Nina Allchurch
Telecentres, or common-use public access terminals, are the innovative means government has come up with to get the information society to the vast majority of people who live in remote rural parts of South Africa.
These kiosks are part of a pilot project initiated by Minister of Post, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Jay Naidoo to bring telecommunications to the people. Known as universal service, this delivery of telephony within reasonable walking distances is considered an initial development goal.
The first telecentre at Ga-Seleka, near Ellisras in the Northern Province, was unveiled in March, bringing telephony, the Internet and communications technology to rural villagers for the first time.
This is the first of 12 pilot telecentres set to be delivered nationwide in the next year by Telkom, the Universal Service Agency and International Development Research Corporation (IDRC) initiative.
Previously a large number of the 40E000 Northern Province inhabitants, from Ga-Seleka, Abbotspoort and Shongoane, had to travel as far as 80km to use a telephone, says Ga-Seleka project manager, Mashilo Mokobani.
The telecentre was their first contact with communications technology. One unsuspecting first-time visitor on the opening day bolted out the door on hearing the unfamiliar ring of a telephone.
The Ga-Seleka facility will allow the IDRC to evaluate the social and economic impacts of the telecentre, and will be used in accessing the workability of the concept. The price of a national call is fixed at 80c.
Telecentres are being introduced into other African developing countries as the first means of providing basic telephony, fax, printing, word-processing Internet and e-mail facilities. These can be immediately used by low-income communities.
Telecentres can become a hub of other economic and social activities in informal settlements, says Siemens economic empowerment manager Lefty Monyokola.
The kiosks’ impacts as potential nodes of social and economic convergence will be part of a research initiative by the IDRC, partly to test the over-reduced first world conception that access to telecommunications would necessarily lead to economic development.
The pilot project has been boosted by innovative state collaborations with private sector telecommunications service providers, technology manufacturers and suppliers.
The project is a realistic means of supplying access to telecommunications facilities, without the burden of individual low-income households needing to buy or rent a telephone and computer and pay for Internet access.
Future plans for the telecentre concept include it being paired with other broader social services, such as adult literacy.