“Addressing socio-economic challenges through ICT”

Programme Director

Honourable Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises, Mr Bulelani Magwanishe

The Vice Chancellor of WSU

Head of PR & Communications Department

Academic and support staff

Chairpersons of State Owned Companies

Senior Government Officials

Students Representative Council 

PR & Communications Students

Student body in general

Members of the Media

Ladies & Gentlemen

Molwen’ ekhaya. Program Director I must declare, ndingumzukulwana ka Tambo ngobandizalwakulomaspalauMbaxa we O R Tambo, ngokukodwakendingowalomaspalauthiywengoKumkani u Dalindyebo. It is therefore a real pleasure for me to be here and I am equally pleased to see that we have seeds geminating to take forward the development and pursue the vision that these great leaders had about South Africa.  

Ladies, and Gentlemen, before I delve into the business of today, I would like to convey the best wishes of the Deputy Minister of Higher Education & Training, Honourable Mduduzi Manana, who was unable to join us this afternoon due to work commitments. The Deputy Minister expresses his deepest regret as he had been looking forward to engaging with your kind selves on opportunities available within his sector. 

Fellow students! This is a very important period in your life.  It is important not because you are at the end of student life chapter; but importantly because you are thinking hard about the prospects of finding employment, particularly in this economic climate.  Allow me to borrow from the Father of our Nation, Utata Nelson Mandela, who says, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”  Therefore as you think deeply about the new chapter in your life, think about this weapon that you have acquired and no-one, no matter how sophisticated they can be, will be able to steal.  However, the usage of this weapon in a manner that shows discipline, hard-work, dedication and humility is critical. Added to these elements, as we learn from struggle icons such as Nelson Mandela, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, Mao Tse Tung and Oliver Tambo; is also selflessness to ensure that this weapon is not only benefitting us, but the society as a whole. It is not intelligence that determines success, but hard-work, disciple, dedication and openness to learn more from others. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, and fellow students, I come from a department which represents the future world – the digital world.  It should therefore not be confused with Government Communications and Information System (GCIS). Known as the Department of Communications, we are responsible for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) which traditionally covers Broadcasting, Telecommunications, Postal and Internet (e-commerce).   We are mandated by the Government of the Republic of South Africa to position “South Africa as a global leader in the development and use of Information and Communication Technologies for socio-economic development.”This mandate is pursued not only through the development of enabling and futuristic policies, but also through our portfolio of entities such as the SABC, Sentech, Universal Service and Access Agency South Africa (USAASA), ICASA, The e-skills Institute(NEMISA) , .ZaDna, Telkom and the South African Post Office.We further provide huge investment in the area of community broadcasting wherein we provide infrastructure, signal distribution and content subsidies to the community radio stations throughout the country’s nine provinces. The SOCs are represented today and will share more on the opportunities available within their respective companies. I therefore encourage the students to visit the exhibition stands and further the company websites, even social media platforms to research on the opportunities available in the ICT sector. 

We further have strategic partnerships with operators such as Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Neotel and Huawei; amongst others.

Programme Director, it goes without saying that ICTs are an important facet in shaping a country’s development and more importantly in addressing its socio-economic challenges. Science, technology and innovation have become key factors contributing to economic growth in both advanced and developing economies. In the knowledge economy, information circulates at the international level through trade in goods and services, direct investment and technology flows, and the movement of people. The ICT sector therefore plays an important role, notably by contributing to rapid technological progress and productivity growth. 

Having said the above,  as the Department of Communications are deeply concerned about the dearth of e-skills to help us in sustaining these industries in the country.  As many of you, maybe probably aware, the Department is engaged in a number of key projects concomitant with our vision to build an information society.  Key amongst these projects include, 

• Broadcasting digital migration,
• Broadband, and
• Community broadcasting
• Schools connectivity

These are projects where the youth of our country needs to be absorbed.  However, this cannot happen without acquiring the requisite skills. Distinguished guests, we have witnessed our young graduates being unemployed and therefore came up with a road map  through  the NDP which creates a vision and targets to be obtained by 2030, in order to eliminate poverty, reduce inequality and spur the economic development of the country. The focus is on developing capacity and skills amongst South Africa’s people so that they can actively participate in development of themselves and of the economy. Currently, too many people are unemployed (25.5%) and this is especially so amongst South Africa’s youth.   This has to change, and education and critical relevant skills are key.

The National Development Plan calls for an e-literate society by 2030. It further highlights the three priorities namely that of:

• Raising employment through faster economic growth;
• Improving the quality of education, skills development and innovation; and
• Building the capability of the state to play a developmental and transformative role.

It is for this purpose that in our Department, we are in the process of building an institution to e-skill our nation.  The e-Skills Institute (e-SI) through the Department of South Africa was originated to create and execute an e-skills agenda in a “systemic and systematic manner”.  The primary focus of the e-SI is to engage with a wide network of stakeholders to develop a collaborative and integrated national policy with respect to e-skilling the nation for equitable prosperity and global competitiveness.  I am grateful that one of e-Skills CoLab is here at WSU. Since 2011 the e-Skills CoLab has amongst others;

1. Built a multi-stakeholder forum in the province to support of the Human Resource Development Plan of the province and the National e-Skills Plan of Action 2010 and 2013;
2. Undertook the first e-skills environmental scan to gauge the understanding of what is e-skills across the province and also the current investment being made in the area of ICT and e-skills capacity development;
3. Together with the DHET embarked on a research study to address lecturer capacity at FET colleges. This research has paved the way forward for a national e-skills roadmap that supports the national FET College Turnaround Strategy;
4. Leveraged and strengthened current capacity within the province and established the first mobile apps development factory in collaboration with Rhodes University given the work that they are doing in Dwesa;
5. Participated in the provincial SIP 15 task team and continue to advocate the importance of e-skills human capacity even for major projects such as the National Broadband Network and Broadcasting Digital Migration;
6. Established an e-Skills Research forum that includes representatives from business, government, education such as Rhodes University, NMMU, WSU and Fort Hare; and civil society to discuss collaborative opportunities for e-skills evidenced based policy research; and
7. Identified and delivered on new targeted e-skills courses in collaboration with the e-Skills Institute. 

I would therefore like to thank WSU and its leadership for working with us to promote and deliver on the new opportunities offered in a world increasingly dominated by the use of ICTs. 

Programme Director, our Department is further:

1. implementingthe e-Cadre Programme, our flagship national youth service programme in support of the Youth Development and ICT Strategy which is the guiding document for the ICT sector on how to approach and synergise youth development interventions. 
2. We will also shortly be commencing the Broadcast Ambassadors Programme which is also a National Youth Service Programme aimed at exposing young people to the entire broadcasting value-chain thus demystifying the sector as having opportunities only limited to presenting and acting. 
3. We are also implementing the Digital Storytelling Project which is part of the e-Social Cohesion Programme being implemented in partnership with Gauteng Department of Education (Tshwane District), Microsoft SA and Department of Arts and Culture. This project seeks to promote self-reflection by young people on what keeps the community together and what divides it as well. The project also aims to plant a seed to these young people to be content developers which will support the BDM and the Local Content Strategy. Lastly, we will soon implement the ICT Tools Programme which will, for the initial phase, focus on providing accessible work stations in the 15 FET Colleges the Department is currently having partnerships with as well as Universities of Technology. 

On community-based interventions, we have, since the establishment of the community radio support programme in 1998, invested over R400 million into the sector since 1998. Today there are over 133 community radio stations licensed in South Africa and over 75% of them have received support from the Department of Communications.  In addition, the Department provides subsidy for signal distribution costs for community radio located in rural and nodal areas. These will be covered in full by the Department for the next four years. Urban based stations’ signal distribution costs, will only be covered up to 70%.  Over R6 Million has been set aside for this scheme over the next four years. I am therefore encouraged to note that there is a community radio station based here at the university and further encourage students to participate in the establishment and running of community radio stations within their communities. 

Programme Director, the sector buzzword today is “digital migration” which I am sure the youth present at this launch have a keen interest on how can they play a role in the process. As you may be aware, the DTT migration process impacts multiple stakeholders including organisations across the broadcasting and telecommunications value chain, regulators, policy makers and consumers. In particular, the Department of Communications is responsible for overall leadership of the migration effort and developing the digital migration policy framework. 

To-date the Department has finalised the BDM policy, migration regulations and set-top-box manufacturing strategy. DTT presents job and business opportunities. As an example, there are opportunities for STB installers, retailers and call centre agents; amongst others. In addition, the DoC is developing a strategy to train unemployed graduates in STB installation and maintenance.  In addition, one of DoC’s portfolio organisations, Sentech, recently launched the DTT gap filler – Freevision. The Freevision platform encourages the entry of SMME single channel broadcasters into the mainstream television broadcasting sector. The platform will inevitably open the market which will benefit broadcasting and digital content publishers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers; and other broadcasting related industries - thus creating immense opportunities for the youth to meaningfully participate in broadcasting.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as former President Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done."  There are countless opportunities available for the youth to meaningfully participate in the ICT sector. The interventions I have touched on present unchartered waters; open for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. As the Department, we are committed towards positioning South African as a global leader in the development and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for socio-economic development. 

In landing, I would like to challenge the students of WSU, to dream and give yourself permission to envision a YOU that you choose to be. To make a choice to look beyond your current circumstances and commit to building a better life for yourself. You have an abundance of potential within and it is your responsibility to bring it out to fruition. Why? “Because you are different.”

I once again express my sincere and heartfelt gratitude to the WSU Department of PR & Communications for extending an invitation for us to attend this momentous occasion. Indeed together we can and are doing more.