Worst Practice: Communications
Ministers: 4 Deputy ministers: 3 Permanent directors-general: 3 Acting directors-general: 2 Current minister: Yunus Carrim (appointed in July 2013) Current director-general: Rosey Sekese (appointed June 2011)
AT the beginning of August, the new minister of communications, Yunus Carrim, reinstated the full powers of director-general Rosey Sekese, who had been on suspension for six months following accusations that she misled parliament about her performance contract. During that period, Gift Buthelezi, a deputy directorgeneral in the department, had been acting as director-general.
The turmoil illustrates how a good working relationship between the minister and the director-general is central to efficiency and performance.
Sekese’s suspension was the culmination of a breakdown in her working relationship with the former minister, Dina Pule, herself recently removed from the cabinet following a series of damning allegations that her romantic partner had benefitted from the department’s hosting of an ICT Indaba.
Sekese and Pule were at permanent loggerheads and it was the minister’s deputy, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, who, in an unprecedented move, blew the whistle on Sekese. She told the portfolio committee the director-general had not signed her performance agreement, despite her having claimed the opposite. This was ironic be- cause, on taking office in November 2011, Pule had complained that Sekese had been without a contract for 12 months — a failing of the previous minister, Roy Padayachee, with whom Sekese had also had a falling-out.
With regards to her current contractual dispute, the facts revealed that Pule was just as much to blame. But Sekese was the one suspended with no clear reasons given. Thus the Labour Court overturned the decision, adding to the confusion.
Sekese had some of her powers delegated elsewhere. She carried out some work from home while the acting directorgeneral oversaw some of the core departmental functions. The effect on service delivery was dire.
The most notorious example was the provision of set-top boxes, which South Africans will need to be able to receive a digital television signal as the country migrates from analogue broadcasts. The process has been marked by setbacks, missed deadlines and unresolved disputes between manufacturers and broadcasters.
Likewise, policy roll-out has been undermined. In particular, the development of a broadband policy has repeatedly stalled. And, owing to the confusion and internal hostility, the department has struggled to provide proper direction to the public entities that report to it.
The new minister has inherited not merely a series of longstanding and unresolved policy problems, but deeply ingrained internal disputes that he will have to settle if calm is to return to the department. Central to that is the director-general. The current person has had difficult relationships with both previous ministers. Establishing a good understanding will be critical to ensuring the department becomes associated with outcomes, rather than spats. — Gareth van Onselen