Sentech Tower in Johannesburg

Uncertainty still surrounds state-owned signal distributor Sentech as it awaits the outcome of an investigation by a task team appointed by communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda into how the business can be turned around.

According to Sentech’s communications head Polly Modiko, staff remain uncertain about the future of the company.

She says there is no business plan or definite turnaround strategy in place. “There has been no full-time CEO appointed and everything is still uncertain here.”

Modiko says that though the task team has been working on a corporate plan, nothing has been finalised.

Sentech lost its CEO, Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane, and other senior executives earlier this year.

The task team was installed at Sentech not long after communications minister Nyanda was appointed. It produced a damning 93-page report describing the need for an urgent turnaround strategy.

Analysts say the task team and the department of communications need to make a decision about the state-owned business soon. Independent analyst, Richard Hurst says without clarity, it has become “a drain on the resources of the country”.

He says the department now needs to make bold moves and not be afraid. “There must be someone who can take the bull by the horns and make it work.”

However, BMI-TechKnowledge telecommunications analyst Tertia Smit says the delay may be a calculated decision by the communications department. She says the department recently finalised the draft broadband policy and is still in the process of completing a broadband strategy.

“These two documents could clarify the roles that both Sentech and Broadband Infraco will play in the industry in the future. Choosing a leader now could be preemptive.”

Smit says the communications department will also need to clarify how it plans to fund Sentech, an issue that has long plagued the state-owned business.

Even when Sentech gets a leader, it will still have an uphill battle, especially in the telecoms space.

Smit says most of the company’s telecoms skills have left, which will make it difficult to revive this business.

She says that the ideal situation will be to try use a public-private partnership model, especially if it’s to provide Internet access in underserviced areas.

However, the Public Finance Management Act, which governs how state-owned businesses gain funding, has already thwarted one possible partnership for Sentech.

“Unless these rules are changed, Sentech will struggle to make money.” — Candice Jones, TechCentral