“Working Together to Connect South Africans”
The Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Dr Siyabonga Cwele and Prof Hlengiwe Mkhize will be delivering the R1,4 billion Budget Vote this afternoon, outlining the priorities for the department over the next 12 months.
The department is focused on realising the priorities of government that were announced by President Jacob Zuma during his State of the Nation Address in February 2015.
The department mandate is to modernise society by encouraging the use of technology to improving services delivery to radically deal with the effects of persistent unemployment, inequality and poverty prolonged by the legacy of apartheid.
Over the next 12 months, the department will focus on the following;
Broadband Rollout – Implementation of South Africa Connect
The department has already visited four of the eight rural district municipalities that President Zuma identified for the rollout of broadband infrastructure. These districts are:
1. Vhembe in Limpopo
2. OR Tambo in the Eastern Cape
3. Umzinyathi in KwaZulu-Natal
4. Umgungundlovu in KwaZulu-Natal.
In all the eight districts we will be connecting government offices, schools, health facilities, police stations, post offices and Thusong Centres to scalable broadband infrastructure.
We are scheduled to complete the visits to the remaining districts before the end of June 2015. These are:
1. Gert Sibande in Mpumalanga
2. Thabo Mofutsanyana in the Free State
3. Pixley ka Seme in the Northern Cape, and
4. Dr Kenneth Kaunda in the North West
We have met with Premiers, Mayors, Traditional leaders, local councilors, teachers, nurses, police, learners and governmental officials who have shown enthusiasm for the projects in areas we have visited. Everywhere we have gone people have demonstrated how ICTs changes service delivery.
The aim of the visits was to determine the gaps in fibre infrastructure, the availability of access technologies, the state of current utilisation of technologies and the level of skills available that will facilitate the uptake of Information and communications technology (ICTs). We will create district project teams to monitor and facilitate implementation of quick win connections and train public servants and community members in the areas of the rollout.
The department is in the process of finalising the business case and plan for the rollout of broadband infrastructure to connect all public institutions in the rest of the country. The business case will be finalised in July 2015.
In this year, the department will work with the regulator, Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), to review the levy for the Universal Service and Access Fund (USAF) so that South Africa is in line with other developing countries. The purpose is to close the wide gap in infrastructure provisions between urban and rural areas. The law allows for the levy to go up to 1% of revenues. The levy has been set at 0.2% since inception.
Postal services
The focus is on the implementation of the turn-around plan for the Post Office and the finalisation of the corporatisation of the Postbank.
The Strategic Turnaround Plan of the Post Office has been finalised. The Turnaround Plan will be submitted to Cabinet for approval. The task of the department is to monitor the implementation of the Strategic Turn-Around Plan. The priority is the implementation including addressing leadership issues through the appointment of the Board and capable management. We welcome the commitment of government to increase substantially the business with the Post Office. The department and the Post Office will work together to ensure the delivery of this new strategy. This will go a long way in ensuring the sustainability of the Post Office.
Postbank
Government remains committed to the programme of financial inclusion through the corporatisation of the Postbank.
Progress has been achieved in the corporatisation of the Postbank. The audit of the assets and liabilities of Post Office and Postbank has been completed; the submission of the five year financial forecasts has been completed. Currently process is to complete the fit and proper process for the prospective candidates for Board membership. The department and the South African Reserve Bank are working to finalise discussion on the Holding Company in line with the Postbank Act.
The department will also work with the regulator, ICASA, to review the regulations of the Postal sector including dealing with issues like appropriate universal service obligations of the Postal Sector, price caps and the Extra Territorial Offices of Exchange.
Rationalisation of State Owned Entities
All state owned entities responsible for ICT infrastructure, specifically broadband, are now under the department to achieve greater coordination and efficiency. These are Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA), State Information Technology Agency (SITA), Broadband Infraco, Sentech and Telkom. During this financial year the department will finalise a strategy on their rationalisation.
Keeping our communities informed
Last year SENTECH connected community radio broadcasters to the parliamentary channel which means our communities are now part of the important debates taking place in Parliament.
On the 06th of March 2015 SENTECH completed its digital network deployment for Digital Migration.
E-governance, Skills Development and Domain Names Administration
SITA will drive e-government and the security of government networks. National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (NEMISA) will drive massification of e-skills. ZADNA will drive the allocation of domain addresses.
Policy issues
The department continues to benefit from progressive partnerships with all sectors of society. The final report of the National ICT Policy Review process is an example of this.
Drawing inputs from South Africans from all works of life in all our provinces, the report makes recommendations on key policy areas that include the following:
1. Policy on universal, affordable and equitable access to communication infrastructure by all South Africans. Universal service and access refers to the extension of networks and services to reach all South Africans including those in rural areas. Universal Access policy will deal with the lowering of costs and affordability of communication services.
2. An open access policy that will reduce duplication, allow infrastructure sharing and direct competition away from infrastructure to services. Open access refers to the use of infrastructure on equitable, transparent basis amongst all operators.
3. A rapid deployment policy to enable the deployment of infrastructure for connectivity at least cost and therefore contribute to affordable services. This policy will remove all bottlenecks experienced in the deployment of the broadband infrastructure.
4. Policy on the growth of the sector and local manufacturing in order for small businesses to thrive and to create jobs. South Africa consumes a lot of ICT tools and gadgets and South Africa needs to start localising production of these tools.
5. A National Policy on Spectrum to deal with the use and allocation of spectrum. The Spectrum is the scarce national resource that is critical for many communication services including broadcasting, telecommunications, maritime, safety and security among others. Government is aware that mobile operators need more spectrum. It is important that all national communications needs must be catered for. Government hopes that different users of the spectrum and ordinary South Africans will participate in the finalisation of this process.
Government is studying the recommendations in the report with the aim of finalising a National Integrated Policy White Paper by the end of this financial year.
Cybersecurity
These partnerships extend to the crucial areas such as Cybersecurity. We continuously engage other national departments, government agencies and citizens that have expertise in the area of Cybersecurity. We shall continue to work with all these key stakeholders to increase awareness about possible dangers that lurk online as we aggressively rollout broadband infrastructure. We need to instil confidence in the security of these networks.
International
We will continue to participate in all multilateral and international fora including the World Radio Conference to be held in November this year. In addition we will work with BRICS countries to establish an ICT working group and plan of action which will prioritise cybersecurity and internet governance.
For media enquiries please contact:
Siya Qoza
Cell: 082 898 1657
E-mail: Siya@dtps.gov.za
Thulani Ngubane
Cell: 076 983 9840
E-mail: tngubane@dtps.gov.za
