DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONSDEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

PRESENTATION OF ANNUAL REPORT TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON

COMMUNICATIONS

14 NOVEMBER 2003

MISSIONMISSION

To enable ordinary people to have access to traditional media and the convenience of information technology

VISIONVISION

Improve the lives of ordinary South Africans whilst contributing to economic growth

Make South Africa a knowledge based society and help create an information economy

2002/03 TELECOMMUNICATIONS2002/03 TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Telkom IPO on JSE and NYSE Promulgation of Electronic and Communications law

– Trust center that safeguards the interests of the state and public has been established

– publication of a tender for the maintenance of a critical databases for national security of the country

– Invitations to Apply for the nominations of the Board of Directors for the .ZA domain name

– Panel selected by Minister of Communications Economic Growth and Foreign Direct Investment

– Investment by MTN and Vodacom in Nigeria and Congo respectively

– Increase in local mobile lines by 2,5 million

2002/03 TELECOMMUNICATIONS2002/03 TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Invitations to apply for the Universal Under Services area Licenses issued

Awareness camping held in all provinces Public comments received by 31/03/03 Building and construction for the 112 center

commenced in November 2002 Tender to equip the 112 center issued

2002/ 03 POSTAL UNIT2002/ 03 POSTAL UNIT

Repositioning of SAPO to:• Enable SAPO to recapture niche markets between

SAPO and bulk mailers• Review of current transport and logistics strategy to

substitute it with a cost effective one• Capping of SAPO’s major liabilities, pension funds and

medical aids• Reposition SAPO to play a meaningful role in the

disbursements of social grants

2002/03 POSTAL UNIT2002/03 POSTAL UNIT

Reposition post bank to: Become bank of choice for the lower income groups

and the poor Contribute to household savings Offer short term loans Enlarge the base for national savings Facilitate social grants payments Offer any other third party financial services

2002/03 POSTAL UNIT2002/03 POSTAL UNIT

Appointment of the chairperson of the postal regulator

Finalized the postal tariff review Appointed a mystery shopper to investigate

the quality of postal services of SAPO Successfully handled 75 of the 91 complaints

received

2002/ 03 MULTIMEDIA2002/ 03 MULTIMEDIA

Promulgation of Broadcasting amendment Act which, amongst others:– Requires the development of policies in line with the

public broadcaster’s social obligations – Provides clear mandate to the SABC as a public

broadcaster – Provides for the conversion of the SABC to a Public

Company– Will improve the accountability by the SABC board and

management– Provides for the splitting of the SABC into a public

broadcasting services and commercial services– Establishes two subcommittees of the board to focus on

managing different mandatesJoint task team established to manage implementation of

the Act.

ADVISORY BODIES REPORTSADVISORY BODIES REPORTS

Appointed to advise Government & the Department of Communications on the following issues:- Issues relevant to the introduction of digital

broadcasting in South Africa- All issues pertaining to development,

utilization and approach of broadcast content production in South Africa.

- Recommendations have been submitted by the two bodies and the Department has submitted its recommendations to Cabinet

ADVISORY BODIES REPORTSADVISORY BODIES REPORTS

The Digital Advisory Body Made Recommendations on the following issues:

• Policy and Legislative processes • Regulatory and licensing issues• Frequency spectrum planning• Network and coverage planning• Technical Standards• International Participation and Relations• Detailed migration plan

Economic feasibility study Consumer research Technical aspects requiring further analysis

ADVISORY BODIES REPORTSADVISORY BODIES REPORTS The South African Broadcast Production Advisory

Body Made Recommendations on the following issues:– strategic interventions that are critical to the

improvement of production and broadcasting of South African content.

– the establishment or realignment of existing specialised institutions to build the required capacity

– strategic issues that require further interventions in order to expand the production and display of South African content in both the South African and international markets.

ADVISORY BODIES REPORTSADVISORY BODIES REPORTS

recommendations interventions at both the South African and

external markets. situations that warrants immediate redress. meeting the needs of the African continent for

relevant programming. new policy measures, structures or Specialized Agencies, financing and marketing strategies.

Postal Regulator Shareholder Management

– Signing of Shareholder compacts

INTERNATIONALINTERNATIONAL

Collaborating with the NEPAD task team and the e-Africa commission to formulate projects to bridge the digital divide

Launch of SAT-3 cable by Minister and President Wade of Senegal

Instrumental in the decision by ITU to support the NEPAD ICT initiatives

Instrumental in the decision by UN to support the NEPAT ICT initiatives

INTERNSHIP PROGRAMINTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Recruited 23 interns (of which fifteen are women) Interns attached to various units of the DoC for period

of up to three months at a time Introduced interns to the ICT sector covering issues of

policy, economics and technology Provided workshops to introduce interns to policy

instruments developed and administered by DoC Arranged visits to industry by interns Arranged Lecture by Wits University on space law

2002/ 03 OTHER2002/ 03 OTHER

• Programme Production for Community sector Skills Development and Training in basic and

advanced multimedia skills (ISSA & NEMISA) Initiation of Language Portal Programme Installation of 15 community stations Development of programming hubs in 9 provinces Finalized business plans for Rhino Recording Studios

KEY ISSUES AND CHALLENGESKEY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Convergence Policy Connecting South Africa Underserviced area licences 112 emergency project Edunet BEE Inculcating Culture of Savings Content and Language

CORPORATE GOVERNANCECORPORATE GOVERNANCE

• Fully functional Audit Unit established• Fully functional Audit Committee• Audit Committee chaired by independent person• Establishment of a General Managers Forum • Undertook risk assessment of the department• Developed a fraud prevention plan under guidance

of fraud committee

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONSDEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

THANK YOU