Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille has accused mobile operators Vodacom, MTN and Cell C of neglecting the disabled.
She says they have not made good on their obligations to roll-out Internet connectivity to institutions of people with disabilities.
The telecoms industry has become the ID's latest pet project.
“It is shocking that not one of the three companies has delivered on their obligations to institutions of people with disabilities. Besides this, MTN and Cell C are far behind in terms of rolling out Internet connectivity to their allocated schools,” says De Lille.
De Lille says it is clear the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) is “their dead wood partner”, since it has not enforced the operators' licence obligations. “This is yet another example of the cosy relationship between ICASA and the operators,” she adds.
De Lille has called on the regulator to submit all its concerns and troubles with the operators to the Complaints Compliance Committee for review.
“These three companies have consistently shown that disrespect for the rules is probably just as rampant, if not more rampant, in the private sector than it is in the public sector and those of us that expected them to play their part in building an honest society were hopelessly na"ive,” she concludes.
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