The need to update the country’s “outdated” ICT laws has once again been raised, with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies the latest to join the debate.
Andile Ngcaba, a prominent businessman and former director-general of the communications department, recently shared similar sentiments, expressing the need for most of the laws governing South Africa's ICT sector to be “scrapped” and new laws formulated.
Ngcaba argued that as SA embraces digital transformation, ICT laws need to be fundamentally changed, to respond to the current social, economic and technological evolution unfolding in the country.
The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), under the leadership of minister Solly Malatsi, is in charge of SA’s ICT roadmap.
The minister has said his department must create an enabling environment for investment in the ICT sector, as well as a robust regulatory and policy framework.
Creating a conducive legislative policy and regulatory environment for the sector has now also been touted by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications andDigital Technologies.
The oversight body was among the four committees that briefed media on the work undertaken since the start of the seventh Parliament. They formed part of the National Assembly’s Economic Cluster 2.
The communications committee’s key focus areas include legislative reform, state-owned enterprise (SOE) governance, expanding digital infrastructure and economic inclusion.
Chairperson Khusela Sangoni-Diko said the committee has noted the policy, legislative and regulatory environment that governs the ICT industry is horribly outdated.
“The Electronic Communications Act, which provides the legal framework for the convergence of the broadcasting, signal distribution and telecom sectors, was last updated over a decade ago, as was the Broadcasting Act.
“Our view is that the national and international ICT landscape has changed significantly since then. For example, there's no legal policy or regulatory framework for audio and audio-visual services in the country, for e-commerce, or even for the so-called over-the-top services, which include streaming services such as Netflix, Showmax and others.
“We believe this legislative and policy environment vacuum hinders policy certainty, the development of the industry and innovation in the sector.”
Sangoni-Diko added that this will be the committee’s focus this year and for the course of its term.
On governance, stability and sustainability of SOEs within the DCDT portfolio, Sangoni-Diko said the committee is concerned about governance and service delivery failures, as well as allegations of maladministration and corruption at the State IT Agency (SITA).
“As acountry, we need an efficient SITA with stability at the governance level andzero maladministration if we are to succeed in our quest to digitise governmentservices. SITA remains a key service delivery entity in the digitalisation of government, and ultimately, service delivery to citizens.
“The challenges of SITA are serious, and the committee holds the view that there's a need for urgent intervention from Parliament aligned to our powers and functions.
“The committee will deliberate on the oversight report on SITA and the recommendation for a full-scale parliamentary inquiry into the affairs of SITA. We have noted minister Malatsi’s intervention to request the Public Service Commission investigation into SITA.
“As a committee, we remain convinced of the necessity to strengthen SITA to be a preferred and reliable partner and service provider in the quest for inclusive digital transformation of government and public services.”
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