Hon Chairperson, our guests in the gallery, Members of Parliament present here today, this debate takes place after we have held successful local government elections, in which South Africans renewed their contract with the ANC, together to build better communities.
Hon Minister, this will not be a reality for as long as the development of information and communications technology, ICT, is still skewed, and for as long as we are not reaching out to the poorest of the poor in addressing the imbalances of the past.
Information and communications technology is a key ingredient of any economy, particularly developing economies. ICT can provide the backbone for a country's socioeconomic development, where participation of the majority of the people is only hampered by lack of access.
The history of our country is littered with the many examples of people being denied opportunities to participate in the mainstream economy on the basis of their skin colour. This has posed the challenges for universal access to ICT that we experience today. We are currently faced with the challenge of reversing the damage that was caused by decades of policies that were meant to promote racial discrimination, and which resulted in certain groups of people being denied access to telecommunications services.
The initiative to change the situation could not be left to market forces alone. Government has identified the need to develop programmes that will change patterns of telecommunications accessibility through direct government interventions.
The needs of the business sector in South Africa, should they be coupled with the needs of people in the rural areas, might run the risk of drawing the interest and resources away from the delivery of services to rural and disadvantaged communities.
The need for government intervention in directing investments in the ICT sector to underserviced areas was expressly outlined in the Reconstruction and Development Programme, RDP, in 1994, in which the RDP pledged to provide universal access to telecommunications and information technology to a broad spectrum of our people, but most importantly to schools and clinics within two years.
These considerations informed the promulgation of the Telecommunications Act, Act 103 of 1996, which specified the target of a universal access goal of 20 telephones per 100 of the population per province by the year 2000. In the context of South Africa, access to ICT services is more visible when compared on a province-by-province basis, with Gauteng being the leading province with regard to access to ICT. This has left a big gap to be filled, when one compares Gauteng with other provinces that are predominantly rural and economically depressed like Limpopo and Mpumalanga, and not forgetting my own province, the North West.
The challenge of universal access to ICT is a global phenomenon. What is particularly interesting to note about universal access in the context of South Africa is that we, as a country, have one of the best development communications technology sectors, which exists side by side with massive inequality with regard to access. This inequality has meant that a large number of historically disadvantaged communities, and particularly those in rural areas, have been deprived. This represents the challenge of this department and its entities, which must be addressed urgently.
ICT is also a key factor in the task of developing our communities. We so dearly want the business sector to invest in the rural areas and help to alleviate the problem of unemployment, but it cannot invest in areas where there is no telecommunications infrastructure, nor other infrastructure like a road network and transport.
We applaud the vision that encapsulated the repeal of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and replaced it with the Electronic Communications Act of 2006, particularly as it underpinned the creation of a specially dedicated agency responsible for the goals of universal service and access. This agency has a mammoth task to perform, given the huge disparities that characterise the ICT sector. We encourage the department to measure its work and allocate it sufficient resources to fulfil this key mandate.
We also need to acknowledge that there were many areas where radio, television and telephone services had not fully penetrated the communities, and this meant that the legacy of apartheid was being relived, but we applaud the progress that the department and its entities have registered for the period 1996 to date. According to the SABC, we currently have a balance of 3,6 million people who are not able to receive SABC channels terrestrially.
Hon Minister, challenges still exist. For example, there is no clear vision for the ICT sector in the country and the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa, Usaasa, has failed to submit the Universal access and service strategy, which would develop clear terms of reference and performance indicators for the task of providing universal access.
This problem also makes it difficult to identify gaps and provide clarity on where the gaps are, which means that there is no determination of the costs involved, and this cannot be a matter of a wild guess. Therefore, the importance of providing critical information by the department and its entity, which would help to get us close to finalising a national ICT strategy, cannot be overemphasised.
The Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa has three legs: availability, accessibility and affordability of services to the greater majority of the citizens of the country. The advent of a cell phone industry has meant that there is great progress regarding accessibility to South Africans, with accompanying cheap telephone handsets which make it possible for people to communicate. The cell phones have revolutionised the communications industry, although there are still areas which lack access and need to be attended to without any further delay.
What is the role of Telkom, as a state-owned entity, in achieving universal service, hon Minister? If Eskom is able to reach out with electricity to all four corners of South Africa, why can Telkom not do the same? Our people are suffering out there.
Hon Minister, maybe the unbundling of the local loop and digital migration might be the answer to some of the challenges, not forgetting adequate funding to all entities under Communications.
Many people have access to television sets and radios, but at times do not enjoy a full spectrum of products that they offer, because there is no coverage in certain instances or, where it exists, it does not offer adequate services. Sentech also needs to pull up its socks as the national signal distributor. I am interested to know who decides where Sentech goes and, after that decision has been taken, what the role of the Department of Communications, DoC, is. In my view, if the DoC or you as the Minister, appointed by the ANC, are part and parcel of who decides where Sentech goes, the future of our rural areas will be bright, which is not currently what the situation is. Where I come from the situation in regard to having universal access is very bad.
The other challenge is access to computers, and particularly access to the Internet and broadband services. People who do have access to computers in their households do not have access to Internet facilities. The distribution of 3G is concentrated in metropolitan areas, like Gauteng, which I have already mentioned. In the North West we are suffering very much! [Laughter.] I have to mention North West because the people of North West have nominated me to represent them on this podium, so I am speaking on their behalf.
Secondly, there is still a lack of co-ordination of universal access and universal services programmes, which points to a lack of strategy. In spite of promises by Usaasa, it is still not clear exactly where the ICT gaps are, as there is no clear definition of underserviced areas and no list of such areas in the country despite such a submission to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, Icasa. The majority of our people, especially the rural poor and those in underserviced areas, still lack access to both basic and advanced communications services, especially access to broadband.
Therefore, it cannot be correct and we cannot justify our children's not obtaining access, which should be a basic right, merely because Icasa is dragging its feet on definitions and Usaasa is unable to direct the industry as to where and how to address their universal service and access obligations.
In conclusion, allow me to applaud Usaasa and the Post Office on the good work they are doing for the historically disadvantaged community of Mantserre Village in the North West - Moses Kotane Municipality, under the new leadership of Mayoress Mme Fetsang Mokati Thebe. [Applause.] Usaasa has promised to supply 40 computers for each of the 5 schools. For the very first time the community of Mantserre will have a post office. [Applause.] We would also like to encourage other entities to follow suit, in particular Telkom. I see the CEO of Telkom is here. Please follow suit.
As the ANC we are not just passing this budget for the sake of supporting it; we are doing so because we believe that it will assist the DoC and its entities to deliver a better life for all. That is our key mandate. Thank you.