MEDIA BRIEFING – CAPE TOWN
The
National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper will set back SA’s ICT
development by decades
Speakers:
Adrian Schofield, Director & Vice President, Institute of
Information Technology Professionals South Africa*
National
Integrated ICT Policy White Paper – contents, issues, questions &
consequences
Leon Louw, Executive Director, Free Market Foundation*
Questionable
Constitutionality, inadequate public participation and failure to conduct a
compulsory Social Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA)
The
recently adopted National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper poses a serious
threat to SA’s ICT industry with far reaching consequences for consumers and
the economy. The media and public need to understand what is happening.
ICT
in SA, especially mobile ICT, is one the country’s few great success stories
since the new democracy in terms of empowerment, quality national coverage and
device ownership, exceeding that of other developing countries. Yet the ICT
Policy White Paper proposes uprooting this successful model and replacing it
with a rare, unproven and failed alternative.
Proposals
have been steamrollered into becoming official government policy without proper
public and industry consultation required by the Constitution and without the
Cabinet mandated SEIA. This may
precipitate a legal challenge.
There
are five key areas in the White Paper:
(1) A significantly expanded government role
(2) Fundamental interference with wholesale
markets
(3) The development of a nationalised wholesale
monopoly
(4) Arbitrary spectrum allocation
(5) A nationalised fund for infrastructure
development in non-viable areas administered by unaccountable and unelected
officials.
Please
join us to understand why critical questions need to be asked and issues
resolved before implementation begins.
Venue
Holiday Inn Express
Cape Town City Centre, 101 St
Georges Mall, Cape Town
RSVP by completing the registration form below
(No need to reply if you are not attending.)
Guests welcome: Each person attending please must
register individually
Entrance: Free
*Institute of Information Technology
Professionals South Africa (IITPSA), formerly Computer Society South Africa (CSSA), is
a professional body, recognised by the South African Qualifications Authority
(SAQA). Established in 1957, the Institute has a long and proud history of
service to, and representation of, South Africa’s ICT professionals and
practitioners, attracting a broad and active membership from all levels of the
ICT Industry.
*The
Free Market Foundation (FMF) is a policy analysis institute
primarily dedicated to (a) preventing counter-productive government
intervention, taxation and spending, and (b) constitutionalism, due process and
the rule of law. To
those ends, it is responding to threats of mobile data price control and, more
importantly, to the far-reaching implications of the White Paper.
Note
to the editor
The
FMF is an independent, non-profit, public benefit organisation, created in 1975
by pro-free market business and civil society national bodies to work for a
non-racial, free and prosperous South Africa. As a policy organisation it
promotes sound economic policies and the principles of good law. As a think
tank it seeks and puts forward solutions to some of the country’s most pressing
problems: unemployment, poverty, growth, education, health care, electricity
supply, and more. The FMF was instrumental in the post-apartheid negotiations
and directly influenced the Constitutional Commission to include the property
rights clause: a critical cornerstone of economic freedom.
The
FMF has a wealth of information in papers, articles and opinion pieces
available on the website which can influence the public debate and present
alternative policies to the people of South Africa. Please look at our website www.freemarketfoundation.com.
Media Enquiries: Jayne
Boccaleone – 082 904 3616 – jboccaleone@gmail.com
Other Enquiries: Joan Evans – 011 884 0270 – joanevans@fmfsa.org