Issued by: Department of Communications
29 November 2001
It is almost seven months since the budget vote of the Department of Communications was delivered in May 2001.
In the budget vote we committed ourselves to create a communications sector that will make a difference in the lives of the majority of South Africans. We made a commitment to use the advantages brought about by technological innovations to enhance economic growth and development.
Because of these innovations and the impact of information and communication technologies in the global economy, there is no doubt that the communications sector is crucial for the deepening of our democracy, achievement of stability, prosperity, growth and development.
This report is a summary of the many initiatives and projects that our department and portfolio organisations have implemented during this calendar year.
We envisage concluding all the outstanding issues outlined in our budget speech by the end of this financial year.
Policy and legislation
On 15 November the National Assembly passed the Telecommunications Amendment Bill after more than ten months of consultations. With a Bill that balances the needs of all the people of South Africa, our country is moving further on the path towards the creation of a better life for all. Amongst others, the Bill provides for the:
The National Assembly also passed the Postal Services Amendment Bill which outlines the mandate and powers of the Postal regulator.
The Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill has been approved by Cabinet and we envisage finalising it before the end of the first session of Parliament in 2002.
Universal access
During this calendar year we made significant strides in the rollout of infrastructure and services in those communities, which did not have, or had limited access to information and communications technologies.
Telkom installed one and a half million telephone lines, taking the total to 4.9 million lines during the period under review. One and a half million of these lines were installed in under-serviced areas.
The SABC successfully extended the radio signal of Ligwalagwala FM to include over 300 000 people in Mpumalanga that did not have access to FM signal.
With regard to postal services, this year we launched 8 multi-purpose community centres, 100 public information terminals and 7 Citizen Post Offices.
The Universal Service Agency rolled out more than 100 tele-centres and cyber labs in all nine provinces
The department provided 10 community radio stations with equipment. We are also involved in strengthening the production hubs, which were established in all nine provinces to support community radio stations in local content production. The infrastructure of the previous beneficiary stations is also being upgraded to enable them to network and enhance their programming, using satellite and Internet.
Restructuring of state assets
Telkom is ready for the Initial Public Offering.
The Broadcasting Act of 1999 provides for the restructuring of the SABC into two entities, namely the public broadcasting and public commercial broadcasting entities. In this regard, the SABC has finalised strategic plans for the restructuring. Advisors to facilitate the corporatisation of Channel Africa and Bop Broadcasting have been appointed.
The Post Office is going ahead with the restructuring process, which will see various units being established as separate corporate entities. This restructuring will inter alia provide for the corporatisation and the ring fencing of the post bank. This process will be conducted during the next financial year.
Digital and multi-media convergence
The White Paper on Broadcasting Policy provides for the establishment of the Digital Advisory Body to advise the minister on the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting. The advisory body was launched in March and recommendations will be submitted to the minister during the first half of next year. These recommendations will focus on policy, regulatory and technical issues pertaining to the digital multi-media sector.
Research was conducted on convergence; we are currently involved in the development of enabling legislation.
A feasibility study was conducted on the development of the Smart Card in partnership with the Department of Communications.
On 26-28 November the Department of Communications, in partnership with the Government Communication and Information Services, the Universal Service Agency and the National Electronic Media Institute of SA, hosted the first Community Electronic Multi-Media Indaba which was attended by community radio stations, telecentres, Multi-Purpose Community Centres, provincial and local government representatives. The Indaba deliberated on the integration of the various components of community electronic multi-media.
Content development
The SA Broadcast Production Advisory Body was launched at the same time as the Digital Advisory Body and is focusing on promoting the development, production, enhancement and display of local content on radio, television and online electronic media.
The department provided training to communities (NGOs, CBOs and Community Radios), through NEMISA, and support with regard to programme production skills and pre-produced programmes on women, children, HIV/AIDS and people with disabilities.
Human resource development
Human resource development is crucial for the growth and development of the sector. In this area we achieved the following:
We completed the ICT In Education Strategy in partnership with the Department of Education. The strategy entails, amongst others, the training of teachers to enable them to utilise ICTs for teaching and learning purposes.
Fourteen law and economics graduates from disadvantaged communities, 11 of which are women, have been engaged as interns within the department to develop them in the area of ICT policy
In August this year, eleven female students completed a Masters degree in Science and Information Technology (MSIT) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, in the United States of America. This is part of a programme run by the department at the Institute for Satellite and Software Applications (ISSA) in Grabouw, Cape Town, to train newly qualified, unemployed science students in order to increase the pool of skilled people in the Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) sector. The Department recruited 36 B.Sc graduates from eleven universities, 47% of whom were women, 85% under 25 years of age, and the majority of them from historically disadvantaged, rural communities. They have now become a huge asset to the country.
Fourty students graduated in the broadcast production course at the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (NEMISA). Fourty others have been enrolled for the 18-month multi-media training programme. Next year, sixty people from the community radio sector will be recruited for training as part of our ongoing endeavours to create capacity within this sector. In addition, 20 masters students will be sent to further their studies at the Multi-media University of Malaysia.
NEMISA has trained Community Radio people in programme production, broadcast management and sales and marketing and is turning its focus to training women in broadcast technology.
The department is collaborating with Telkom in the training of unemployed graduates in Java Programming, through the department's Web Internet Laboratories (DoC-Wils). At least 275 of these trainees are ready to write an international examination next month. The DoC-Wils are based at Zululand University, Western Cape, Fort Hare, Qwa Qwa and the University of the North; at Border, Eastern Cape, North West and Mangosuthu technikons as well as at Mamelodi College.
Sectoral job summit
Preparations for the sectoral job summit are at an advanced stage. The department is engaged in consultations with the trade union and industry stakeholders on a collective approach to the job summit, which will take place during the first half of 2002.
Gender
A gender analysis of Broadcasting policy and legislation is being undertaken to examine the extent to which it can contribute to the advancement of women. Similar studies will be conducted around the telecommunications and postal laws.
Women are major beneficiaries of current employment opportunities within the department. In addition, over 50% of students at NEMISA and ISSA are women.
Contribution to the African Renaissance and international relations
The Ministerial Oversight Committee which was launched in 2000 and is chaired by South Africa, proposed to the G8's Digital Opportunities Task Force (DOT Force), (at the Committee's 3rd meeting) that the African Connection Centre should constitute the key center for policy related studies and planning.
Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between South Africa and Algeria in September 2000, an implementation plan was accepted during the SA-Algeria Binational Commission held in 2001. The implementation plan provides for:
It is almost five months since African Heads of State adopted the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad). Nepad poses a wide range of challenges to the information and communication technology sector. Given the cross cutting nature of our sector, South Africa is expected to play a leading role in the continent's renewal within the framework of Nepad.
On 12 - 16 November our country successfully hosted the ITU Africa Telecom conference for the second time within a period of three years, which provided an opportunity for deliberations on how the sector will contribute to the African renewal.
During the conference the e-Africa Commission was formally launched, which has a mandate to lead in the creation of an e-literate society across the continent. The department of Communications used the opportunity to convene meetings of the MOC and the African Advisory Group, which has been established by the Minister of Communications, as chairperson of the MOC, to advise her.
Contact Person: Jerry Majatladi - 082 889 3381 or Robert Nkuna - 082 887 6874