Government does not understand the magnitude of the “crisis” SA’s telecommunications industry is facing, says former Google SA country manager Stafford Masie.

During a panel discussion at the Tech4Africa conference in Johannesburg on Thursday, Masie, who is now consulting to undersea cable operator Seacom, slammed what he described as a “shambles” at the department of communications as well as problems at the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), both which he reckons are holding back the sector.

Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda recently fired his director-general Mamodupi Mohlala, citing a breakdown in their working relationship, and acting director-general Harold Wesso said this week the department was in a mess, with staff morale having collapsed.

Icasa has also been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. This after it cancelled a long-awaited auction for scarce spectrum that could be used for providing wireless broadband.

“The spectrum auction was cancelled because of politics,” says Masie.

He says providing access to the spectrum is crucial if SA is to develop stronger competition in telecoms.

A poorly run government department and a weak regulator are not contributing to the growth of the sector.

He says part of the problem is that cabinet does not understand how important telecoms is for the country.

“We need to create forums with [government] and articulate clearly the crisis we are facing,” says Masie.

He says the instability is partly the reason why SA is beginning to lag behind some other African countries in terms of connectivity. “This doesn’t have to be,” Masie says. — Candice Jones, TechCentral