Amendment of section 5 of Act 13 of 2000

8. Section 5 of the principal Act is hereby amended—
(a) by the substitution for subsection (1) of the following subsection:

"(1) [The Council consists of seven councillors appointed by the President on the recommendation of the National Assembly according to the following principles, namely -
(a) participation by the public in the nomination process;
(b) transparency and openness; and
(c) the publication of a shortlist of candidates for appointment with due regard to subsection (3) and section 6.] The Council consists of a chairperson and eight other councillors appointed by the Minister, by notice in the Gazette.";

(b) by the insertion after subsection (1) of the following subsections:
"(1A) (a) Whenever it is necessary to appoint a chairperson or other councillor, the Minister must appoint an independent and impartial selection panel consisting of [five] seven persons who have an outstanding of issues relating to the electronic communications and postal sectors:
(b) The panel must consist of-
(i) a person with knowledge and experience from the industry’
(ii) a person with legal background and knowledge of the ICT sector:
(iii) an academic in the field of electronic communications;
(iv) a representative of consumer interest and
(v) two members of the Parliament
(c) The names and terms of reference of persons on the selection panel must be published by the Minister by notice in the Gazette.
(1B) The selection panel contemplated in subsection (1A) must-
(a) at least 60 days prior to the last day of service of a councillor, invite the public to nominate candidates for appointment to the Council in not less than two newspapers cicrulating nationally;
(b) submit to the Minister a list of suitable candidates at least one and a half times the number of councillors to be appointed;
(c) recommend and motivate to the Minister, from the list contemplated in paragraph (b), persons who would be most suited to serve on the Council.
(1C) If the Minister is not satisfied that the persons recommended by the panel do not comply with subsection 93), the Minister may request the panel to review its recommendations.
(1D) the selection panel will be automatically dissolved when the appointment is published in the gazette in terms of subsection (1)";

(c) by the substitution for subsection 92) of the following subsections:
"(2) (a) [The President must appoint one of the councillors as chairperson of the Council.] The Chairperson must, in writing, appoint a councillor as acting chairperson to perform functions of the chairperson in his or her absence.
(b) [In the absence of the chairperson, the remaining councillors must from their number elect an acting chairperson, who, while he or she so acts, may perform all the functions of the chairperson.] Where the chairperson is unable to make an appointment, the remaining councillors must from their number elect an acting chairperson."; and

(d) by the substitution for subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of the following subparagraph:
"(ii) possess suitable qualifications, expertise and experience in the fields of, amongst others, broadcasting, [and telecommunications policy] electronic communications and postal policy or operations, public policy development, electronic engineering, [technology, frequency band
planning,] law, marketing, journalism, entertainment, education, economics, [business practice and] finance or any other related expertise or qualifications."


Substitution of section 8 of Act 13 of 2000

The following section is hereby substituted for section 8 of the principal Act:

"Removal from office
"(1) Subject to subsection (2), a councillor may be removed from office on account of—
(a) misconduct;
(b) inability to perform the duties of his or her office efficiently;
(c) absence from three consecutive meetings of the Council without the permission of the Council, except on good cause shown;
(d) a contravention of section 7(6):
(e) failure to disclose an interest in terms of section 12(2) (a) or voting or attendance at, or participation in, proceedings of the Council while having an interest contemplated in section 12(1); [or]
(f) his or her becoming disqualified as contemplated in section 6(1 ); or
(g) refusal to sign a performance agreement.

(2) A councillor may be removed from office only [on]—
(a) [a finding to that effect by the National Assembly] on recommendation by the [Minister] Panel to the [National Assembly] Minister; and
(b) [the adoption by the National Assembly of a resolution calling for that councillor's removal from office] upon approval by the Minister of the recommendation contemplated in paragraph (a)
(3) The [President] Minister—
(a) may suspend or remove a councillor from office at any time [after the start of the proceedings of the National Assembly for the removal of that councilor with] upon a recommendation of the
Panel[;
(b) must remove a councillor from office upon adoption approval by the National Assembly Minister of the resolution calling for recommendation for that councillor's removal.] contemplated in section 6A (4) (b) for that purpose."

Amendment of section 9 of Act 13 of 2000

Section 9 of the principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (2) for paragraph (b) of the following paragraph:
"(b) Any councillor appointed under this subsection holds office for the rest of the period of the predecessor's term of office, unless the [National Assembly] Minister following [approval]
recommendation by the Panel [by the National Assembly] directs that such councillor holds office for a longer period which may not exceed one subsequent term of four years.