Issued by the Ministry of Communications
11 September 2001
On 22 May 2001, I delivered the budget vote of the Department of Communications, Vote 25 for the 2001/2002 financial year.
Today, I want to report on the progress we have made and on the work that still needs to be done since the budget speech in May in order for us to achieve the objectives as stated in the budget vote.
1. Universal access and community outreach
In our budget speech we committed ourselves to accelerate the rollout of the infrastructure and services to under-serviced areas.
To date 6 Citizens Post Offices have been established since the launch of the Soshanguve pilot in September 2000. We envisage launching 20 others by March 2002.
Eight (8) MPCCs have been established of which 3 have been launched. The remaining are going to be launched in October.
One hundred (100) Public Information Terminals (PITs) have been installed in post offices in all provinces and 91 of them are already online. The other nine (9), which are off-line, are based in the MPCCs where Telkom is currently installing Post Office's wide area network.
The Universal Service Agency (USA) is currently assessing the operations of the telecentres as part of the review process aimed at encouraging maximum use of telecentres in communities. A full report will be out before the end of the year.
Ninety-four (94) DOC Web Internet Laboratories have been established in schools and universities. Ten (10) DOC Wils are involved in the distance learning project that seeks to train unemployed graduates in Java programming skills. The participating institutions have a capacity to produce 475 graduates per year.
The Department has rolled out 26 community radio stations around the country as part of its development programme. Four (4) other stations will be installed in the Northern Province, Free State and Eastern Cape before the end of the year.
Production hubs have been established in partnership with community radio stations and community based organisations to assist stations in the production of local content. The hubs are geared towards the following sectors: disability, children, women and HIV/AIDS. Twenty-one (21) community radio stations are involved in this programme.
The Department provides technical support and advice in the development of the Smart Card, which is being co-ordinated by the Department of Home Affairs.
Draft terms of reference for the AIDS Portal have been developed for finalisation with GCIS, Department of Education and the Department of Health.
2. Legislation
The telecommunications policy has been finalised and the Telecommunications Amendment Bill is before Parliament. The restructuring of the Public Emergency Communications has been incorporated into the telecommunications policy and the Bill.
The Postal Amendment Bill is also before Parliament. The Bill deals with the clarification of the mandate of the Postal Regulator.
The Broadcasting Amendment Bill is being prepared for presentation before Parliament pending the decision on the role and social obligations of the SABC.
The Electronic Communications and Transaction Bill is being finalised for presentation in parliament. The e-commerce enabling legislation will be finalised before the end of the year, as indicated in the President's State of the Nation Address.
3. Portfolio organisations
SABC
The restructuring of the SABC is on track. We are in the process of employing people to assist with the restructuring of Channel Africa and Bop Broadcasting.
The SABC is also going ahead with the extension of the radio and television signal to communities, which are currently not being serviced. The public broadcaster has just finished the extension of the Ligwalagwala FM signal to cover the Mbuzini area in Mpumalanga. This will cater for a population of about 230 000 people who have never received an FM signal.
SAPO
The investigation into corruption at the SA Post Office is going ahead. I want to clarify that the investigation is aimed at uncovering corruption from the time even before the arrival of the New Zealand Post International. We decided to embark on a full-scale investigation because of the proportion of corruption at the Post Office. Indeed addressing the situation at the Post Office requires the contribution of all stakeholders. In this regard, we encourage all those with information that will help us to bring an end to corruption to come forward and co-operate with the investigators and give information that might help them.
The issue of the use of the Postbank money for other activities, is a reflection of a legacy where all business units use the same accounting mechanisms. Even when Telkom was part of the Post Office, there was no clear separation of the accounts. The management of the Post Office is currently sorting out all the accounts to avert further confusion.
In the long term, we are going ahead with the restructuring of the Post Office and the plans to corporatise the Postbank.
The Post Office management is also working on the break-even strategy, which will be presented to my office in the near future.
The strategic management partnership with the New Zealand Post International has been terminated on the basis of the Cabinet recommendation. After the Cabinet meeting of 13 June the Minister mandated the Board and management of the Post Office to explore legal mechanisms to end the contract. The Post Office was given the responsibility to conclude the process because the contract was entered between them and the New Zealand Post International. The process will be finalised by the end of this week.
Government and the Post Office are engaged in discussions with regard to the re-introduction of the subsidy. The subsidy would be introduced on the basis of the mandate of the Post Office and will be directed towards meeting universal service obligations.
Sentech
Sentech's licence is being extended to include the provision of the international gateway telecommunications and multi-media services. This is going to benefit Africa as Sentech will contribute in linking the Africa with other continents.
Sentech in partnership with the Development Bank of Southern Africa produced the Glossary of ICT terms in English and Zulu. This initiative is very crucial because the use of African languages in ICTs is one of the requirements for the African Renaissance to succeed.
Independent Communications Authority of SA
ICASA is preparing itself to develop regulations for the introduction of the Second National Operator and SMMEs.
National Electronic Media Institute of SA
NEMISA will be formally launched before the end of October. The launch will coincide with the graduation of 31 students who completed the 18-months training programme on radio and television production.
Univeral Service Agency
The USA will be restructured in line with the new telecommunications policy. Its mandate will entail the monitoring and evaluation of the rollout of universal service obligations by the telecommunications operators. A board of not more than 7 members will be established to oversee the work of the agency.
Telkom
Since the restructuring of Telkom started significant progress has been made in the roll out of universal service obligations. Telkom has alreadu connected 200 schools in historically disadvantaged areas to the Internet and will continue to expand on these targets. Today, after more than 1,3 million new connections, 35% of all households are linked to the national telephone system. By the end of the financial year 2001/2, it is envisaged that 75% of all households will have access to a telephone.
4. International work
On 12 to 16 November South Africa will for the second time, host the ITU Africa Telecom 2001. For the first time, the conference will include a Youth Forum where the youth representatives from various African countries will be given an opportunity to deliberate on issues around Youth and ICTs. We believe that this will go a long way in getting young people to be part of the information society and of the MAP/ New Africa Initiative.
The department and the World Economic Forum (WEF) are working closely with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in the establishment of the E-SADC Task Force. The aim of this Task Force is to make ICTs a priority for national and regional socio-economic development.
Regarding the Millennium Africa Plan, the following projects (and areas) have been identified for implementation: e-schools project, e-health project, policy development village, capacitating the civil service, Vijana DOT Force; women and ICTs.
The G8 leaders, in their meeting in Genoa this year, ,adopted a plan of action to bridge the digital divide. It was agreed that South Africa will be a pilot on the formulation and implementation of e-strategies. The Department is engaged in processes to ensure that this resolution is implemented.
For more information contact Robert Nkuna on 082 887 6874