Icasa Amendment Bill. WORD GAMES.

(From Financial Mail)

Byline: Duncan McLeod

Icasa Amendment Bill WORD GAMES DA calls for Matsepe-Casaburri's head over proposed constitutional changes The Democratic Alliance (DA) wants communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri to resign. Failing that, it says, President Thabo Mbeki should sack her.

The call, by DA MP Dene Smuts, comes as the political ruckus over the constitutional independence of SA's broadcasting and telecommunications regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), boils over.

Last Friday, the communications department tabled a document to members of parliament's constitutional review committee. But the department says the document was speaking notes and should not be taken as an official view. The document argues that Icasa, unlike other institutions referred to in chapter nine of the constitution, does not enjoy protection from interference by the executive arm of government. The department …