The country's provincial governing teams could soon see an addition to their executive councils. It is believed the ANC will discuss political accountability of ICT at a regional level during its national general council (NGC), under way in Durban this week.
Black IT Forum (BITF) secretary-general Motse Mfuleni says the proposal of a member of the executive council (MEC) focused on ICT was a solution discussed by ANC provincial structures in preparation for the NGC. Members of the BITF's executive committee attended many of the provincial conferences set up across the country in the run-up to the mid-term policy conference.
“One of the biggest issues leading to lack of transformation in the ICT sector is the fact that political oversight only takes place at national level. It is impossible for a minister to single-handedly effect change across all provinces and municipalities. Currently, this responsibility resides with the premier of each region.
“However, the typical premier's portfolio is so heavy that matters around ICT have to wait for a diary opening. Once initial proposals are made, the premier then needs to go away and investigate whether the proposed option is best before giving approval,” explains Mfuleni.
As a result, says Mfuleni, the province's ICT implementations, industry and strategic initiatives do not receive the focused attention they require and often face delays.
Meddling with media
A key area of concern for the ANC is the lack of transformation within the media sector, says Mfuleni. As such, the ICT MEC entrant would be charged with driving the empowerment and development of the media at a regional level, he explains.
Government's media (SABC) and media enablement (Sentech, ICASA, MDDA) investments currently reside under the oversight of the Communications Ministry. A proposal within the ANC discussion document on ICTs recommends that all government's ICT investments - including those media-related - be consolidated under a single political authority.
The ruling party's discussion document on media transformation, ownership and diversity highlights the challenges it has identified in this area.
“Free, independent and pluralistic media can only be achieved through not only many media products, but by the diversity of ownership and control of media. As sites of transformation, information and communication networks are subjected to contested politico-economic tussles. That is, the make-up of ownership and shareholdings, the control of management and production of content, [and] the composition of the workforce employed in these industries,” it states.
This sector occupies a “special place”, the ANC says, as it is a key of reform and revolution in the broader society.
“Our objectives, therefore, are to vigorously communicate the ANC's outlook and values (developmental state, collective rights, values of caring and sharing community, solidarity, ubuntu, non-sexism, working together) versus the current mainstream media's ideological outlook (neo-liberalism, a weak and passive state, and overemphasis on individual rights, market fundamentalism, etc),” the document states.
Provincial discussions around this objective agreed it could not be attained unless government got closer to the localities, says Mfuleni.
Although the proposal appears to be based in media strategy, there is good news for the traditional IT and telecoms market.
“This is a very positive development for the ICT sector - particularly outside SA's major centres. An ICT MEC could ensure that provincial and local IT implementations favour local companies rather than the predominantly Gauteng-based companies currently deployed across the country,“ comments Mfuleni.
“We will also see much more done around skills development and deployment of new and innovative technology.”
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