Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
26 June 1998
The Cabinet this week approved South Africa's membership of two specialist agencies of the Organisation of African Unity - the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU) and the Pan African Telecommunications Union (PATU).
Jay Naidoo, Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting, says this is in line with Government's vision for an African renaissance.
"Membership of these two institutions will assist us in making a a contribution to the development of telecommunications and postal services on the continent," he said.
South Africa is expected to attend the PAPU African roundtable in August in Nairobi at which issues around international mail are to be discussed.
This week, PATU officials met in South Africa to discuss the revitalisation of PATU to meet the challenges of accelerated telecommunications development in Africa, especially the promotion of connectivity and universal service together with the development of the information society.
"African ministers of communication have already agreed to a broad strategy to development telecommunications insfrastructure on the continent. This is contained in the document The African Connection which was released in May this year during the Africa Telecom 98 conference in Johanensburg," Naidoo said.
"So we see PATU providing an institutional framework that promotes telecommunications development to ensure universal access and inter-country connectivity in Africa that catapults the continent to the forefront of the global information communications development," he said.
Contact: Mandy Jean Woods
Phone: 082 653 4211 or (012) 427-8111
E-mail: mandy@doc.org.za
www.doc.org.za