Some 85% of the 400 Members of Parliament (MPs) are computer illiterate and Parliamentary house chairman Obed Bapela has ordered them to improve their IT skills.
Speaking yesterday during the Parliamentary budget vote debate, Bapela said members had left their issued laptops to gather dust and that many of the computers had not even been removed from their boxes.
He said the reason was that most MPs do not have the skills to operate the machines, and so they are unable to engage with their constituents on social networking Web sites, such as Twitter and Facebook.
“We cannot have MPs that cannot access the Internet,” Bapela said.
Lindiwe Mazibuko, Democratic Alliance shadow deputy communications minister, said the situation was true.
“Many MPs appear to just ignore their laptops, or often just give them to their children to do homework on. What they do not realise is that technology is an enabler and can make them more efficient at doing their jobs.”
Mazibuko said it could also be an age or cultural issue, as many MPs were embarrassed about admitting they could not use their computers.
A secretary for an MP, who asked not to be named, said the situation was also due to the “management issue” of MPs.
“I have discussed this with other secretaries who also say MPs seem to just think that if they ask for something, it will appear out of thin air, rather than looking it up on the Internet. Many also believe the Internet is not trustworthy as an information provider, yet they will happily use information from it if they like it,” she said.
MPs who want to know how to use their computers can start group training sessions in July and, for those who are too embarrassed, private sessions can be arranged, Bapela told the National Assembly.
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