Programme director
The Mayor of Ethekwini Municipality, Councillor Obed Mlaba
The Minister of Communication Mr Roy Padayachie
The Deputy Minister of Communication
Acting Director General, Dr Harold Wesso
The Vice Chancellor of Durban University of Technology
Dignitaries present
Ladies and gentlemen
All protocol observed
On behalf of the government of KwaZulu-Natal and the people of this province, we wish to express our sincere delight for being part of this occasion where we are meeting to celebrate yet another milestone in our quest to harness the power of technology in improving the lives of our people. We wish to start by extending an apology on behalf of our provincial Premier, Dr ZL Mkhize who could not be with us this afternoon because of other pressing engagements.
Programme director, one of the enduring features of the apartheid legacy is lack of access to education among many of our people. According to statistics from Statistics South Africa, about 3,5 million adults over the age of 16 have never attended school, while about 2,5 million adults had some schooling but were ill taught or lack practice and therefore lost their ability to read and write. This makes at least six million South African adults who are estimated to be either illiterate or low literate.
It is because of this reason that since the dawn of democracy our government has put education at the apex of its list of priorities. Not only did the lack of access to education deny our people the opportunity to be masters of their own destiny but it has had a huge impact on the economy of the country. As we speak South Africa is one of the countries in the world with a low skills base.
Also, programme director, the lack of education also mirrored lack of access to the information and communication technology (ICT) industry and technology in general. Nowhere is this pronounced than in rural areas. It is because of this reason that we feel that today’s launch of the e-skills knowledge production and coordination hub is a significant milestone in our attempt to use the power of technology in our reconstruction and development project.
ICT gives people opportunities to determine who should govern and under which principles. It gives them freedom to evaluate and criticise authorities, freedom of expression, right to dialogue, to actively take part in the democratic process. Information Technology plays the role of a key enabler of the modernisation of government. It also improves access to services and offers both individual citizens and companies the opportunity to interact (even to conduct business) with government seven days a week and 24 hours a day. But more importantly in this fast paced world of globalisation it has become a fillip for economic growth.
Programme director, it is a known fact that over the past century technology has been the single biggest factor which has defined the advancement of humanity. Not since the industrial revolution has there been one single factor which has shaped the progress of humanity as technological development has. Not only has it changed the way we live our lives but is has had a profound impact on trade, and commerce and generally the way nations conduct business with one another. In this regard, ICT have been at the heart of economic changes for decades.
Indeed, programme director, there is a corresponding relationship between the economic progress of most of the countries in the world and their technological progress. Our government has long identified the ICT industry as one of the pillars around which to anchor our economic growth. It is because of this reason that over the past 16 years of democratic rule, our provincial government has undertaken numerous fact finding missions to several countries, to learn more about the ICT industry.
Most recently, we have committed ourselves to expanding cooperation agreements and partnerships with India in key strategic sectors such as ICT, agriculture, agri-processing, biofuels and biochemicals. India’s ICT strategy has been a key driver in the country’s economy and has been used by the country’s agricultural sector. Despite the population of more than 1,1 billion, India is now a net exporter of food. KwaZulu-Natal in particular, is learning a great deal from success of India’s agricultural sector, especially agricultural cooperatives.
As a result of the relationship we have with India, more than 10 000 students from this province are undergoing intensive training over the next five years in the ICT sector in the country. The focus is on Software Engineering, Networking, Website Development, database development and integration of website development, computer programming and database.
In response to the challenge of shortage of skills, among other fields, the ICT sector, our province, a few years ago, started the Moses Kotane Institute which is solely focused on equipping students with skills in the mathematics, science and technology arena. Also, one of the key features of the new Dube Trade Port, is the cyber port,which will go a long way towards boosting the ICT capability of our province. Programme director, this shows our commitment to ensure that we leveragethe economic benefits brought about by the ICT industry.
According to a report by the Organisation for Economic, Cooperation and Development, the ICT industry spending was up 5,6 percent between 2000 and 2005, with China and USA the major players in this sector. The ICT industry does not only hold endless potential for our country, but it has proven to be one of the fastest growing sectors on the African continent.
According the figures from the World Bank between 1995 and 2005 more than US$25 billion was invested in the ICT sector in the Sub Saharan Africa, mainly by the private operators and investors. This investment has resulted in a rapid expansion of the communication networks. By 2006 more than half of the population of sub Saharan Africa had access to cellphones and this is rising.
This has been a remarkable improvement when one looks at the fact that in the early 1990s less than one percent of the entire population of the African continent had a mobile phone subscription.
As we speak, programme director, there are more than 110 million mobile subscribers in the African continent representing more than 17 percent of the entire population of the African continent.
As the provincial government, we therefore believe that today’s launch of the e-skills knowledge production and coordination hub is a practical expression of our government’s commitment to tap into the power of technology as a means to drive economic growth and to improve the lives of our people. Indeed, programme director, even the new growth path singles out the ICT industry as one of the sectors which have a potential to create employment opportunities in the short to medium term.
The NGP targets 100 000 new jobs by 2020 in the knowledge intensive sectors, which include the ICT.
As the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal we wish to applaud this initiative by the Department of Communications. We believe that this initiative heralds the opening of a new chapter in our province where access to ICT will no longer be a privilege but a right to all, irregardless of whether you live in rural or urban areas.
I thank you.
