The department of communications is considering a cooling off period for councillors of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) to ensure that they are not simply poached by the industry they regulate.

Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda (pictured), in written reply to a question from Independent Democrats leader Patricia De Lille, said the department “intends looking into the issue of a cooling off period for former Icasa councillors as there is currently no formal position in this regard”.

The minister did not say when the department would make a decision in the matter.

De Lille said she welcomed Nyanda’s reply. “For too long, Icasa has been used as a headquarters for the cellphone companies, with a disturbing number of the regulatory body’s councillors either arriving straight from cellphone providers’ boardrooms, or heading straight into them,” she said.

“South Africans have a right to be able to differentiate between a regulatory body that should represent their interests and the cellphone operators that have been threatening them,” De Lille said.  — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral