Initiatives in South Africa

The government of National Unity faces the challenge of creating an education and training system that will fulfil the visionof “opening doors of learning and culture to all” ITU 980035 Dept. of Communications, South Africa

Providing access to ICTs is considered an important national goal in the government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme. The objective of the Universal Service Agency established by the Telecommunications Act (1996) is to facilitate access to telecommunications and other ICTs for all. One of the main activities of this Agency has been the establishment of telecentres. An estimated 5000 telecentres need to be established to provide true universal access in South Africa. Given the magnitude of such a task, the focus is to develop a number of successful models that offer access to ICTs in disadvantaged areas to encourage other public, private and community initiatives to provide national coverage.

In August 2000, there were 63 telecentres, primarily in rural areas. Telecentres are financed from the Universal Service Fund of around USD 2.1 million per year, which comes from a levy on telecommunication operators. IDRC has lent support to12 of the telecentres. UNDP, the Dutch government and other donors have also given their support.

These telecentres cost about USD 30 000 and though the exact specification varies, most have four computers, four telephone lines, a printer, a copier and a television. Most of the telecentres are owned by community organizations, women’s organizations or community forums. A few are owned privately and others are attached to existing public services (such as libraries, schools and post offices).

The Agency has carried out baseline research on telecentres in three provinces, and conducted studies on community information needs with six telecentres in the Northern Province.

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While the telecentres based in townships profitably offer telephony services, computer training, with proper accreditation, seems to be the most profitable activity. Overall, about half of the telecentres appear to be economically sustainable.

Apart from the Agency’s telecentres, there are several other community access initiatives in the country. An estimated 700 community ICT projects are said to be in place, including multipurpose community centres, digital villages, community computing centres and information literacy sites. The Government Communication and Information System was given a cabinet mandate to coordinate government delivery in rural areas. It is setting up multipurpose community centres offering a range of government services such as health, welfare, home affairs and housing. Twenty of these centres had been established by the time of ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2001 last November.