Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications has agreed on a shortlist of candidates to be interviewed for the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) council position that will become vacant in June when the term of chairman Paris Mashile comes to an end.

The shortlisted candidates are:

Lahlang Somo, listed on LinkedIn as a senior legal and regulatory adviser at MTN
Norman Baloyi, listed on LinkedIn as CEO of Johannesburg-based company International Business Research
Alison Gillwald, a well-known telecommunications industry researcher and former SABC board member and lecturer
Steve Ncube
Tshepo Molai
Linda Dalbock, listed on LinkedIn as a senior communications adviser at Eskom

The new councillor is not guaranteed the chairmanship of the council; the new chair will be appointed from the authority’s nine councillors.

Communications committee chairman Ismail Vadi says there was full consensus among all political parties on the shortlist. The committee had received 91 nominations in all, he says.

Parliament will interview the shortlisted candidates on 4 May. It’s understood it will then submit two names to communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda, who will name the successful candidate.

Three further council vacancies are to occur later this year. Vadi says parliament will deal with these after the mid-year parliamentary recess.

The present group of 91 nominees are automatically eligible for the second leg of the process, and need not reapply for the positions, Vadi says.

The other councillors whose terms are due to end in 2010 are Brenda Ntombela, Robert Nkuna and Jacobus van Rooyen. — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral