and unlike our neighbours in Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Botswana, our government is still broadcasting analogue and hasn't released the spectrum, and to add insult to injury, Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, Icasa, latest information
memorandum on spectrum release offers these bands as lots for auction when it actually has no idea beyond a guesstimate when this spectrum will actually become available. It's selling something that it doesn't have.
So when we review the work of the department and its entities over the last financial year, what stands out is the lack of progress. The usual competent high flyers like Sentech continue to receive clean audits while serial non-performers like the SA post Office, Sapo, and the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa, Usaasa, continue to reflect matters of concern.
Among these are hundreds of millions of rands in unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Given government failed to switch off the analogue signal by the 2015 deadline due to your incompetence, you effectively cost South Africa hundreds of millions in dual illumination costs; massive legal bills, and billions in revenue that could have been earned by leasing the spectrum in those bands.
While the Auditor-General doesn't record it as wasteful, the fact is you have wasted billions in opportunity costs as you sat on your collective hands and did nothing, Minister after Minister. That's real fruitless and wasteful expenditure; its money downs the drain.
This department is stagnating, treading water and going nowhere besides to conferences spouting off about the Fourth Industrial Revolution without first bothering to educate the Deputy President as to what the first, second and third ones were. [Time expired.] The DA supports this report.
House Chair, let's point out that the process of amalgamating the two departments and the streamlining of its system is slower and turns to hold back process in the department. This resulted in the inability of the department and its ability to play its shareholder role in the state-owned enterprises, SOEs.
This is evident in the following points that we have made in the committee itself. Firstly, the department is indecisive on the SABC and it seems to be communication
desk of Treasury because it has failed to protect the broadcast from Treasury's delay to capitalise it resulting in poor workers not being paid at the SOEs.
The department is failing to recognise the industry consensus that the digital migration is the SABC's life line and the only way the SOEs can regain market dominance against the corrupt MultiChoice which survives through bribes.
Instead of implementing migration, the department is hiding behind plans and more plans while R182 million is wasted in storing unused set-top boxes.
On the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, Icasa, since the data must fall public enquiry three years ago, the cost of data has remained unaffordable for ordinary South Africans. The Icasa is failing to whip mobile operators into line. Instead of the department and Icasa pressurising operators to lower cost and make SMS free, they have allowed them to hide behind the lucrative spectrum which stand to benefit individuals.
We endorse the rollout of spectrum, but it cannot be used as a scapegoat by greedy mobile operators who are simply refusing to reduce the cost of data.
The Icasa has a mandate to enforce the license requirement on operators to provide free internet to 1 500 schools. Instead of enforcing this requirement, Icasa connive with the operators to reduce the number from 5 000 to 1 500 schools per service provider.
The department has allowed Treasury to influence the separation and selling of assets which they call unaffordable. The selling these assets of the SABC is unsustainable and will further disadvantage the organisation. For that reason, we cannot support the report. Thank you very much.
Hon Chairperson, I wish to thank the Minister for indeed walking her talk and finally delivering on spectrum. At this stage, we apply and wait and see approach with the hope that all our people will reap the rewards of fair play and competition as data costs drops.
Chairperson, it is with much less enthusiasm and not with pace that the IFP raises its concern with the ongoing transition and reconfiguration of the department, the state of the Post Office and the confusion surrounding its measure or split from the Post Bank. The ever growing concern that the SABC interns to request additional TV license fees to consumers, we cannot support this arrangement.
The department is also very well known to either miss a deadline or simple just shift the goal post. The deadline of March 2020 is fast approaching for the measure of Telecoms and we are not certain whether this deadline will be reached.
Furthermore, when the committee considered the report of Sentech, Sita, BBI, Usaasa, Usaf, Sapo, Zadna and Nemisa, that most of the entities are in desperate need of leadership and can be collectively referred to as a bunch of material uncertainties.
The Auditor-General did not mince his words in outlining the liabilities that make up this group of entities and
the number of actual material uncertainties which made up the financial report.
Giving the fact that we must cut somewhere in this time of austerity, we must ask the question whether or not we must cut them when we don't see positive results and any impact.
While we are aware of the many challenges the Minister must navigate through, the IFP will support this department as long as it focuses on ensuring that we are not left behind while others are steadily implementing changes to accommodate the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We support the
