SA’s telecoms sector has suffered further losses following the deaths of two industry stalwarts last week.
The telecoms sector learned of the deaths of Dr Gabrielle Celli, former head of regulatory affairs at Telkom in the 1990s, and that of Pakamile Pongwana, former CEO of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).
These deaths come after the passing of telecoms veteran Jabu Mabuza, former Telkom chairman, who succumbed to COVID-19-related complications in June.
“It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of former colleague Dr Gabrielle Celli,” says Telkom.
“Dr Celli was the head of regulatory affairs at Telkom in the ‘90s and contributed immensely to the development of policy and regulation during the liberalisation of the sector. We send our deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
“We have lost a stalwart and the sector is poorer without him. We are fortunate to have worked with him and gained from his wealth of knowledge.”
Pongwana was with ICASA until 2017, having joined the telecoms regulator in 2013.
He exited from ICASA following his precautionary suspension pending an internal disciplinary process. Before joining ICASA, Pongwana was managing executive for regulatory affairs at Vodacom since 2005.
ICASA, in a statement, says it is deeply saddened by the recent passing of Pongwana.
“Mr Pakamile Pongwana was at the helm of ICASA as the CEO from 2013 to 2017, where he contributed immensely to the work and performance of the authority. He is widely regarded as one of the industry veterans and a key architect of the ICT sector since the dawn of the democracy.
The regulator says when joining ICASA as CEO, Pongwana arrived at a time when the authority’s performance was at a low ebb, but his interventions set the authority on course to reach over 70% performance in his first year at the helm.
“His legacy of instilling a high-performance culture within ICASA has continued to this day, with the authority continuing to perform at an average of 80% and above year-on-year.
“The authority extends its condolences to his family, former colleagues, and friends during this time of bereavement, and hopes they all find solace and fortitude at this sad time. May his soul rest in peace.”
Pongwana previously served as deputy director-general for telecommunications policy for the Department of Communications.
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