While the Presidency has reiterated president Jacob Zuma's commitment to lowering communications costs and increasing Internet penetration, it has also failed to reveal any details.
Following Zuma's state of the nation address last week, minister in the presidency Collins Chabane announced a set of outcomes and measurable outputs for the various government programmes.
Chabane noted that all outcomes reflect the work of all governments and ministerial clusters, but failed to mention any outcomes related to major ICT projects, or outline the role of state-owned enterprises, Sentech and Broadband Infraco.
Zuma, in his state of the nation address, promised reductions in broadband, cellphone, landline and public phone rates. He added that plans would be introduced to take SA's Internet to international levels.
The president's statements were welcomed by analysts and the ICT industry, but there was some scepticism as he failed to provide any insight into government's plans and the role major entities would play.
The only mention of ICT was found in the outcomes of the infrastructure development cluster. The cluster, which aims to develop an “efficient, competitive and responsive economic infrastructure network”, listed communications technology as one of its key outputs along with electricity, ports, rail, pipelines and water provision.
While the communications and public enterprises ministries, which manage Sentech and Broadband Infraco, are represented on two inter-ministerial committees, no detailed ICT plans for the country were revealed.
Lacking detail
Chabane noted that the outcomes will form the basis for performance and delivery agreements between ministers and the president. Nine out of 12 outcomes have been approved by Cabinet already and the next task for ministers would be the drafting of detailed plans. The remaining three outcomes would be discussed in Cabinet over the course of the next two months, he says.
While the role ICT plays in government's development goals has been highlighted in the Medium-Term Strategy Framework (MTSF), there were still many gaps to fill.
The details were expected from the various cluster meetings, following the consultation process, but the Presidency has failed to deliver on this.
The document lays out key government priorities and outlines the role of technology in industrial policy, social infrastructure and improving services. However, it has excluded several sectors and failed to provide details on the role of state-owned enterprises.
The MTSF, which will serve as the foremost frame of reference outlining government's policy, excluded broadband, business process outsourcing, green IT and failed to clearly address departmental responsibilities.
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