Communications minister Roy Padayachie yesterday signed a statement of co-operation with the minister of communications, science and technology of Lesotho, Mothejoa Metsing.
The statement will pave the way to explore discussions and potential partnerships on mutually beneficial programmes for the two countries, said the Department of Communications (DOC).
It is envisaged that this will culminate in the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two ministries.
“Some of the areas of potential co-operation identified by the two ministers include digital migration, cyber security, home and away roaming, postal services and broadband.”
Policy synch
The ministers agreed to work towards harmonising their respective departments' policies to ensure that citizens of the two countries benefit from the shared experiences, added the DOC.
The delegation from Lesotho attended presentations on several projects that the DOC is currently working on, including broadcast digital migration, telecommunications infrastructure and frequency spectrum, and digital local content.
The delegation will also visit the head offices of the SA Post Office, the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA, the SA Broadcasting Corporation, Sentech, Telkom, the National Electronic Media Institute of SA, and the Independent Communications Authority of SA.
Bargaining power
At the meeting with the delegation, Padayachie shared SA's digital migration roadmap. He said the country is working round the clock to meet the December 2013 deadline.
"We are working on achieving several milestones, the next big one being the public/commercial launch in April 2012 to conclude in December 2013.”
He added that it is important for countries in the Southern African Development Community to work together on issues of common interest, so as to derive more benefit for the region when bargaining in international forums.
Cutting costs
Metsing said the relationship between the two countries is a unique and important one, with SA being Lesotho's only neighbour.
"We have no choice but to work together in the best interests of the people of SA and Lesotho. Four-and-a-half million Basotho live in South Africa compared to the Kingdom's 1.9 million population."
He said it is not justifiable that residents of the two countries pay a lot to communicate with each other, when the distance between Lesotho and SA is shorter than the distance between Johannesburg and Cape Town.
"This calls for [an] intervention on ways of reducing the cost to communicate for the people of our countries."
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