As part of government efforts to create safer communities, Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams led a cyber security awareness campaign in Eersterust, Pretoria on Friday.
“We want to make sure that our people are safe and it has to start with the platforms that they communicate with. We have therefore made a conscious decision to work with everyone to make sure that we can spread the message of the disadvantages of the internet,” Ndabeni-Abrahams said.
The Minister’s awareness campaign follows the recent adoption of the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill by the National Assembly. The Bill is aimed at creating offences and prescribed penalties related to cybercrime.
The offences provided for in the bill aim to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data and systems by means of the offences of unlawful access, interception of protected data, malware-related offences, interference with data and computer systems and password-related offences.
The Minister was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Bulelani Magwanishe as well as Deputy Minister of Communications Pinky Kekana during her visit to the Leaders in Motion Academy in Eersterus.
Leaders in Motion Academy is an academy for the township, by the township where storytellers and creatives are nurtured and given a voice to their narratives through films. The Academy offers a well-crafted, accredited, fully-funded theoretical and practical film course targeted at aspiring township filmmakers.
Ndabeni-Abrahams said it was important for government to support the creative industry.
“We have a responsibility as government to makes sure that we promote economic growth, our responsibility is to create an enabling environment and that means those that are able to produce [in the creative industry] that can generate an income… we must support them,” she said. –SAnews.gov.za
