WASPA Invites Nominations for the Board

Published on: 25th February 2020

South Africa’s Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (WASPA) says nominations are open for four of its seven 2020 / 2021 Board member positions.

While nominees do not have to be affiliated with a WASPA member, WASPA members in good standing elect the Association’s Board members after receiving written nominations outlining nominees’ industry-related experience, interests and other pertinent information.

To illustrate the depth of industry experience WASPA enjoys via its current office bearers, chair Greg Brophy – for example – is familiar to local mobile industry watchers as the founder of numerous successful mobile content and applications firms. Mr Brophy’s hard-act-to-follow includes the launch of IOL which he grew into SA’s biggest online portal. A London Stock Exchange listing followed the purchase of a majority stake in iTouch.

WASPA’s laudable mission of creating a fair and equitable mobile landscape that values consumers while advancing the interests of the plethora of small, medium and large mobile firms that make our WASP industry so exciting, and such a key contributor to the cellular sector, must continue. It can only continue with the right talent, right at the top.

WASPA some two years ago amended its Constitution to better equip it to represent the interests of its members while also pursuing a mobile consumer protection mandate. WASPA’s new Constitution specifically provides for a Board which replaces the former Management Committee structure in place since the Association’s founding in 2004.

In terms of WASPA’s Constitution, four of the Association’s current Board members are required to stand down at this year’s March AGM (Annual General Meeting). The remaining three will each serve for one additional year, until the 2021 AGM.

Information on the structure of the WASPA Board is outlined in Section 6 of the WASPA Constitution (https://waspa.org.za/about/constitution/) and this is followed by information outlining the duties of Board members.

The four WASPA Board members standing down are all eligible for re-election and include Conrad Geldenhuys, James McNab, Michiel Huisamen and Sipho Bengu. The three Board members currently serving a two-year term (and entering their second term) are:  Anthony Ekerold, Gregory Brophy and Lianda Holleman.

If you are personally interested in serving on the WASPA Board, or if you would like to nominate someone else to serve, please email secretariat@waspa.org.za by no later than 29 February 2020. Please include an abbreviated half-page biography as well as a succinct motivation for wanting to serve on the WASPA Board.

WASPA was founded on 26 August 2004 with the full support of the three SA mobile network operators (MNOs): Cell C, MTN and Vodacom. WASPA has a detailed Code of Conduct which all members must adhere to and a well-established formal complaints process that is central to responsible self-regulation. See www.waspa.org.za.