Work has come to a standstill at StarSat’s Midrand offices following a raid by communications regulator Icasa and the police on Wednesday.
StarSat marketing manager Jan Harmse told TechCentral that when the team from Icasa arrived with the police shortly after 9am, they started yanking out plugs and cables across the building, finally focusing on StarSat’s server room where racks continued to be disconnected and catalogued.
“Our [South Africa’s] systems are off but the rest of Africa is off as well. So they pulled the correct cables but they also pulled the incorrect ones because they just came in and starting pulling, they didn’t ask us anything,” said Harmse. StarSat shareholder StarTimes operates pay-television services in several African markets, where it competes with MultiChoice Group.
According to Harmse, the raid by Icasa comes as a shock to the satellite service provider, which held a media conference a day before in which it vowed to fight communications regulator Icasa’s decision ordering that StarSat be shut down following its failure to renew its operating licence on time. “This is a complete surprise, there was no forewarning,” he said.
But a 20 September statement by Icasa contradicts this notion. In the statement, Icasa said On Digital Media (ODM) – the parent company of StarSat – “failed to submit a licence renewal application within the required timeframe set by the Electronic Communications Act and related regulations”.
“The legislation requires a licensee that holds an individual broadcasting service licence to submit its renewal application to the authority no earlier than 12 months and no later than six months prior to the expiry of the licence,” it said.
Prayer circle
“Despite numerous reminders, ODM submitted its licence renewal application after the expiry date on 10 November 2023. The authority does not have the legislative or regulatory mandate to consider a renewal application for a licence that has already expired.”
When TechCentral arrived at StarSat’s offices on Wednesday, a large group of company employees were huddled in a prayer circle outside its main doors. Inside, employees were clumped into groups of two or three, some looking bewildered and others in tears.
StarSat’s head office houses about 200 staff members.
Read: StarSat vows to fight on amid Icasa licensing dispute
Harmse said StarSat’s legal counsel had a conversation with one of the Icasa representatives on site and is now headed to court to seek an urgent interdict against the regulator.
However, none of the Icasa representatives on site were prepared to engage with TechCentral. Icasa has been contacted for formal comment and this article will be updated once this is received. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media
