Switching to energy-efficient light bulbs could save the country the equivalent of a major coal-fired power station, a R30-billion saving. South Africa makes use of an estimated 90-million — mostly energy-inefficient — incandescent light bulbs. By contrast, compact fluorescent lights last six times longer and use just 20% of the energy.
The government’s war against excessive pricing moved into the area of telephone call charges recently, with regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) putting the spotlight on how so-called interconnect fees raise both landline and mobile costs. Mobile call costs could be slashed by 30% if Icasa wins its battle with landline and mobile operators, according to an independent expert.
The good news is that excessively high international bandwidth prices in Africa, caused by the monopolisation of the SAT-3 undersea cable, are to be challenged by the establishment of a new submarine cable on the east coast of Africa. The 9Â 900km EASSy cable is set to run from Port Sudan in the north to Durban, and will complete the fibre loop surrounding Africa.
Global positioning systems units in South Africa are retailing for twice as much as they sell for in the United States, bringing into question the markup on the latest technologies that are imported into South Africa. A Garmin E-trex Yellow GPS unit retails in the US for about $100 (R617).
Government’s energy policy is a mess because it is top-down, favours the big over the small, all but ignores renewables and puts all its eggs in very few baskets, critics say. They say the ”big is beautiful” strategy ignores the fact that individual households can meet their own energy needs while contributing to national needs.
Security at Cape Town’s Koeberg nuclear power station is in need of a complete rethink, critics have argued following the government’s announcement that one of the nuclear facility’s generators had been sabotaged. ”Three years ago Greenpeace managed to get people into Koeberg undetected,” Institute of Security Studies military analyst Henry Boshoff said.
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/ 17 February 2006
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) is extremely generous to its problem child Telkom compared with French and Mauritian regulators, which also set prices on South Africa’s key Internet link to the rest of the world, the SAT-3 undersea cable.
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/ 16 February 2006
The government finally appears to be noticing small business, tabling a range of tax breaks and benefits in the Budget to stimulate the second economy. Don Moody, a spokesperson for Cofesa, a body that supports small business, says the tax breaks and benefits are a step in the right direction.
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/ 13 February 2006
The government talks the talk; Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in a briefing at Parliament announced that cheaper broadband was a pillar of its growth strategy. But it is walking the walk too; soon-to-be promulgated legislation taking on Telkom’s SAT-3 monopoly will declare any exclusivity provision contained in licence agreements invalid.
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/ 3 February 2006
South African politicians have generally reacted favourably to President Thabo Mbeki’s State of the Nation address at the opening of Parliament in Cape Town on Friday. Tony Leon, official opposition Democratic Alliance leader, commented: "I thought that in terms of the national goals it was a positive speech."