Even though bandwidth availability and cable theft remain a problem, there is growth in ICT in townships in SA.
This is according to former Sentech chief executive Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane, who is also part of the President's National Commission on Information Society and Development.
She says ICT growth in townships is a future focus area for the organisation. ”The growth of ICT in the township market is important as it links up with bridging the digital divide.”
Today in townships like Soweto, it is common to hear residents saying they are going around the corner to e-mail or fax something, unlike before where they would have to go to town.
In 2009, the City of Johannesburg set up multi-service techno hubs in townships across the municipality as part of its R1 billion Joburg Network Broadband Project, according to Mokone-Matabane.
The hubs serve as multi-service digital centres that house existing and future programmes aimed at helping people develop computer, entrepreneurial and job-seeking skills. These centres contain WiFi hotspots and have capacity for Internet access.
In the Eastern Cape, two young Mdantsane ICT entrepreneurs have taken matters in their hands and are bridging the digital divide and taking advantage of the growing township ICT market.
Afikile Tokwe and Zuko Ngete recently opened an Internet caf'e in Mdantsane with only five computers in a garage. They say the idea was not that of just an Internet caf'e or sales shop, but of an IT hub where IT know-how is shared freely.
They say, with the availability of reading material, product pamphlets and brand advertising, each individual that enters the caf'e, should leave with a better understanding of ICT and its impact on their lives. “The township market needs to keep up.
“The lack of adequate ICT infrastructure, funds, costs of operation and development are accepted excuses to ignore or try to continue without information technology. We are discovering this is becoming more impossible,” they say.
Mokone-Matabane says it is amazing what young people can do even with smartphones without looking at the manual. “The knowledge is almost intuitive,” she adds.
However, Mokone-Matabane says bandwidth availability and cable theft still remain a problem. “Even those people who have data cards find it difficult to access the Internet because of weak signals when transmitting data.”
She says in schools a lot needs to be done in helping people appreciate what libraries can do. For example, the Department of Arts and Culture has a programme of digitalising archival information in libraries so it can be accessible to people everywhere. These libraries also help townships gain Internet access.
“Sentech and other players such as mobile operators MTN and Vodacom as well as the Government Communication and Information Service have programmes where they have set up multipurpose centres to provide connectivity.
“Unisa also had an arrangement where their students could access the Internet from these centres,” says Mokone-Matabane.
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