Pretoria – South Africa has been well rated internationally for developing its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policies, said Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Dr Siyabonga Cwele.
Minister Cwele said one of the biggest challenges facing South Africa was universal access to affordable broadband services.
“We must seek policies that promote competition in the market in a manner that makes broadband services affordable.
“We also need to find ways to train South Africans, especially the youth, to create content and applications to encourage ICT uptake and usage,” he said.
On Tuesday, Minister Cwele presented the Final Recommendations Report of the National ICT Policy Review to the Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications and Postal Services.
Department spokesperson Siyabulela Qoza said the Final Recommendations Report is the latest document in the process towards creating a crosscutting policy framework that leads to the realisation of the vision of a fully connected society, as stated in the National Development Plan.
Minister Cwele said the internet is a major medium of communication and the rapid market changes have necessitated the review of the policy.
“The ICT review process has been done following the Constitutional requirements and the Presidency’s Policy Impact Assessment.
“We’ll recommend policy choices that have the least disruption to personal lives and most impact on our people,” he said.
Minister Cwele said government also needed to look at ways to facilitate the growth of the ICT sector, focusing on research and development as well as innovation and manufacturing.
He said as more South Africans become digitally connected, measures need to be put in place to guarantee Cybersecurity, data protection and privacy.
“The report recommends policies that respond to the current postal sector challenges, including the future of the postal service, the postal market structure and the provision of universal services.
“Another key policy issue is the need to expand banking services to the currently unbanked citizens, particularly in rural areas,” Qoza said. – SAnews.gov.za
