Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda handed out 80 000 mobile handsets to the ministries of police and health today.
Department of Communications (DOC) spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso says the government's work is interconnected and the DOC has a responsibility to aid World Cup operations. “As our motto suggests, we want to use ICTs to accelerate service delivery and empower people.”
The DOC says this distribution of mobile phones forms part of its contribution to the running of the World Cup. The cellphones will be allocated to officials who will be part of World Cup operations. Rikhotso says emergency and safety services personnel will receive these handsets.
“It's a reality that emergency services people and police do not have cellphones or fully functional cellphones, because they cannot afford it and that affects response time. This is why the minister has chosen to hand out to these personnel. For police to respond properly and efficiently, they need to have working cellphones.”
In response to a Democratic Alliance parliamentary question last year, the minister of police revealed the nationwide average response time to calls made to national emergency call centres is 42 minutes.
Although the primary reason for handing out these cellphones now is for the benefit of the World Cup, Rikhotso says South Africans will benefit in the long-term. “Government has only one objective, which is to better the lives of SA citizens.”
Obliged, or obliging?
The DOC says the mobile phone distribution forms part of the 3G spectrum licence. “This initiative is in partnership with SA's mobile operators, namely MTN, Vodacom and Cell C, and is part of their universal service obligations.”
Rikhotso explains that these say the mobile operators will have to collectively give 250 000 mobile phones and four million SIM cards to the DOC. The department will then allocate these to nominated beneficiaries within government.
“So, as part of our contribution to the successful running of the World Cup, we [DOC] have nominated the ministries of police and health.”
Rikhotso adds that the allocation of the rest of the mobile phones will not be done straight after the World Cup, but in a phased approach.
Package deal
The department did not hand out SIM cards with the mobile phones today.
“The recipients are going to enter into discussions with the operators with regards to whether they want prepaid or contract, and what packages they want,” says Rikhotso.
He explains that the recipients will not have to pay for contracts, as the DOC will fund them. Since it forms part of the operators' universal service obligations, there will be different packages offered, with some specifically discounted for this purpose.
Rikhotso says another reason SIM cards could not be handed out today, were the requirements of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act.
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