South Africa’s communications minister, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, has high hopes and big dreams for the country’s digital footprint. Her department is looking into a mass roll-out that will see every South African able to connect to the internet.
Speaking at a BRICS meeting, Ntshavheni said “We are considering a program to fast track the connection of all South Africans or to ensure that all South Africans have access to an internet connection within the next 24 months.”
It is easy to read that and immediately dismiss it as another lofty government idea. One that will take forever to get off the ground and, when it does, fail spectacularly. It’s easy to imagine, but let’s try not to.
Speed isn’t SA’s government’s er… speed
Ntshavheni went on to say that the Digital Migration programme is now underway with Cabinet approving the plan at its meeting on the 29th of September this year. The programme, according to the ITU (International Communications Union) Regional Agreement in Geneva in 2006, was meant to be completed by June 2015.
SA government initially aimed to complete the migration in 2011 but that didn’t happen, obviously. It then missed the June 2015 deadline and failed to qualify for an extension.
Ntshavheni noted, during months of lockdown when schools had to close, teachers and students with the infrastructure and access to a fast and stable enough internet connection were able to continue to some degree with lessons but that wasn’t the case for a lot of the country’s schools.
“Therefore for us, access to the internet or connectivity, or bridging the digital divide, has become a first and foremost priority for our country.”
Let’s hope the plan and actual implementation of the mass internet rollout is, at least, slightly more successful than the Digital Migration programme.