Hon Chairperson, and hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers who are present ...

... cha, akunjalo. Ukuthi kukhona abahoxile lapha, besaba, ngase ngicabanga ukuthi kungathi bazisabile ngoba sebehambile manje. [Laughter.] [... no, it is not like that. I am saying that because some of us have withdrawn. They were afraid and not confident enough and that is why they are already gone.]

We all agree that there is a huge cost to communication. Therefore, all of us must find the means to ensure that we make communication cheap.

Having said this, I am certain that all of us agree fully on a vision that aims at connecting all of our people, and all the sectors of our society, through information and communication technology knowledge. In this regard, the digital networks, migration services, applications, content and devices integrated into the economic and social fabric of our society are of paramount importance.

The point in question here is that society must connect. Society must be active. Society must talk and communicate on all matters that will improve its way of life - connect, in the interests of human coexistence, promoting economic growth, creating work opportunities, exposing people to other worlds, and encouraging skills development.

Vexing perennial questions are these: How do we create an informed citizenry, both in rural and urban areas? Also, how do we ensure that we optimise information and communication technology to improve communication for the young, women, the old and the physically challenged?

I have alluded to the fact that communication is expensive - it is very costly - whether it is radio, telephone, television, cellphone or the print media. Together we need to devise ways and means of making communication easy for the young, the poor, women and the unemployed, including those in the rural areas who are indigent.

The greatest chunk of the budget of the department is transferred to certain entities, the public entities of the department. These are the SA Post Office, NS, Sentech, Icasa, Usaasa, Sita, etc. Perhaps it is important to say that if we look at Usaasa for the 2013-14 financial year, according to the Auditor-General it was observed that 43% of the targets were not met or they were not specific, and 29% of the indicators were not well-defined. Material adjustments were required to reported information ... [Interjections.]