Despite getting the green light, phase two of government’s ambitious South Africa Connect (SA Connect) broadband project hasn’t been allocated budget for the 2022/23 financial year.
This is according to data in the National Treasury’s budget review document, which is handed out to coincide with the 2022 National Budget.
The document, which gives insight into the 2022 budget provisional allocations, only shows provisional allocations of R1.2 billion in 2023/24, and R1.3 billion in 2024/25 for phase two of SA Connect.
The 2022 budget provisional allocations will total R65.9 billion over the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) period, with state utility Eskom and the Infrastructure Fund receiving the bulk of the allocations.
Furthermore, it states allocations will only be confirmed once certain requirements have been met, and the 2022/23 allocations will be reviewed in the 2022 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement.
Government has set big connectivity goals in terms of rolling out phase two of SA Connect.
Last week, communications minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni stated the next phase of the broadband project will have an expanded scope to connect communities.
She indicated that in the next three years, government will “connect 44 600 government sites, including schools, health facilities, libraries, Thusong Service Centres, and traditional authority offices that will be connected through the telecommunications operators”.
Over the same period, the minister said the plan is to deploy more than 33 000 community WiFi locations and broadband to households.
SA Connect, first announced in 2013, is the national broadband project identified by government to ensure universal access to broadband services for all South Africans, prioritising rural and underserviced areas.
Due to the magnitude of the project, government determined it should be implemented in two stages: phase one and phase two.
In phase one, the project aimed to connect schools, health facilities, government offices, Thusong Service Centres and post offices, in eight rural district municipalities, to broadband services. As part of this phase, about 970 government facilities have been connected to broadband at speeds of 10Mbps, the State IT Agency previously confirmed.
To determine the best ways to implement phase two of the broadband project, a feasibility study was commissioned. However, the findings of the study have not been made public.
Cabinet last month confirmed rollout of SA Connect phase two had been approved, saying it will be rolled out using state-owned entities – SITA, Broadband Infraco and Sentech – and the industry.
“Over the next 36 months, the project will connect the remaining government facilities, communities and households,” said Cabinet in a statement.
In the Estimates of National Expenditure document, the communications ministry states it will facilitate rolling out broadband to government facilities through the SA Connect project.
“The department will continue to provide broadband connectivity to government facilities through the South Africa Connect project, which will be supported by relevant state‐owned entities.
“Accordingly, at a projected cost of R744 million over the MTEF period in the broadband sub-programme in the ICT infrastructure development and support programme, the department will monitor and maintain the provision of broadband services to 970 government buildings that have already been connected.”
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