Hon Chair, universe access for all citizens in South Africa is non-negotiable as we enter an age that will be dominated by information technology, access and sharing. In the execution of its mandate in the first quarter, the department achieved 50% of its planned quarterly targets. Hon Chair, our country cannot afford to achieve 50%, not when the rest of the world is making far greater advances than we are in respect of communications. This places our country at a distinct disadvantage, socially and economically.
In respect of entities that report to the department, one needs to look no further than the SABC for an example, of failed management which finds itself currently indebted to service providers for billions of rand and has applied to Treasury for a life saving bailout out of R3,2 billion. Hon Chair, it requires a complete overall as it clearly cannot rectify its substantial mismanagement. In many instances, Icasa does not have skill sets required and its inability to find experts to support the execution of some of its critical objects in engineering and technology, led to its failure to achieve a percentage of the target it had set for itself.
The film and publication still has instances of irregular expenditure and Brand South Africa still has vacant posts, though we acknowledge the progress made on the spectrum. Telecommunications
achieved 90% of its planned target for quarter one, yet Information and Communications Technology, ICT, infrastructure support failed in development of the monetary report on the provision of broadband services to 570 connected sites owing budget constraints and a failed SETA procurement process. This is unacceptable.
The SA Post Office only achieved 50% of its target, which is poor. We hope that with the new leadership they will be able to turnaround the poor targets of the SA Post Office and jobs for loyal cadres does not always translate into well managed entities, hon Chair. South African Post Office, Sapo, and SABC should take note of other entities like National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa, Nemisa, Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa, Usasa, and Sentech that are currently achieving 100% of targets set and seek to follow their examples. The IFP supports the report. I thank you.