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The Democratic Alliance (DA) wants the Ministers of Public Enterprises and Communications to explain why two state-owned communications companies - Broadband Infraco and Sentech - are involved in competing high-capacity international cable systems running up Africa's west coast from South Africa to Europe, and whether Sentech is operating outside its mandate by being involved in one of these cable systems.

Broadband Infraco is the responsibility of the Department of Public Enterprises and is involved in the government-led West African Cable system (WACS). Sentech is answerable to the Department of Communications and recently signed up to be part of Nepad's African Coast to Europe (ACE) system.

Sentech, a state owned enterprise (SOE), has signed a Landing Party Agreement to use its telecommunications licence to land ACE in South Africa. This cable system has been talked about for some years and was previously due to land only in Nigeria.

Involvement in installing the infrastructure of a submarine cable is surely outside Sentech's mandate of supplying broadband communications to South Africa's rural communities. We question what experience Sentech has in submarine cabling and building landing stations that bring the cables ashore, and whether this is within the terms of its telecommunications licence.

ACE is to be paid for by a consortium of 25 investors that has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nepad-created Baharicom Development Company (BDC). BDC is responsible for co-ordinating the construction of Uhurunet, the submarine segment of Nepad's envisioned Africa-wide network Umojanet.

We also question whether South Africa, through its support of Nepad, will be footing the bill for Sentech's involvement in ACE. Little is known about the funding, management and business objectives of ACE.

We also question how and why Sentech was chosen for the ACE project. It has a dismal delivery record on home soil - having launched and collapsed MyWireless, VAS and BizNet services.

Its government-supported task to roll out telecommunications infrastructure to rural areas has failed to deliver on a key project to bridge the digital divide. In late 2007 Sentech was handed on a plate the task of rolling out an affordable broadband infrastructure solution for 500 Dinaledi schools on a budget of R500 million (R1million per school).

In reply to a parliamentary question last year the Minister of Communications told me that the money has not been spent because Sentech could not produce a business plan acceptable to the National Treasury. The fate of the Dinaledi network has not been announced.

Broadband Infraco, another SOE, is involved in the West African Cable System (WACS) whose consortium members include Telkom, Neotel, Vodacom and MTN.

In answer to parliamentary question I asked last year the Minister of Science and Technology said WACS would be in place to support South Africa's bid for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in 2011.

The competing ACE undersea cable is also expected to be completed in 2011, and is the first leg of Nepad's vision of undersea communications cables along Africa's entire coastline. It was initially hoped to be in place for the FIFA 2010 World Cup.

South Africa can no longer afford the expense of perpetual inefficiencies, duplications and turf wars of the government's stable of communications entities. There needs to be clarity about their mandates and why they continue to be managed by separate departments.