Paris Mashile, the former chairman of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), has been named as chairman of newly created Vunani Technology Ventures, a subsidiary of AltX-listed Vunani Limited.

He’s also been appointed as CEO of the company’s consulting arm, Vunani Electronic Communications, TechCentral has learnt.

In May, Vunani Capital bought 51% of the Jala Group, an IT investment firm, in a deal that created Vunani Technology Ventures. The business will be used as a platform for technology and communications investments.

At the time, Vunani CEO Ethan Dube said the merged business would focus on midmarket entrepreneurs who could become significant players in the technology and telecommunications market.

Vunani Electronic Communications was born from the merged company, and will serve as a consulting business in communications technology.

Mashile’s term as Icasa chairman, which often proved to be controversial, came to an end at the end of June. Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda named former Sentech chairman Stephen Mncube to replace him.

Mashile says he is looking forward to getting back to work. He says Vunani will offer advice to companies on how to change their business models to fit in with the ongoing convergence between telecoms and IT.

“There is a paradigm shift in the regulatory environment and in competition. I have the background to show companies how their business models will need to change to keep up with the technologies,” he says. — Candice Jones, TechCentral