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Date
: 18/05/2004
Source: Department of Communications
Title: R Padayachie: Futurex Conference, Sandton
SPEECH BY THE HONOURABLE DEPUTY MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS,
RADHAKRISHNA ROY PADAYACHIE, AT FUTUREX CONFERENCE, Sandton
Convention Centre, Johannesburg, 18 May 2004
SMART PARTNERSHIPS WILL DELIVER SOUTH AFRICA'S PROMISE OF A BETTER
LIFE FOR ALL
Master of Ceremonies
The Organisers of this auspicious occasion
Company Executives
Ladies and Gentlemen
On Saturday for a brief moment we took the world centre
stage.
With a magnificent and stunning victory on the 2010 World Soccer
bid we captured the world's imagination and earned the right to be
Africa's leading nation.
Under the dynamic leadership of Danny Jordan and his team we gave
to our people a sense of self esteem unparallel in the history of
our nation.
The dynamic involvement of our President, Thabo Mbeki, in the bid
presentation together with the presence of ex-President Nelson
Mandela, alongside with Bishop Desmond Tutu and Mr De Klerk at the
announcement ceremony was awesome.
We were one
With ourselves as a nation and with the rest of the world who
declared that we truly deserved to take this honour.
It was the sort of stuff that makes nations proud in the world. The
charisma that makes everything come together. The moment of
realisation that we are surely a nation that is destined to
win.
We are South Africa! We are One!
Victories come, but only from hard work and sacrifice.
The hosting therefore of this Futurex exhibition, at this special
moment in history of our nation, gives to the function an
ingredient of speciality and importance.
The tools of global telecommunications will be instruments by which
we will unite the rest of the world in the pleasure of that
poignant moment when we will be at the global centre stage again
when we host the 2010 games.
This enormous challenge places a tremendous responsibility on us to
deliver a global communications capability second to none. I have
no doubt that the confidence displayed in us by the international
judging panel of FIFA and our ability to deliver on this promise in
so far as our telecommunications capability is concerned as a
nation, played no small part in the winning of the bid.
Our winning formula must surely be hard teamwork, our ability to
sacrifice and our strategic sense of having the wisdom to forge
effective, sound and smart partnerships in our endeavours.
The world of telecommunications in our country in the last ten
years or so has undergone a period of significant transformation.
We have witnessed an expansion of the telecommunications
infrastructure, the democratisation and transformation of
institutions such as Telkom, Sentech, the South African
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and the South African Post Office,
the rapid expansion of mobile telephony with more than 19 million
people connected and the promulgation of new policies and
regulations that govern the industry.
The Department of Communications (DOC) has been at the centre,
driving and facilitating this process and playing a leading role in
the policy development process across all fronts: in
telecommunications, broadcasting, postal and in e commerce.
Notwithstanding these noteworthy advances the sector still has to
achieve universal access and the expansion of the
telecommunications infrastructure in certain remote areas of the
country.
The expansion of the growth of telecommunications industry holds
the key to significant growth and economic and social progress of
the people. It would improve citizen's access to education, health
and economic opportunities.
It will widen people's access to modern technological
communications thereby destroying ignorance and jumpstarting people
into knowledge that will be indispensable in the fight against
poverty.
Notwithstanding the leading role played by government in policy
development and regulations framework setting, much of the
innovative edge in leading the expansion of the sector falls on the
shoulders of the private sector.
The private sector is critical to the further development and
expansion of the telecommunications infrastructure and must take
centre stage in driving the economic growth of the industry.
Initiatives from the private sector will create new markets and
open up new frontiers as growth areas in the economy, thereby
creating the much needed jobs and opportunities for social and
economic progress for our people.
In this regard South Africa is very well positioned to take the
lead and benefit from the economic advance promised by the
political and economic renaissance through the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiatives.
The South African business community must ready itself to lead and
take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves in the
telecommunications sector as it advances into this new era.
In this context progress being made with respect to the BEE (black
economic empowerment) Charter process and the establishment of the
appropriate conditions for growth of the information and
communications technology (ICT) sector is indeed significant. The
ICT sector has shown a remarkable degree of maturity in its ability
to be responsive to the empowerment and transformational
challenges.
The indigenisation of transnational corporations is a market driven
imperative and will remain a sine qua non for economic
success.
The enormous benefits that will accrue from the massification of
goods and services in the information technology (IT) industry will
shape the corporate culture and makeup of the companies that will
benefit from this growth.
In this context the dialogue within the sector on all issues of
empowerment and transformation within the BEE Charter process must
be welcomed. It is out of such discussions and the search for
appropriate and negotiated understandings that the private sector
in the industry will come of age.
This event, here today is designated as the: "Definitive event for
the information and communications technology and electronics
(ICTE) industries. It is an exhibition where ICTE and business
connect."
Over the last 25 years this event has come to position itself as
South Africa's leading IT exhibition and also now presents itself
as Africa's premier telecoms exhibition.
The presence and participation of International exhibitors from the
United Kingdom (UK), India, Israel, Taiwan and the United Arab
Emirates and indeed other participating countries is testimony to
the need for international and collaborative partnerships that are
indispensable for our growth as a global player.
Telecommunications is the global technology of the future,
dissolving country borders, destroying ignorance and boundaries
that separate the rich from the poor, the developed from the
underdeveloped and the haves from the have nots.
You will over the next three days examine these issues and discuss
the directions for IT and telecommunications in South Africa. Your
deliberations will embrace discussions on the transformation of the
sector, regulatory and legislative issues, development and
investment matters, as well as the latest technology and business
trends that are likely to impact on Corporate culture.
In all of this and in the stimulation of the growth of the sector,
government is an indispensable ally and partner to the
actualisation of the potential of the industry.
Government's mission is to seek out and forge smart partnerships
that will facilitate the realisation of our basic goal of creating
a better life for all.
Government's role as a regulatory controller should therefore not
take precedence over its responsibility as a supporter, facilitator
and stimulator of massive economic growth for the sector.
It is therefore our collective responsibility as government and
business, together with other stakeholders to transact a smart
partnership and enter into a contract that will benefit the people
and the participants of this sector.
I therefore have pleasure, on behalf of the government, in
declaring this exhibition open and wish you well in your
networking, deliberations and business.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Communications
18 May 2004
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