SA has again secured a seat on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) council at the plenipotentiary conference in Mexico, the department of communications said on Friday.

“The appointment of SA to the ITU is a testimony that confirms member states’ confidence in the country’s contribution to the body of knowledge in the three sectors of the union and the ICT matter in general,” said department spokeswoman Busiswa Mlandu.

The three sectors of the union were telecommunications development, standardisation and radiocommunications.

SA was elected to the seat on October 10 after it obtained 105 of the 158 members’ votes.

Also scoring a victory for Africa, Hamadoun Touré from Mali was elected as the ITU secretary general and Brahima Sanou from Burkina Faso was elected as director of the telecoms development sector.

As a member of the council, SA would be responsible for assisting the ITU in implementing its constitution and any other decisions made at the plenipotentiary conference.

It would also be responsible for providing support and strategic direction to the secretary general and the directors of the three sectors. — Sapa