Pretoria – The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown imposed in terms of the National State of Disaster have led to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA/the Authority) assessing alternative methods for monitoring and enforcement. The Authority is embarking on a series of online inspections [investigations and evaluations] to ensure compliance with regulations and the law.

Having successfully executed online inspections in the Western Cape and KwaZulu/Natal, the Authority is rolling out and extending its online compliance monitoring to other Provinces. The Authority decided on this approach mainly to mitigate the risk of spreading the coronavirus and ensuring the safety of its employees and licensees alike.

‘ICASA has a critical mandate of ensuring compliance with regulations, legislation and other related statutes. It is therefore important for us to look at alternatives during this period to ensure that we execute our mandate effectively’, says ICASA Chairperson, Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng.

These inspections will be conducted through live video streaming services, such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Skype. Where video streaming services are not available the inspections will be done telephonically and follow the traditional methodology where the Officer will go through the inspection sheet step by step with the licensee and recording their responses. The licensee will then be required to sign the inspection form and return to ICASA within five (5) working days.

All licensees are therefore urged to cooperate with ICASA to ensure a seamless monitoring and enforcement.

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For all media enquiries please contact:

Paseka Maleka
Tel : (012) 568 3455
Cell : 079 509 0702
Email : pmaleka@icasa.org.za