Deputy minister of telecommunications and postal services, Hlengiwe Mkhize, hopes the Lwazi ICT project, catering to women in the Tlhabane community in the North West province, will set a precedent for addressing gender and economic divides in SA's ICT space.
The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services partnered with Telkom SA, Deloitte SA, Intel SA and Landbank in launching the project on Monday. The project provides ICT training for women in Tlhabane and a Web site where they can post business profiles, access and share business information and network within the community.
Mkhize said partnerships with the private sector are integral to the success of this and similar projects. The time-consuming policy focus in government processes often slows down roll-out of projects like this, whereas private sector partners are practised at quick turnaround, she explained.
Dr Miriam Altman, head of strategy at Telkom, added government protocol can greatly hinder the experimentation and innovation needed in rolling out ICT infrastructure. "[Government is] a machinery that's better at repeating delivery than it is at experimenting, so this kind of partnership is incredibly important: innovation outside of government, but in partnership with it," she explained.
In developing countries, women use the Web 25% less than men on average, said Videsha Proothveerajh, Intel country manager, citing Intel's 2013 Women and the Web study. In sub-Saharan Africa, this figure is above 40%, she added.
Altman said this is due to women being traditionally "crowded into very marginal kinds of [career] opportunities" and saddled with the "double day", which refers to women being expected to take responsibility for housework and child-rearing in addition to their careers.
The education system also contributes to women's lack of presence in the ICT sector, added Mkhize. Young women are not sufficiently encouraged to take STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects, and when they do, they are met with a discouraging lack of woman role models, she explained.
Altman noted women will need ICT skills in the near future, not only to be included in the sector, but for a range of basic jobs.
The Web helps women access services and opportunities that are unavailable to them offline, Proothveerajh added.
"One key thing we are talking to equipment manufacturers about is making sure the content on devices is relevant to women," said Thabani Khupe, corporate affairs director for Intel SA. Relevant content includes entrepreneurship and business resources, as well as help with combating violence against women, he explained.
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