President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his opening address to parliament on Thursday night, underscored the critical importance of investing in digital infrastructure as a cornerstone of South Africa’s seventh administration. Emphasizing digitization as a vital driver for job creation, he laid out a comprehensive plan to accelerate the roll-out of digital infrastructure to enhance connectivity rates across the nation.
Ramaphosa’s vision extends from metropolitan areas to the remotest rural regions, aiming to transform South Africa into a vast construction site. “From our largest metros to our deepest rural areas, we have a clear intention to turn our country into a construction site, as roads, bridges, houses, schools, hospitals, and clinics are built, as broadband fibre is laid and as new power lines are installed,” he stated. The president sees this as a unique opportunity to position South Africa as a major player in the digital economy, creating numerous jobs in digital services.
Juanita Clark, CEO of the Digital Council Africa, highlighted the significance of Ramaphosa’s remarks. She noted that the president’s interchangeable use of the word “fibre” with construction demonstrates the government’s recognition of broadband as an essential utility. The Digital Council Africa has long advocated for integrating fibre services in new constructions to reduce costs and expedite deployment times.
In addition to infrastructure, Ramaphosa announced plans to invest in digital identity and payment systems. The current inefficiencies in South Africa’s digital identity systems often force citizens to print and certify multiple copies of IDs. By implementing digital links to the home affairs’ automatic biometric system, these processes can be streamlined, eliminating the need for paper documentation. Digitizing public sector payment systems will enhance traceability, combat fraud, and strengthen the country’s financial intelligence network. Such systems will not only mitigate risks and costs associated with social services delivery, like Sassa grant payments, but also save the state money and reduce wait times for recipients.
However, the ambitious infrastructure development faces significant challenges, particularly vandalism and crime. The telecom sector is especially vulnerable, with mobile operators already burdened by the costs of managing load shedding now needing to invest more to protect batteries and generators from criminal syndicates. The destruction of infrastructure, which offers no economic benefit, further threatens the sector.
Ramaphosa emphasized the critical role of the police department in this context, advocating for a data-driven approach to pinpoint violent crime hotspots and guide the distribution of policing resources. He highlighted the necessity for South Africa to have “capable and sophisticated” law enforcement agencies to effectively combat organized crime. Clark echoed these sentiments, stressing the importance of addressing the vandalism of mobile towers, which results in billions of lost income annually.
Local government was identified as another area that could benefit from digital public infrastructure through the Operation Vulindlela reform project. This initiative aims to expedite economic reforms by simplifying and speeding up planning and regulatory processes, thus facilitating telecoms infrastructure deployment. Red tape and lack of rationalization in municipal regulatory requirements have been major stumbling blocks for the telecoms sector, leading to cost overruns and longer project lead times.
Ramaphosa emphasized expanding access to affordable broadband and enhancing digital skills training for young people. Recognizing that the state cannot achieve these reforms alone, he stated, “We are simplifying the regulations on public-private partnerships to enable greater investment in both social and economic infrastructure development.” As South Africa pursues new growth areas, the president reaffirmed the government’s commitment to continuing far-reaching reforms to enable economic growth.
In conclusion, President Ramaphosa’s address signals a robust commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to drive reform and economic growth in South Africa. Through strategic investments in digital infrastructure and public-private partnerships, the government aims to enhance connectivity, streamline administrative processes, and create jobs, while addressing the challenges posed by crime and vandalism.
