📋 Tender Overview
Good morning, colleagues, members of the media, stakeholders and fellow South Africans watching and listening at home.The Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies held a two-day strategic planning workshop on 2-3 September 2025. The purpose was to assess the state of the ICT sector and to chart our strategic plan for the remainder of this parliamentary term to 2029, in line with Parliaments mandate of law-making, oversight and public participation.On the state of the sector, we acknowledge the encouraging signs of increasing connectivity, especially 5G coverage as reported by ICASA. However, we are deeply concerned about the 12.3% decline in employment across telecommunications, broadcasting and postal sectors. This trend reflects broader economic pressures but also highlights structural weaknesses in the sector. It is against this backdrop that todays media engagement, under the theme Opening New Economic Opportunities, is both urgent and necessary.The ICT sector is a vital enabler of economic growth. Globally, it continues to disrupt industries and redefine how societies live and work. South Africa cannot afford to lag behind in this digital revolution. We must act with urgency, agility and determination to ensure that technology benefits all our people and that no one is left behind. We expect government to lead boldly, decisively and innovatively to unlock the full potential of the digital economy.As we start this term of Parliament therefore, the committee will concentrate, amongst others, on six critical areas being:Urgent legislative reformAffordable and reliable connectivity for allUrgent action on the financial and operational challenges at the SABCCompletion of the business rescue process at the Post Office and a viable plan in place to realise the Post Office of the futureStrengthening of the Post Bank and realising the vision of a state-owned bankCompletion of the broadcasting digital migration processOn outdated legislation and the urgent need for reformOne of the most pressing barriers to progress in the sector is outdated legislation. Our communications laws were largely designed for an analogue era and are not fit for purpose in a fast-changing digital environment characterised by artificial intelligence, e-commerce, internet of things, blockchain and many other technologies. This outdated framework hampers innovation, delays transformation, and constrains the ability of entities such as the SABC, Sentech, SAPO and the Postbank to adapt to new realities.The committee will prioritise and fast-track law-making to modernise this legislative environment for an inclusive, agile and secured society. We will be adopting in the next few weeks the committees legislative agenda, which will be committee-initiated bills. Amongst the priorities will be legislation for the preservation and protection of the media, amendments where necessary to the Electronic Communications Act and the overarching legislation to govern the so-called over-the-top services for platform accountability, should government not move with the requisite speed. Ours is to ensure that our legal framework keeps pace with global technological advancements.Affordable, reliable and universal connectivity for allWe have welcomed the progress made under SA Connect, particularly the rollout of over 3,000 public wifi hotspots serving four million South Africans to date. Young people and people in rural areas are beginning to access the opportunities the digital world offers. However much more remains to be done. Meaningful school connectivity remains a pipe dream for many learners. We call on the departments of Communications and Digital Technologies and Basic Education to prioritise this urgently. Infrastructure expansion is non-negotiable if we are to achieve a truly connected society in line with the Digital Transformation Roadmap as launched by the Presidency, which includes the digital ID, digital payments and data exchange.Government must end silo-based approaches that waste resources and delay progress. In this regard, Parliament will continue to play an active role, as we did in accelerating the full implementation of the Broadband Infraco (BBI) Act and supporting the establishment of the State Digital Infrastructure Company. The BBI Act was enacted to facilitate the expansion of affordable, wholesale broadband access, especially to underserved and rural areas, through coordinated use of the states digital access. However, it is not adequately implemented.Central to this is the consolidation of excess access fibre currently held by non-ICT state-owned enterprises - including Eskom, Transnet, SANRAL and PRASA - under the stewardship of BBI. Earlier this year, the portfolio committee invited these institutions to appear before it for engagements on how their infrastructure assets would be made available to BBI in support of a broader national mandate to deliver affordable open access wholesale broadbandservices aligned to developmental priorities. The consolidation of excess fibre assets from state-owned enterprises under BBI is crucial to reduce duplication, lower costs and achieve universal broadband access. Since then and encouragingly, both Minister Malatsi and Minister Ramokgopa have begun taking concrete steps in this regard, steps we appreciate and will hold them accountable to deliver.It is practical, actionable solutions such as these that government must focus on.Urgent action on the financial and operational challenges at the SABC and the finalisation of the SABC BillThe SABC is at risk of collapse, burdened by unsustainable debt, outdated infrastructure, and a broken funding model. Sentech, in turn, is bleeding more than R70 million per month subsidising the broadcasters signal costs. Yet the SABC Bill - essential to ensuring sustainability - remains stalled in Parliament. As the SABC is teetering on the brink of collapse, jobs livelihoods and the sustainability of the public and co
