Data prices must come down in South Africa, says new minister

Newly-minted communications minister Solly Malatsi has said that South Africa must make it so the cost of data is not a burden to consumers and increase people’s access to the Internet.

In an interview with the SABC, Malatsi was asked about his vision for the communications and digital technologies portfolio.

When asked about the cost to communicate in South Africa, Malatsi responded by saying that his goal is to create reliable access to the Internet.

“My interest is that once there is access, that access is dependable,” he said.

To do this, Malatsi says that data prices need to be reduced so that they are no longer a burden to South Africans.

According to StatsSA’s 2023 household survey, only 14.5% of South Africans have access to the Internet at home or via a fixed-line.

In contrast, 78.6% of South Africans have access to the Internet anywhere utilising mobile networks.

This shows that the majority of the country has access to the Internet, but whether everyone can or wants to use it is a different question.

Malatsi pointed out that affordability inhibits most people’s ability to access the Internet regularly.

If someone is within range of a cellphone tower, they have Internet access, but whether they can take advantage of this access depends on whether they have mobile data.

In addition to decreasing the cost of data, the new minister of communications has also prioritised connecting all government facilities, including schools, to the Internet.

This is to accelerate the rate of information consumption and make people aware of the digital economy in South Africa.

Shifting the focus to other responsibilities within his ministry, Malatsi recently said that he aims to stabilise state-owned enterprises in his portfolio and promote competition in the ICT sector.

“The initial discovery is that there has been a lot of steady work that has been established, but there is still a lot of room for improvement,” he said.

Malatsi believes this improvement lies in governing and stabilising SOEs and creating legislation that promotes competition within the ICT sector.

Since his appointment, Malatsi has been preparing to fill vacancies on several entities’ boards. He said expediting the appointments was important to ensure stability.

Two entities in his portfolio that require particularly close attention are the Post Office and the SABC.

He argued that opening the Post Office to public-private partnerships would ensure its financial sustainability in an already competitive market.

As for the SABC, the new minister believes that under its new leadership, it has turned its attention to important matters — improving its content offering and becoming a competitive force in the broadcasting space.

The litigious nature of the ICT industry is also something Malatsi hopes to change.

Malatsi believes that a proactive approach to stakeholder engagement could resolve some of the sector’s disputes and impasses.

He also plans to address major industry issues, such as the analogue switch-off, scheduled for December, and sports broadcasting rights.

South Africa’s migration to digital terrestrial television and the switch-off of old analogue TV broadcasts initially had a 2011 deadline.

Poor leadership at the Department of Communications, vested interests, and constant litigation delayed the migration for over a decade.

The constant delays had huge ramifications, as the old television signals occupied radio frequency spectrum that South Africa’s mobile networks could have otherwise used.

As for Malatsi’s sports broadcasting rights ambitions, he said the industry and public need certainty around how they are managed and disputes resolved.

This partly refers to the conflict between MultiChoice and South Africa’s free-to-air TV broadcasters surrounding the rights to matches involving South Africa’s national teams.