Internet Kiosks for South Africa

The government hopes to provide e-government, limited Internet access, and small business services.

by internetnews.com
Pretoria, 11 September 2000

Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri opened the first of the government's planned twenty-five "Peoples Post Offices" north of Pretoria that will provide residents with free web access for 15-minutes, charging 35c a minute thereafter (about a US nickel).

First kiosk installed
The first of these planned Post Offices', rolled out 35-kilometres north of Pretoria in Soshanguve, will provide internet access, email facilities, and also general business services such as scanning, faxing, and xeroxing.

Speaking at the launch, Matsepe-Casaburri told the residents of Soshanguve that this centre will allow them to use the internet for the expanding range of e-Government services which the government are currently implementing.

These services include applications for fixed-line telephone services, downloading and resubmitting tender documents and checking on registration for the upcoming local government elections over the IEC website.

Previously Soshanguve residents were required to travel to Pretoria should they have wished to make use of internet services, a journey entailing a minimum of 14 Rand (about US$ 2.00) in travel costs.

No bribe-over-IP
"You no longer have to pay tsotsho (a bribe) to obtain fast access to certain services," Matsepe-Casaburri joked, "You can now do it electronically."

The real value of this offering is that it is a genuine attempt to introduce residents of previously isolated areas such as Soshanguve to the world wide web.

While previous "community-internet" centres had been introduced by a number of organisations but the cost factor had inhibited the uptake.

With the first 15-minutes of web access free and a minimal cost of 35c a minute thereafter, this presents perhaps the first realistic offering aimed at delivering the internet to South Africa's poor.

The more things change, the more there is no spare change
A key issue will be how these centres will be funded.

While the Minister expressed the hope that the private sector will introduce funding into these projects, it is clear that the government will need to perform the initial legwork.

—End