South Africa

The Independent Communication Authority of South Africa is a product of statute, The Independent Communication Authority of South Africa Amendment Act of 2000, later amended in 2005. ICASA was established in July 2000, as a merger of telecoms regulator (Telecommunications Regulators Association of Southern Africa) and the broadcasting regulator (Independent Broadcasting Authority). The ICASA Amendment Act 2005 also provided for the incorporation of the Postal Regulator into ICASA the Amendment Act 2005 also increasing ICASA’s council complement from seven to nine councilor. ICASA derives its mandate from four statutes. These are the ICASA Act of 2005, The Independent Broadcasting Act, the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Authority Act and the ICASA Amendment Act. The Electronic Communications Act which substantially amended the IBA Act of 1993 and the Broadcasting Act of 1999.

The Department of Communications was reconstituted into its present form and with its current mandate on the passing of the Telecommunications Act No 103 of 1996. Previously, the Department was known as the Department of Post, Telecommunications and Broadcasting. Since its new mandate, the Department has strived create a favourable environment that ensures that South Africa has the capacity to advances its socio-economic development goals, and support the renewal of Africa and contributes to the building of a better world. This mandate places the Department at the forefront of Government initiatives to bridge the digital divide and providing universal access to Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) for all South Africans. The commencement of the Electronic Communications ACT and the Icasa Amendment Act in 2006 ushered a new ear in the ICT sector in South Africa. The two pieces of legislation are part of the new converged regulatory framework for the ICt sector, aimed at lowering costs of access to ICT and increasing the efficiency of telecommunications services provisioning in the country.