In South Africa, the communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams (photo), withdrew the controversial electronic communication law submitted to the parliament in October 2018. This decision was taken on February 12, 2019 during a meeting of the parliamentary committee in charge of telecommunications and postal services.

The amendment which aroused telecom operators’ wrath some months ago was recommending the transfer of some of the competencies of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to the Department Of Telecommunications & Postal Services (DTPS) under the ministry of communications. It also wanted operators to restitute their telecom spectrums for the creation of a wireless open access network.

For the communications minister, these amendments could harm the country’s economy in the future. “The Fourth Industrial Revolution is in our midst which calls for us to rethink our approach to everything we do, including the kind of institutions that will lead and enable the Fourth Industrial Revolution", she explained.

The withdrawal was celebrated by Vodacom and Telkom which considers it as the communications minister’s will to encourage the private sector into playing its part in the development of the telecommunications sector.