A step closer to achieving a connected South Africa where no one is left behind — Independent Communications Authority of South Africa

Human Rights Day in South Africa is historically linked with 21 March 1960, and the events of Sharpeville. On that day 69 people died and 180 were wounded when apartheid police opened fire on a peaceful crowd that had gathered to protest against the notorious Pass Laws. The massacre that took place on this tragic day marked an affirmation by ordinary people, rising in unison to proclaim their rights. It became an iconic date in our country’s history, which today we commemorate as Human Rights Day as a reminder of the fundamental rights of all our people and of the sacrifices made over the long struggle for freedom, democracy and human rights.

The theme for this year’s Human Rights Month is: #LeaveNoOneBehind - walk for your rights.

As we conclude the month, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) takes this opportunity to reflect on some of the measures taken by the Authority to promote Universal Access and Service for all South Africans, but especially the digitally marginalised, in the townships and informal settlements of our cities, and in the remote rural areas.

The right of access to communications and information is a fundamental human right, one without which citizens are unable to exercise almost all their other human and constitutional rights.

According to the General Household Survey of late 20212, almost 98% of South Africans had some form of access to telephony in the household, overwhelmingly via mobile telephony. This represents an increase of 10% over the past ten years, showing the positive impact of policy, regulation and market forces over the decade.

Internet access too – which offers citizens a deeper level of access to information, education and economic opportunities, as well as entertainment - has grown substantially over the last ten years. However, this is mostly Internet access by means of the increasingly ubiquitous smartphone. As of October 2022, some 78% of South African households had access to or had used the Internet in some form or another. This includes access at home, at work, at their place of study, via an Internet café, or at public hot spot. This represents a dramatic increase from the national average of a mere 28% from ten years ago. Worrying though, Internet access at home (largely by means of a device such as a laptop computer or tablet) continues to languish at around a mere 10% of households.

National averages, of course, mask a number of digital divides that cut the poor and the marginalised off from enjoying the benefits of the information revolution.

The data clearly shows that a poor woman in a rural village is dramatically less likely to be able to access and utilise information and communications services. For example, access to the Internet at home for South Africans in the big metros is around 17% of households, while in rural areas it sits at an appallingly low 1%. Stats SA doesn’t track access by income levels, but lack of affordability is a key barrier to uptake and usage3. In addition, there is growing concern over what is termed the ‘usage gap’, which afflicts those individuals and households that are covered by a signal (be it 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G) but who are not mobile or Internet users4. This is usually because they cannot afford to pay for the access, or lack the necessary skills, or do not find relevant and useful content. In addition, there exists a gender divide, meaning that women are much less likely to have access to or make use of mobile or Internet services5.

What all of this means is that substantial and active steps remain necessary to address the South Africa’s digital divide, a divide that separates urban and rural, rich and poor, men and women, and that prevents far too many of our people from exercising their fundamental human rights. Indeed, access to the Internet is now widely accepted as a fundamental human right in its very self.

As the country commemorates Human Rights Month, ICASA believes that much of its work over the past years has made an important contribution to narrowing that digital divide.

For example, last year’s successful auction of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) spectrum will bring the country a step closer to achieving universal access and service. With six licensees now having acquired a large amount of additional spectrum - spectrum suitable for both voice and data services in both urban and rural areas - consumers can expect greater levels of access and enhanced quality of service, giving them faster download speeds, lower latency, more capacity and connectivity for millions of connected devices, thus paving the way for far better access to online information and content, for the streaming of entertainment, and for the application of virtual reality (VR), the Internet of Things (IoT)and Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems.

More than this, ICASA has imposed a number of universal service obligations on the licensees that bought spectrum in the auction. These obligations are aimed at increasing the pace of network rollout in areas - such as those discussed above that do not have access to adequate connectivity - and include providing connectivity to public institutions such as schools and health facilities within the medium term. These universal service obligations are in addition to those already imposed on licensees with legacy access to spectrum.

ICASA has ensured that the auction obligations are in line with SA Connect, the country’s broadband policy6. Licensees that obtained spectrum will be required to connect some 18 520 public schools, 3 969 government clinics, 1 764 Government hospitals, 567 unconnected police stations, and 8 241 traditional authorities (tribal offices), as well as providing zero-rated access to a range of public benefit websites, including .gov.za websites. ICASA is looking forward to the implementation of this programme, as it will move the country closer to having all its citizens able to enjoy their human rights through connectivity.

ICASA continues to work in a number of other areas to ensure South Africans are able to enjoy their fundamental human right of access to communications connectivity, online services and digital content. This includes setting quality of service parameters for voice and data services (see the recent update to the End User and Subscriber Service Charter), imposing, collecting and monitoring an annual universal access and service levy, which is used to finance a variety of universal access interventions in under-serviced areas, and ongoing monitoring of licensee compliance with quality of service targets and rollout and access obligations.

There are naturally a number of interventions outside ICASA’s mandate that are equally necessary to promote universal access, such as the development of digital skills, computers in schools projects, the development of relevant and useful content. Much of this requires a co-ordinated national strategy and programme.

ICASA’s mandate, as enshrined in its founding and enabling legislation, commits the Authority to regulate the telecommunications, broadcasting, and the postal sectors in the public interest and in line with objectives that include promoting universal access and service to the people of South Africa.

ICASA will continue to strive to achieve that mandate and to ensure that all who call South Africa home are able to realise their fundamental right of access to communications and online services, applications and content. Without that access too many of our citizens will remain unable to enjoy and exercise the full range of rights guaranteed by our Constitution.

Let us leave no-one behind

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