Government will continue to pursue policies that seek to broaden the participation of black people and small, medium and micro-sized enterprises, including those owned by women and the youth, in the ICT sector.
This was one of the statements made by president Jacob Zuma during the presentation of the annual State of the Nation Address at the National Assembly, in Cape Town, yesterday.
Calls to broaden participation in the ICT sector are in line with government's goals for economic inclusion and transformation through the support of black-owned entities.
Zuma said radical economic transformation should mean moving beyond share ownership schemes only.
"We would like to see black people involved directly in business, owning factories. The development of the black industrialists programme is thus critical."
This is not the first time South African government officials have called for inclusive participation of all citizens in the country's ICT sector.
Telecoms and postal services minister Siyabonga Cwele previously said state entities must create opportunities that involve black industrialists in the country's ICT sector.
Last year, Cwele said the new National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper will be used as a tool to ensure previously disadvantaged South Africans benefit from the opportunities offered by the sector.
Zuma's speech was again disrupted by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members, who called him a "tsotsi" [thief] as he made his way into the Nation Assembly.
At one point, the EFF's Mbuyiseni Ndlozi requested Zuma to leave the National Assembly and proceeded to call him a "constitutional delinquent".
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