The Right2Know Campaign will continue to fight for a free, fast and safe Internet!
The Right2Know Campaign note with concern, the pronouncement made by Minister Khumbuzo Ntshavheni during #SONA2022 DEBATE
In South Africa, the richest 20% of the population own more than 70% of household wealth, while over half the population have more liabilities than assets. With a high level of income inequality, South Africa’s unemployment rate has increased by 0.5% to its highest rate since 2008. Using the expanded definition of unemployed, which includes those who have stopped looking for work, our level of unemployment is now 46.6%. The youth unemployment rate is 66.5 %. The price of a 1GB data bundle in South Africa averages R78.50 depending on the mobile network on which it is purchased, with this reality it becomes even more difficult for ordinary citizens to afford data, let alone for those poor communities. Those who might afford data will struggle with poor network connections, mostly in rural and informal communities.
The Right2Know Campaign advocates for a free, safe and fast internet, because the internet is at the centre of the development of societies. With this background, the Right2Know Campaign welcomes the announcement by the Minister of Communications & Digital Technologies, Ms Khumbuzo Ntshavheni when addressing a joint Sitting during #SONA2020# debate that the Government has ‘set social service obligations to connect, within 36 months of licensing of the spectrum, all outstanding public schools (18 520), public health facilities including clinics and hospitals (5 731) and offices of traditional leaders or traditional authorities (8 241)’. The question will be what happened to previous promises of the spectrum being allocated to local radio stations, as close media centres of the communities. The Minister went on to say they “intend to provide 10 gigabytes of free data for each and every household”. Even though we welcome this pronouncement, we are very concerned as the campaign to whether this is true or it was just another false promise, wanting to score points with South African voters.
This is not the first time a public official has made a statement that resonates with the public but ends up being a promise that is never fulfilled. The Right2know Campaign had in the past tried to engage the municipality on such promises, wanting to understand if there were plans on how to roll out this work and the budget to support it, but couldn’t get a response. The minister said they intend for every community to have WI-FI by 2024, we will hold the Minister to her promises and even engage her to understand what the plans are and if there is a budget to support this.
The South African Constitution in the Bill of Rights section 16 (1) states that everyone has the right to “freedom to receive or impart information or ideas”. This is a right for everyone and it is not just a freedom from interference – a “freedom from” – but also a “freedom to”: a right to be able to reach others and be reached by others. By making sure that communities have free, fast and safe internet we are also promoting their constitutional rights.
Democratic access to telecommunications is vital in deepening democracy and addressing the many social justice challenges that South Africa faces.
THE RIGHT2KNOW CAMPAIGN WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR A FREE, FAST AND SAFE INTERNET!
For more information contact:
Sthembiso Khuluse, R2K Interim Programmes Coordinator: 061 029 0037
