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South Africa must plan for ‘future-fit’ digital infrastructure

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 07 Dec 2020
Communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.
Communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) exposed countries’ weaknesses in terms of policy, regulation and funding of programmes, said communications and digital technologies minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.

Ndabeni-Abrahams made the comment during her address on digital infrastructure rollout in the country at last week’s Northern Cape Infrastructure Summit.

The outbreak of COVID-19 saw millions of people rely on ICT to work, study, care for others and keep in touch with loved ones.

The minister pointed out the pandemic gave the tech space an opportunity to leapfrog to the digital society that’s been spoken about, with everybody expected to do their work virtually, except for essential services.

On a South African front, a danger was soon realised that the capacity of bandwidth in offices couldn’t carry the traffic that was there, she stated.

For example, those essential workers that were at work – where there is connectivity – the capacity was not enough to liaise with those workers not in the office.

On the other hand, employees working from home had varied experiences. For instance, others were comfortable because they were in the suburbs and had sufficient network to be able to connect. However, there were those that unfortunately became digital outcasts, not out of their own will, but because of the poor infrastructure.

She explained: “We struggled as we tried to make sure students have access to their education systems. Yes, we engaged the operators, who said we will zero-rate, so that students can have access to their content, but most of them were in hostels and had to go home when lockdown was declared. At home, there was no network.

“We may have beautiful buildings and we may have WiFi and connectivity in public buildings or halls, but the reality is that COVID has shown that we need to have access to those. Therefore, we require a change in thinking and a change in planning, which will lead not only to the legislative environment but also the regulatory environment that must focus on that which needs to be done.

“We refer to this as being future-fit – if you want your own country to participate effectively and meaningfully in the fourth industrial revolution.”

Broadband ambitions

Ndabeni-Abrahams pointed out the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has the SA Connect programme, which is a country plan on broadband rollout.

SA Connect, first announced in 2013 by the then Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, is the national broadband project identified by government to meet the technology goals of the National Development Plan of creating an inclusive information society.

The ambitious government broadband plan has been criticised in recent days, with the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) advocating for a new plan if SA is to make the Internet accessible and affordable for everyone.

The A4AI cites national broadband plans as a necessity to bring down prices and ensure inclusive growth, and with clear targets, the plans provide an agreed roadmap for all stakeholders and create accountability for continued progress.

According to the report, most countries (90% of those studied) have some kind of NBP; however, the quality of these plans varies widely.

With SA Connect, the criticism centres on its lack of specific targets around 4G coverage, rural access and fixed access, as well specific targets on deliverables to monitor and hold people accountable.

During her address, Ndabeni-Abrahams indicated that in the Northern Cape, 71 sites − namely schools, hospitals, police stations and post offices − have been connected via SA Connect.

“But as I said, COVID showed us all of that can be wasteful expenditure because people may not have access, which is what led us to say there is a need to review the strategy and plan that we are rolling out.

“We have contracted DBSA [the Development Bank of Southern Africa] to conduct a feasibility study for our phase two because now we know that we’ve got to connect South Africa wall-to-wall, but most importantly we’ve got to make sure that people have access to this infrastructure we are talking about from their homes. COVID has shown us that homes have to be converted to be offices.”

If the Northern Cape wants to make sure it has smart citizens and a digitalised province, then its people must also be empowered, the minister stated. “As we talk of smart communities or smart citizens, we’ve got to build human capital development.”

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