7 June 2002
Today marks the dawn of a new epoch that will be characterised by the use of electronic communication and transactions by South Africans from different walks of life. Because of the complicated nature of the subject matter of this Bill and the divergent views on the issue, we have had to embark on extensive consultation.
We thus spent more than two years working on a policy that has a strong emphasis on getting the majority of disadvantaged South Africans into the information society.
After the e-law conference, a committee of stakeholders presented the outcome of the conference to the Minister. Based on the recommendations received from the conference we drafted the Bill.
To ensure that those traditionally excluded from drafting laws and ensuring that policy finds expression in the legislation, we selected a group of black men and women lawyers to join the legal drafting team thus empowering them not only with the skills and understanding of legal drafting but also understanding the content and challenges of electronic communication and transactions.
The Portfolio Committee on Communications held public consultations this last month. Fifty-nine (59) submissions were received from local business, labour and community organisations; international investors and foreign governments. Five student interns - three women and two men- assisted in analysing these submissions.
The experience gained by these interns not only in terms of this work but also in terms of experiencing parliamentary processes and dealing with parliamentarians have been an eye opener for all of them seated in the gallery. I wish to acknowledge them and thank them for the enormous work they willingly and faithfully did.
The debate on the Bill also took place in the media with various commentators, editors and journalists raising a wide range of issues for consideration. In some of these media reports the private sector expressed reservations in regard to the powers of the Minister as outlined in the Bill.
Today I wish to assure all South Africans that there is no intention whatsoever to control the use of electronic commerce in the country as only the issues pertaining to security and the promotion of universal access have been delegated to the Minister.
While the nature of e-commerce requires flexible legislation, we believe that it is the responsibility of the government of the day to ensure that transactions are conducted in a secure environment. At the same time, government has an inalienable mandate to create the necessary conditions for the majority of our citizens particularly the poorest of the poor participate in e-commerce.
On current debate on our proposal for the establishment of a domain name agency, I wish to indicate that the involvement of all stakeholders in the control and the management of countries domain names is something that is being considered across the globe. It is not unique to South Africa.
In February 2002, President Stuart Lynn of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is a global agency responsible for the management of the world's domain names, called for a complete review of the current system of domain name governance. According to Lynn, the current approach, which excludes governments and other key players, is not working.
"What has become clear to me and others is that a purely private organisation will not work", Lynn said.
To reform the current system Lynn proposed that a new model of public-private partnerships be adopted lest the Internet community will remain isolated.
In line with this thinking from ICANN, we have proposed that to ensure the effective management of the country's domain names we should establish a Section 21 Domain Name Agency. A board of directors comprising representatives of various stakeholders - government, private sector, academia, community, etc - will be appointed to oversee the work of the agency
As South Africans we must therefore consider ourselves fortunate because we have been able to proactively hatch an inclusive mechanism for domain name governance as outlined in this Bill.
Other key issues covered in the Bill include:
Honourable Members, in order for us to reap the benefits being brought about by the Electronic Communication and Transactions Bill, I invite all of you to accept this Bill thereby paving way for the President to use an electronic signature to sign it into law.
Thank you
Contact: Robert Nkuna at 082 887 6874
Issued by Ministry of Communications