President Thabo Mbeki uses the Internet extensively when researching his speeches and articles, and he is probably more computer literate than many of his staff, say the president`s top aides.
They were speaking to the media yesterday to mark the activation of a Web site dedicated to the Presidency. The site is designed to make the highest political office in the land more accessible to ordinary people.
Mbeki`s office is run and organised similarly to many other government departments. Its structure includes the president, deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and Essop Pahad, minister of the Presidency.
"The president uses the Internet extensively and has a strong understanding of its information value," says Trevor Fowler, the COO of the Presidency.
Frank Chikane, director-general of the Presidency, says the objective of the site is not to duplicate information that is already available on other government portals, but to focus specifically on what the Presidency is about.
"We see the site as being useful to students, journalists and academics who need to obtain information of historical importance," Chikane says.
Fowler says enhancing the site`s services is a being considered. These enhancements would include a youth section that could include a quiz section. He was not sure if Mbeki would start writing a weekly column as he does on the official African National Congress Web site, called ANC Today.
"I would be very pleased if he did; however, there are so many constraints on the president`s time and he writes all those articles himself that I wonder if it would be possible," Fowler says.
The site was developed by Unwembi Communications in .asp with the contract facilitated by the State IT Agency and the server hosted by Internet Solutions.
Unwembi Communications director Gert Reijs says the site is secure because of the strong firewall protection afforded by Internet Solutions.
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