Hon Chairperson, the Fourth Industrial Revolution creates a sense of excitement and hon Minister, you have captured the nation's imagination. But we must also have on the raider cyber cities in deep rural areas to get corporates to relocate in their droves to make money there.
All this must be done in preparation of the cyber civilisations with South Africa as a member of this civilisation. If you achieve this, hon Minister, you will be part of royalty and the envy of the Official Opposition.
Hon Minister, the nation is waiting for the finalisation of policy directors on the spectrums so the country can catch up on progress like we see in developed countries. The President, in
his state of the nation address, identified the need to strengthen the capacity of the state. The Independent Communications Authority of South, Icasa, strengthens the capacity of the private sector by giving them spectrum space. More of this space must be given to state departments like Home Affairs and the Police.
The 5G spectrum streams must be allocated to them to capacitate them and save them money rather than paying exorbitant future prices. Having said that, we want to acknowledge that Icasa continues to be an independent and credible regulator. While its broadband service like 5G must be free, and Icasa must be creative to make this possible, uptake of 5G systems must be speeded up and monopolies must be avoided.
The interim relief for the SABC is welcome; we must support the public broadcaster now that it is free and no longer captured. The digital economy in South Africa is in young hands which gives us hope and Al Jama-ah, with a sense of excitement, wishes you, hon Minister, all the success. [Applause.]