Photo by: Duane Daws
A group of magazine publishers is frustrated with the lack of progress in their formal complaint against the South African Post Office (Sapo), which was lodged with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).
Managing director at EE Publishers and spokesperson for the complainants, Chris Yelland, said in a statement on Monday that "the matter is dragging on and on, without an end in sight" eight months after a formal complaint was lodged on December 11 2014.
The publishers said the delays, tone and contents of Sapo’s arguments in its defence show "utter disregard" for the mechanism by which it is meant to be held to account by its regulator Icasa. They added that "this is not an approach that should ever be taken by a state-owned entity such as Sapo".
Icasa's complaints process is supposed to deal with complaints such as these but the case is "dragging on and on due to the recalcitrance of Sapo" and the apparent leniency of Icasa, said Yelland.
The complainants asked Icasa to consider and review its numerous complaints against the Post Office as well as the financial and other damages to the magazine publishing industry, and to sanction Sapo.
This could be in the form of punitive financial sanctions, entertaining alternative licence applications, considering additional licence applications to supplement the Post Office's activities or even, as a last resort, the removal of its exclusively-held licence.
The publishers "are also considering a possible class action for damages sustained by them resulting from the failure of Sapo to meet its licence conditions and statutory obligations" once all other avenues have been exhausted, said Yelland.