Independent Communications Authority of South Africa

Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
ICASA
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Agency overview
Formed	1 July 2000
Preceding agencies	South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (SATRA); Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA);
Jurisdiction	Government of the Republic of South Africa
Headquarters	Centurion, Gauteng
Minister responsible	Mondli Gungubele, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies;
Agency executives	Mothibi Ramusi, Chairperson; Ms. Tshiamo Maluleka-Disemelo, CEO;
Child agency	Complaints and Compliance Committee;
Website	ICASA

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is an independent regulatory body of the South African government, established in 2000 by the ICASA Act to regulate both the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in the public interest.

Traditionally, telecommunications and broadcasting services operated separately and so has the regulation of the sectors. Broadcasting in South Africa was regulated by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), whereas telecommunications was regulated by the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (SATRA). Rapid technological developments have led to the convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications services. This also had an influence on the convergence of regulation resulting in the merging of the IBA and SATRA. ICASA functions under the Department of Communications (DoC). It was initially composed of seven Council members. The ICASA amendment Act of 2006 included the Postal services, previously regulated by the Postal Authority into ICASA's mandate. It increased the Council members from seven to nine to accommodate the new members from the Postal Authority.

The ICASA approved label found on internationally manufactured products implies the products meet, along with the approved stipulated frequency, the strict Radio Frequency Interference standards stipulated by ICASA.