The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services invites members of the media to cover an Inaugural lecture that will take place on Saturday in honour of the late Communications Minister Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri.
The lecture will be delivered by Hon. Naledi Pandor (MP), the Minister of Science & Technology under the theme: “Gender Equality and Mainstreaming in ICT: Smart Strategies for Radical Economic Transformation “
Other participants during the event will include, Hon. Dr Siyabonga Cwele (MP), the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Mr Bonang Mohale, the President of the Black Management Forum, Judge C Mocumie, the President of the South African International Association of Women Judges, Dr Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane of the International Women’s Forum South Africa, Mr T.V Matsepe, a family member and Hon. Prof. Hlengiwe Mkhize (MP), the Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services.
During the 2014 budget vote for the department, Deputy Minister Mkhize made a commitment that the most befitting way to celebrate the life of Dr Casaburri would be through annual memorial lectures.
Mkhize said that it was fitting to acknowledge the huge contribution made by the late Minister on the significance of women’s access to Information and communications technology (ICT’s) and the use of technologies within the context of inclusion to the economy.“The industry will recall her passion, drive and determination to transform this sector.”
The late Dr Casaburri was the first black woman to occupy a number of positions in ICT related entities. She served as a board member of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the chairperson of Sentech, and the board chairperson for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). She was also the premier for the Free State before becoming a member of Parliament and the communications minister in 1999, a post that she diligently filled until her death in April 2009.
During her tenure at the helm of the then Department of Communications, she spearheaded and played a pivotal role in bringing about digital inclusion in South Africa and the continent as a whole. She stood as an encouragement to many young women in this country to take their rightful place in leadership and in every sector including politics and the Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and industry.
Mkhize believes that the purpose of memorial lectures is to ensure that exceptional values and principles are carried forward from generation to generation.
The annual lectures will be themed with great emphasis on the issues that she was passionate about. These included the use of ICT’s in poverty eradication, women leadership, skills development, service delivery, the right to education and she was the strongest defender of woman’s rights.
Date: 21 March 2015
Time:18h00-22h00
Venue: UNISA, Muckleneuk Campus, Pretoria
For media enquiries please contact:
Mpume Madlala
Cell: 081 282 7799
E-mail deputyministermlo@dtps.gov.za
