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Members of the Media,
Foreign diplomats,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thanks to GCIS for giving me this opportunity to brief you about this exciting, fast-changing and dynamic sector.

My Ministry is working in an environment characterised by imperatives which inform the manner in which we need to pursue our activities. These imperatives amongst others are globalisation, fast changing technology, connecting Africa to the global information infrastructure and delivery of services in the most effective way. These have been discussed at the recent United Nations Millennium Summit in New York.

Coupled with these is the challenge to create linkages in the context of our political mandate. That mandate is to improve the quality of life of our people through the delivery of telecommunications, postal and broadcasting services.

The other major challenge facing us as a department is finding the best way of utilising information and communications technologies to connect our continent into the global information highway. As President Thabo Mbeki has said in his statement at the UN Millennium Summit: "....we will have to ensure that the poor play their role not as recipients of largesse and goodwill, but as co-determinants of what happens to the common universe of which they are an important part."

At the start of the African Century, we need to utilise information and communications technologies to lay the foundation for Africa to take its rightful place in this rapidly globalising world.

The Highway Africa conference in Grahamstown, which I opened this week, emphasised the need to address the challenges of bridging the digital divide, especially on the African continent, in focussing on new media and creating public, private partnerships.

In bridging the digital divide the Ministry has embarked on the following projects.

Citizens' Post Office

Last Friday I launched the first Citizens Post Office (CPO) in Soshanguve, in Gauteng . The first of 20 to be rolled out at a cost of R10 million. One of the key objectives of these CPOs is to enable previously disadvantaged communities to have access to digital infrastructure as part of Government's objectives of bridging the digital divide. CPOs are different to traditional post offices in that they have such facilities as the Public Information Terminals (PIT), fax machines, photocopying and Internet.

I am Dot ZA

The launch of Dot ZA was in Thembisa where young people are given access to the Internet and e-mail.

Community Radio Stations

Digital equipment is being installed by the department to empower them by giving them access to the airwaves.

Telecentres

By providing access to telephony and computing, the Universal Service Agency (USA) is empowering historically disadvantaged communities. This provides people with access to jobs advertised via the Internet and people are in a position to e-mail their CV's to prospective employers.

Java Planet

In conjunction with Sun Microsystems, the Department of Communications is establishing Java Planet. This project will train young historically disadvantaged South Africans in Java programming language.

Web Internet Laboratories

The Department has established 60 web Internet laboratories in tertiary and secondary schools.

I will now deal with specific issues within the sectors in my portfolio.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

It is estimated that by 2004 global trade in the form of E-commerce, via the Internet, will be in the range of US$ 6-7 trillion. It is for this reason that the Ministry of Communications has embarked on an e-commerce policy process, which started with the discussion document in July of 1999. This debate is online and is available at the following address: www.e-comm-debate.co.za Following extensive stakeholder consultations, a Green Paper on electronic commerce is planned to be launched in October 2000. We have looked at how various international organisations such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), World Trade Organisation (WTO) are dealing with the issue of E-commerce.

Amongst others the draft Green Paper deals with the following issues:

* Security, privacy and confidentiality of personal data;
* Cross border trade via the Internet;
* Consumer protection;
* Digital signatures;
* Intellectual property rights;
* Domain naming;
* Universal Internet access;
* Convergence of electronic media and ICT and publishing;
* Certification;

In addition, electronic commerce is playing an important role in enhancing the productivity, competitiveness and profitability of business and SMMEs.

The other policy area of focus is electronic government - commonly known as E-Gov. The green paper will address this in order to improve the quality of service that government is providing.

In the first quarter of 2001, the Ministry intends publishing the White Paper which will determine the policy framework for E-commerce for South Africa. The other critical issue that this policy will address is pornography on the Internet.

In order to facilitate the development of e-government, the department is engaged in a process of rolling-out Public Information Terminals (PIT) that will provide electronic addresses to citizens. This PIT received an award from the World Information Technology Services Association (WITSA) as the best technology for providing access to the Internet and e-mail by ordinary people.

TELKOM SA LTD. - INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING (IPO)

In order to make Telkom SA globally competitive and to become one of the significant players in the new Internet economy, the government has embarked on the IPO process. This process is being spearheaded by my Ministry, as a shareholder, in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Enterprises. The IPO will facilitate greater diversification of ownership and empowerment in the telecommunications sector in South Africa. The process of appointing the global co-ordinator has been initiated and the appointment will be finalised in the coming months.

3rd MOBILE CELLULAR LICENCE

This matter is before the courts.

NATIONAL PUBLIC EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SERVICE

The establishment of a national public emergency telephone service has been presented to Cabinet. This is the culmination of a thorough consultation with stakeholders to develop a single network for emergency communication. The need for such a service has been highlighted by the recent floods in the northern region of our country. The service will provide South Africans with a three-digit telephone number - 911 type service - to reach all emergency services such as ambulances, fire-fighting and police services to name but a few.

BLACK ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

My Ministry is committed to Black Economic Empowerment and government is considering the following with regard to the second national operator:
* An equity set-aside for the purposes of black economic empowerment.
* A set-aside for parastatals (Sentech, Eskom and Transnet).
* The combination of the mobile service together with the fixed line service in the licensing of competitor(s) to Telkom.

In 1997 government approved a divestiture of 10% of Telkom SA for the purposes of black economic empowerment.

This 10% stake is broken down as follows:
* the National Empowerment Fund,
* the unions (Communications Workers Union and Alliance of Telecommunications Unions) and Telkom Staff.
* An empowerment consortia

POSTAL

SOUTH AFRICAN POST OFFICE LIMITED

The SA Post Office is engaged in a process of delivering 3 million postal addresses to citizens in rural and previously disadvantaged areas. In meeting these rollout targets the Post Office is set to rollout 900 000 addresses and 200 postal outlets by the end of this financial year.

RESTRUCTURING OF POSTBANK

The objectives of restructuring of the Postbank are as outlined in the Postal White Paper. The ultimate objective is to provide savings and banking services to lower income earners, pensioners and rural communities. These are communities that are considered "unbankable" by conventional commercial banks. Cabinet approved the appointment of Ernst and Young to assist in the corporatisation process. This process will be completed by April 2001. Government is committed to seeing the Postbank becoming a fully-fledged savings bank.

The appointment of Mr Maanda Manyatshe, by the Minister as chief executive officer, is an historic event as he is the first black person to be appointed to this position since the establishment of the Post Office in South Africa in the 17th Century.

ELECTRONIC MEDIA / BROADCASTING

The process of restructuring of the SABC is underway. In terms of the Broadcasting Act of 1999, this process will lead to the establishment of SABC Limited which will be split into commercial and public broadcasting entities.

AFRICAN RENAISSANCE

South Africa will be convening Africa Telecommunications 2001 with the theme: "Bridging Africa's Digital Divide." This conference and exhibition will attract both experts and policy makers from the continent and the World.

Together with my colleagues in Africa, we are busy addressing the digital divide through the African Connection project which will connect villages, clinics and schools of our continent. The secretariat is being housed at the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and the Ministerial Oversight Committee, chaired by South Africa, has appointed a CEO for the project.

South Africa was actively involved in the restructuring Pan African Telecommunications Union (PATU) into a dynamic and effective African Telecommunications Union (ATU) which we intend to use to galvanise international support in bridging the digital divide in Africa.

We are also actively playing a role in a number of international organisations and in particular organisations on the African continent. In this regard we are involved in the restructuring of Pan African Postal Union.

Sentech, our signal distributor, has had to reinvent itself. In this process Sentech has started to play an active role in the African continent. At the present moment Sentech is active in Ghana, Tanzania, Sudan and will continue to forge links with other signal distributors on the Continent.

As the only voice from Africa at the World Radio Conference in Istanbul - South Africa was key to ensuring that the concerns and needs of Africa were addressed at this conference.

Ends

Issued by the Communications Ministry, 14 September 2000