Hon Chairperson, the ACDP supports the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill before the House today.
Electronic Communications has taken the world by storm in recent years and has changed the way people in all spheres of life communicate with one another by using computers and cellphone connections; the world has become a village called a global village.
According to the 2006-07 South African Survey, in 2004, 82 out of 1 000 people had access to a personal computer and 78 out of a 1 000 were Internet users. I am sure that three years down that line these numbers must have been doubled by now, at the same time the UK had 628 per 1 000 Internet users and the USA had 630.
The competition among service providers has drastically increased with more and more mind-blowing products and unique facilities coming onto the market. The ACDP has no doubt that the explosion of electronic communication technology is of great benefit to South Africa and African markets as a whole. We need to be informed and in contact in order to keep up with the rest of the world.
The ACDP welcomes the investment and the possible reduction in infrastructure cost, the improvement in service delivery and the support that will flow forth through Asgisa and the benefits consumers will receive in general. Thank you.
Voorsitter, die opwindende aspek van hierdie Minister se werk en departement is dat dit haar taak is om seker te maak dat Suid- Afrika nie agterraak by die ongelooflike tempo waarteen die kommunikasie, tegnologie en telekommunikasiewreld vandag orals ontwikkel nie. Dit maak dit opwindend aan die een kant, maar aan die ander kant plaas dit vreeslike druk op elkeen van ons, ook in die komitee in hierdie Parlement om te sorg dat ons bybly met alle ontwikkelinge.
Suid-Afrika is die ekonomiese reus van Afrika en Suid-Afrika word gesien as een van die sewe-opkomende-ekonomie in die wreld. Ons goedontwikkelde infrastruktuur is een van die hoofredes vir Suid-Afrika se ekonomiese posisie in Afrika en in die wreld, daarom durf ons nie agter raak wat dit betref nie.
Die VF Plus gaan hierdie wet en die wysiging aan die oorspronklike wet steun, omdat ons geensins die indruk wil skep dat ons in die pad staan van ontwikkeling op hierdie terrein nie. Wat wel waar is, as mens na die wreld kyk met wie ons kompeteer en as ons kyk na ander lande met wie ons ekonomies kompeteer, dan blyk dit dat mededinging en kompetisie die beste metode orals is om wel tred te hou met hierdie ontwikkelinge sover dit gaan. Ons durf nie daardie les ni leer nie.
In hierdie geval is die regering besig met die strategiese ingryping wat nie die ideale wyse is nie, maar dit lyk in die lig van omstandighede dat daar nie ander oplossings is nie en daarom sal ons dan wel hierdie wet tans steun. Dankie. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Dr P W A MULDER: Chair, the exciting part of this Minister's work and that of her department is that it is her responsibility to ensure that South Africa does not fall behind on the incredible pace at which the communication, technology and telecommunication world is developing all over today.
It is exciting on the one hand, but on the other hand it also places immense pressure on us individually in the committee of this Parliament to ensure that we keep up with all the developments.
South Africa is the economic giant of Africa and South Africa is seen as one of the six upcoming economies in the world. Our well-developed infrastructure is one of the main reasons for South Africa's economic position in Africa and in the world, therefore we dare not fall behind regarding this.
The FF Plus will support this Act and the amendments to the original, because, by all means, we do not want to create the impression that we stand in the way of development in this area.
There is truth in the matter, when you look at the world that we compete with and if we look at other countries with which we compete economically, it is clear that rivalry and competition are the best methods to keep track of these developments as far as it goes everywhere. We dare not attempt not to learn this lesson.
In this instance the government is busy with a strategic intervention, which is not the ideal way, but in the light of circumstances, there are no other solutions and, therefore we will currently support this Act. Thank you.]
Chairperson, in view of the telecommunications situation in South Africa, and noting that Telkom has for a very long time been the sole service provider, a standard cost has been established. With the introduction of Infraco, we hope that telecommunications services will receive a more competitive and lower costing.
At the end of the day, one of our country's challenges is making services more accessible and affordable so that those hampered by poverty may enjoy them too, and in turn contribute to social development. This factor of social development is paramount in every faculty of government and business. This statement must not be misconstrued. What we are saying is that quality services need to be made cost-effective for everyone.
From this amending Bill we gather that even if Infraco remains a government entity, there is no guarantee that costing in telecommunications shall decrease or that we will not end up with a situation similar to that involving Telkom.
Telecommunications is used for a variety of reasons and it contributes greatly to our progress. Today's technology has privileged us with the opportunity to succeed at the press of a button. I do not intend wandering into the aftermath of apartheid, but reality is that we are challenged to bridge the divide between the haves and the have-nots, and this can only be done by increasing accessibility.
The MF acknowledges that the powers offered to the Minister in this Bill may be criticised as a sign of excessive state intervention and as infringing on the jurisdiction of Icasa, especially with regard to licensing.
We sincerely hope that this will not be the case and that an amicable agreement on co-operation can be reached between the two to fulfil the mandate of providing efficient and effective telecommunications in South Africa. The MF will support the Bill. Thank you.
Deputy Speaker, hon members, allow me to offer best wishes to two special women on their birthdays: our Deputy President, who celebrated her birthday this past Saturday, and hon Helen Suzman, a special lady who celebrates her 90th birthday today. Best wishes to them, and may they stay young for a very long time.
Agb lede, baie, baie jare terug het agb Dene Smuts, in samewerking met agb Sue Vos, in ons komitee onder voorsitterskap van Ned Kekana, baie keer aangevoer, en soms gesmeek, dat daar gekyk moet word na die ho pryse van telekommunikasie. Natuurlik was dit somtyds gemeng met destydse DP-politiek en vandag se DA-politiek, maar niemand kan ontken dat dit die waarheid was dat die pryse te hoog was nie.
Dit was ook meer as eenmaal aangehaal deur ons President. Ek onthou dat die President ten minste drie keer in sy staatsrede die ho Telkompryse aangehaal het en ges het dat dit moet verminder as ons enige direkte buitelandse beleggings wil h, en ook binnelandse kompetisie wil stimuleer. So die President het dit baie keer genoem, maar niemand het blybaar aandag daaraan gegee nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Hon members, many, many years ago in our committee chaired by Ned Kekana, the hon Dene Smuts in co-operation with the hon Sue Vos, many times argued and sometimes pleaded, that the high prices of telecommunication should be looked into. Of course it was sometimes mixed with the then DP politics and today's DA politics, but nobody can deny that it was the truth that these prices were too high.
It was quoted more than once by our President. I can remember that the President in his opening address quoted the high prices of Telkom at least three times and said that it must be lowered if we want any direct foreign investments, as well as stimulate domestic competition. So, the President mentioned it many times but apparently nobody paid any attention.]
Neotel and Usals, the underserviced area licences, were there, but still very little downward movement was seen in terms of prices. Neotel on its own experienced, and is currently experiencing, serious challenges and hopefully the differences between Neotel, the Department of Public Enterprises and the Minister will soon be resolved.
We need state intervention to ensure that we drive down prices aggressively and further stimulate competition. But most importantly, we need to take infrastructure and services to the poor, the rural and the marginalised.
Nou is die tyd om 'n beter lewe, 'n lewe op 'n ander vlak, aan al ons mense te gee, ongeag ras, kleur, seks of gestremdheid. Ek wil graag beklemtoon wat Telkom nie doen nie, veral in ander gebiede soos die platteland en die armer gebiede van ons land.
Suid-Afrika is 'n land van baie moontlikhede. Ons mense lewe in 'n periode van hoop en ek kan waarlik s hul hoop staan nie beskaamd met die staat se tussentrede nie.
Die vraag wat ek graag wil vra, agb Minister, is: Is Infraco die voertuig wat die uitdaging moet aanvat en aanpak? Ek dink daar is 'n deel en daar is plek vir die privaatsektor. As hulle saam met Infraco hierdie kwessie kan aanpak, sal die goed baie vinniger gebeur en teen baie goedkoper pryse. My probleem is dat, as ons net na Infraco kyk, gaan ons moontlik nie die mas opkom nie.
Hierdie voorgestelde wetgewing gee die Minister tyd om gouer aan sekere uitdagings aandag te skenk, veral na samesprekings met en goedkeuring van haar kollegas in die Kabinet.
Namens die groot en magtige ANC hou ek hierdie voorgestelde wetgewing voor. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Now is the time to give a better life, a life on another level, to all our people, irrespective of race, colour, sex or disability. I want to emphasise what Telkom does not do, especially in other areas like the rural and the poorer areas of our country.
South Africa is a country of possibilities. Our people are living in a period of hope and they can truly say that their hope is not in vain with the government's intervention.
The question that I want to ask, hon Minister is: Is Infraco the vehicle that will undertake and tackle the challenge? I think there is a part and place for the private sector. If they undertake this issue together with Infraco things will happen much faster and with cheaper prices. My problem is that, if we only look at Infraco, we might not make it.
This proposed legislation gives the Minister time to look at some challenges sooner, especially after the discussions and approval of her colleagues in the Cabinet.
On behalf of the mighty and powerful ANC, I hold before you the proposed legislation. [Applause.]]
Chair, I would like to thank all the hon members of the House and the parties that have supported the passage of this amending Bill.
In part, the reasons for us going this route, have nothing to do with the objections that have been mentioned, for example by the opposition member Dene Smuts. Hon members will remember that we changed because everyone had asked that we do certain things in our policies and in our laws. These include such things as number portability, pre-selection and allowing everyone to provide facilities.
Ka Sesotho, ke sa ntse ke eme. [In Sesotho we say: I am still standing.]
"Ek wag nog". [I am still waiting.]
They have not provided those facilities in the private sector. It is the failure by the private sector to provide those facilities that have created the kind of problems that have been mentioned. Now that they are doing so, there are instances of encouragement.
The most important thing for us to do is to make sure that this country, which is a developmental state, pays attention not only to two sectors of our population - the business and urban sector - but also to the rural areas. Nobody has been paying attention to the rural areas.
We know that the cost of communication also has something to do with the bandwidth that goes out of or into a country, who controls it and what their costs are. If that bandwidth is high, the cost will always stay high. This is what many developing countries have found out and we can learn from those developing countries.
Look at India. Because their bandwidth was provided by people from outside India, particularly for the businesses of the United States, the prices came down. But in any other country that is not the case, and we have proof of that. This resource is necessary in order to be able to extend ICTs to rural areas.
The second area is that there were conditions placed on Telkom when it was first partly privatised, and those conditions favoured the private sector. I could not change the shareholders' agreement between Telkom and the then parties that were involved in Telkom. Neither could I unilaterally change the shareholders' agreement between Telkom and Vodacom.
Today we hear that it is government or it is me or this part of government that did that. In fact, what pushed for this situation was that everyone in government had been told that it was important that the private sector took over. But, we saw what the private-sector-driven policies and practices have done with regard to the cutting off of telecommunications in many of our rural areas or underserviced areas.
The hon Pieterse asked whether Infraco is the only way to intervene? It certainly is not, but is a strategic way for government to intervene. Since we have taken that policy decision to have government intervene by setting up a company like Infraco, many other companies want to come to the fore because there is actually quite a lot of business that can run on this infrastructure.
So, the intention is not only to have Infraco, but particularly to make sure that international bandwidth, which is one of the reasons why our costs are high, can actually be brought down.
I now come to the issue surrounding the licensing conditions. The Bill certainly does not make any difference in the relationship. It is Icasa that will issue the licence for Infraco and for any other entity that government deems a strategic intervention. It is Icasa, and not the Minister, that sets the conditions of that licence. So there is no reason to fear excessive intervention in the work of Icasa. On that basis, Icasa itself has supported this Bill.
I would like to say that I would be very happy if the House could pass this Bill so that we can get down to the business of making ICTs possible or available to the most disadvantaged people of our country, whom these have not been able to reach. Thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Bill read a second time.