Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Mondli Gungubele has called for the overhaul of South Africa’s digital transformation in a bid to incorporate a holistic approach to the country’s digital economy.
Speaking at the opening of GovTech 2023 conference in Durban, Gungubele pondered the role of the government and policymakers, including the conversations around service delivery transformation.
Gungubele said new digital transformation trends had led to the emergence of new business imperatives, with customers being engaged in innovative ways.
Using an example of the war between e-hailing taxis and traditional taxi operators in Soweto, Gungubele said the Uber or Bolt case study was not the only example of how policymakers were under great pressure to understand the impact of the digital economy and come up with collaborative solutions as it gained momentum.
He said the government must confront the collision between new types of work and business models that were radically different from traditional forms.
“As the government, we must continue to develop a holistic strategy towards digitalisation that includes areas of the digital economy, rather than adopting piecemeal policy measures as matters arise.
“We must also start thinking about the relevant legislative requirements we might need to introduce towards universal digitalisation.
“In some countries, different actors have called on governments to implement legislation out of concern for the workers involved as well as for the companies entering into competition with platforms, emphasising the need for a level playing field.
“As a consequence, governments across the world have started to respond, as reflected in a growing number of policy documents, discussions and initiatives.”
GovTech 2023 is a platform hosted by the State Information Technology Agency (Sita) for government leaders, technology experts, and industry stakeholders to convene and explore innovative solutions that drive digital transformation across southern and sub-Saharan Africa.
Gungubele said South Africa could not allow itself to be left behind by other countries in expanding the digital economy, hence SA Connect, an implementation of the national broadband policy that was approved by the Cabinet in 2013.
“This pooling of public sector demand and procuring of high-capacity and future-proof network capacity at more affordable rates to address public sector broadband requirements cannot be underestimated,” he said.
“The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies will roll out connectivity to the value of R3 billion in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, to implement phase 2 of South Africa Connect.”
Phases 1 and 2 were allocated R3.8bn over the next three years. Phase 1 was aimed at connecting schools, health facilities, government offices and post offices in eight rural district municipalities to broadband services. During this phase, about 970 government facilities were connected to broadband.
Phase 2 involves Sita upgrading and connecting government sites from existing budgets, and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa imposing universal service obligations on mobile network operators to connect 18 036 schools, 3 873 health facilities and 8 241 traditional authority sites.
Sita CEO Dr Bongani Mabaso said he was impressed by the massive number of young people who were attending the GovTech2023, saying this was testament to Gunguble’s assertion that the digital economy was an economy for young people.
“So, the digital economy is around the trade of digital goods and services. It's not goods and services as we know, it can extend to even physical goods receiving,” Mabaso said.
“Platforms facilitate the exchange of goods and services within the platform economy. So what we're really saying is, can we get a platform that can allow us to facilitate this exchange at a massive scale? We've got the public sector, we've got the private sector. Can Sita be that platform that allows a seamless exchange of goods services in the ICT sector.”
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