Example of a title page of a doctoral thesis - UnisaIR...

THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

(ICTs) ON DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF

TELECENTRES ON THE EDUCATION OF USERS

by

NTOMBIZANDILE CAROL LESAME

submitted in accordance with the requirements for the

degree of

DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY

in the subject of

COMMUNICATION SCIENCE

at the

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

PROMOTER: PROF PJ FOURIE

JOINT PROMOTER: PROF G MADDEN

PROF E BORNMAN

JUNE 2008

Student number: 893-232-8

I declare that THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICTs) ON

DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF TELECENTRES ON THE EDUCATION OF

USERS is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated

and acknowledged by means of complete references.

................................... ......................... SIGNATURE DATE (Mrs N C Lesame)

ii

THESIS SUMMARY

This study investigates the use of telecentres for educational purposes in telecommunications

under-serviced regions of South Africa. The problem addressed by this research has both

equity and efficiency aspects. In particular, the thesis examines the impact of telecentres on

the formal and non-formal education outcomes of recipient communities - four telecentres,

two in townships and two in rural areas. The urban telecentres are Siyabonga in Orange Farm

near Johannesburg and Mamelodi Communication and Information Services (MACIS), in

Mamelodi township, near Pretoria in Gauteng Province. The rural telecentres are Tombo near

Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape Province and Hoxani near Bushbuckridge on the

Mpumalanga-Limpopo Province border.

The main aim of the research is to conduct a quantitative survey of the telecentre users use of

telecentres in the above mentioned locations. On the basis of this, the thesis seeks to come to

some conclusions about the use and effectiveness of the South African telecentre program.

The quantitative analysis of users is supported by a qualitative report and analysis of data

gathered through personal interviews of telecentre operators and employees. The thesis

reports on the outputs of the centres, limitations in their function, inhibitors to their economic

performance, and recommendations for improving their operations.

Some of the findings are that telecentres established through public-private partnership (PPP)

funding are more effective and successful, computer literacy is a major resource offered,

Hoxani telecentre offers outcomes-based education management skills training for local

teachers, while Tombo, MACIS and Siyabonga telecentres offer additional business and

electronic courses. The thesis also reviews the South African telecentre program against the

background of similar programs in selected Asian and Latin American countries, Australia,

Canada, and Europe and against the background of an analysis of South African post-

apartheid telecommunications sector reforms (1996 to 2007). Insights into the unique nature

of challenges facing geographically located telecentres as well as a new model for

understanding telecentre operations in South Africa are offered.

Key terms

:

Telecentres; Formal and non-formal education; Telecentre users; Universal service;

Universal access; Capacity building; Information and Communication Technology; Electronic

communications and broadcasting services; Internet; New media; Electronic education;

iii

Electronic government; Electronic health; Electronic business or commerce. Computer

literacy skills training; Outcomes-based education; Rural development; Digital divide.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank the following people for assisting and supporting me towards the

completion of this thesis and degree:

1. My promoters, Prof P. J. Fourie of UNISA for academic guidance, motivation

and support; and Prof G. Madden, of Curtin University of Technology, Perth,

Australia, for capacity building, academic guidance, motivation and academic

wisdom. Your academic wisdom and vision and teachings are highly

appreciated. Prof E. Bornman of UNISA is also thanked for imparting some of

her knowledge and expertise of research methodology aspects to me.

2. Statisticians and research experts, Prof M. Lesaoana of the Statistics

Department, University of Limpopo, and Prof S. Mmusi, of the Department of

Media Studies, University of Limpopo, Limpopo Province, for assistance

regarding visits to eight telecentres in Limpopo Province and analysis of

quantitative data. Mr Cas Coetzee of the Department of Psychology, UNISA,

also for assistance with quantitative data analysis. A special thanks to Prof

Mmusi, who spent her valuable time and resources taking me on a Limpopo

Province tour, showing me rural areas in Limpopo Province where telecentres

and community radio stations are located, with the purpose of laying the

necessary groundwork for analysing the role of telecentres and ICT in the

development of Limpopo Province;

3. Dr F. G. Netswera, formerly of the National Research Foundation (NRF), now

with UNISAs Research Directorate, who also assisted with analysis of

quantitative data;

4. Colleagues from the Free University of Brussels, Prof L. van Audenhove, Mr

G. Nulens and Mr B. Lievens, who motivated me to undertake the study and

supported me with information upon request;

5. Communication Economics and Electronic Research Centre (CEEM) Staff at

Curtin University of Technology, for support, updated information and ICT

expert knowledge;

iv

6. Mr D. Levey, of the Department of English, UNISA and my sincerest

gratitude also goes to Dr C. D. Schutte of UNISA Editorial Department, who

finally editing the thesis. I also wish to thank Mr M. Magocha who acted as an

editorial assistant.

7. Mr D. Wigston, of the Department of Communication Science, UNISA, for

his assistance with production of some graphics;

8. Telecentre managers, and their assistants, of Tombo, Siyabonga, MACIS and

Hoxani telecentres for support and help while conducting field research. The

managers are Mrs P. Makoro and Mr Msimango of Siyabonga, Mr Njenge and

Miss Smauza of Tombo, Mr Maako of MACIS and Miss Ndlovu of Hoxani

telecentre. Your help is highly appreciated as this study would not have been

complete without your assistance. I also thank the managers of those

telecentres visited but not selected for research, especially at Limpopo

Province because the information they provided me is also important for South

African rural development and may be useful in future, for other projects;

9. Research assistants, the late Mr Benedict Mnisi (may his soul rest in peace). I

am honoured to have worked with Mr Mnisi, who spent his time and energy

showing me the area of Bushbuckridge and telecommunication services in

Mpumalanga (and some parts of Limpopo) Province. Mr Mnisi also provided

translation services of Shangaan to English and vice versa. Mr Mnisis

untimely death in 2006 in a car accident is tragic and sad. However, he will be

remembered and his work will enlighten the living (as they did myself and

others who will gain some knowledge from this work), about Bushbuckridge,

Tembisa township, as well as Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces;

10. National government Department of Communications and former Universal

Service Agency staff who assisted with documents, information and study-

related interviews;

11. The National Research Foundation for research funds to conduct the field

research in 2005;

12. Special thanks to my extended family, brothers and sisters, brothers-in law and

sisters-in-law, and the rest of the family for mutual love and admiration

throughout the journey of my life. I love you people! Always Bantu bakuthi

abanobubele nokuhle kodwa. Nangomso MaHlubi nani nonke abanye bethu;

Ke a leboga!

v

13. My immediate family, husband and children, William, Pepe, Phesana and

Thandoza, for love and support. I love you more;

14. My parents, my late father Mtimkulu Thomas (may your sould rest in peace

Daddy) and my mother, Edith Elda Vuyiswa Mpondwana, for lessons in hard

work and discipline and for love and emotional support. I love you. Siyabulela

ke Mbongwe, Sondisa, Mvemnyama ngako konke osiphe kona!!; Thank you

Mama, these are also the fruits of the foundation you laid when you taught me

education basics at Mapassa Farm School, your school. Thank you very much,

where there is will, there is a way and last but not least

15. Other persons who made some contribution to the production of this thesis in

one way or another, but whose names I may have forgotten as a result of some

pressure, stress or credit crunch, and any other temporary human and social

challenges I endured while compiling this thesis. Ndiyanibulela nonke

ngokundakha nokundinceda. Impumelelo yona inyanzelekile.

vi

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedication to my late father who was an educator in the Eastern Cape

Province, MR THOMAS THOS MTIMKULU MPONDWANA. Your discipline

and dedication to serving humanity and developing other persons shines through us.

We will always honour your memory through our work and lives, Rhadebe,

Mthimkhulu, Ndlebentle zombini!. Siphumle phantsi kwaloo mthumnzi wothi omkhulu.

Zonke zihamba ngendlela, kuba kaloku wasibonisa indlela. Unethamsanqa lowo

afumane isisekelo esisiso kwangethuba, kuba wophila ngaso ebomini.

Tribute is also paid to my research assistant Mr Benedict Mnisi of Bushbuckridge

who passed away in 2006. May your souls rest in peace and God be with you.

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 The purpose of this chapter 1

1.2 The need for this study 1

1.3 Background to the study 11

1.4 A brief explanation of formal and non-formal education 23

1.5 Telecentres role in formal and non-formal education 25

1.6 South Africas telecommunications socio-economic

background and telecentre development 29

1.7 Theoretical approaches to the study 65

1.8 The aim of the study 66

1.9 The research question 67

1.10 Research methodology 68

1.11 Summary and outline of chapters 69

CHAPTER 2

CONCEPTS AND CONSTRUCTS 72

2.1 ICT 73

viii

2.2 Telecentres 75

2.3 Information 75

2.4 Public-Private-Partnerships 76

2.5 Telecommunications 78

2.6 Formal and non-formal education 79

2.7 Development 81

2.8 Universal access 84

2.9 Universal service 87

2.10 Teledensity 97

2.11 Digital divide 101

2.12 Technology transfer 110

2.13 Globalisation 111

2.14 Reconstruction and Development Programme and

the GEAR Strategy 114

2.15 Summary and outline of Chapter 3 121

ix

CHAPTER 3

THE ROLE OF INFORMATION AND

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN

DEVELOPMENT 123

3.1 Telecommunications and development 123

3.2 Theoretical frameworks regarding the role of ICT in

development 131

3.3 Theories of development communication 139


CHAPTER 4

THE ROLE OF TELECENTRES IN

DEVELOPMENT - AN INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE 153

4.1 Introduction 153

4.2 Telecentres in MDCs 153

4.3 UN and ITU-established telecentres 155

4.4 Telecentres in Latin America and the Caribbean 156

4.5 Asian telecentres 159

4.6 Telecentres in other African countries 159

4.7 Research on South African telecentres 166

4.8 Keys to South African telecentre success 177

x


CHAPTER 5

TELECOMMUNICATIONS REFORMS

IN SOUTH AFRICA - AN ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK 180


5.2 Meaning and goals of policy 182

5.3 Theories of telecommunications regulation 184

5.4 Stage One (Late -1980s to 1993): Pre-democracy 187

5.5 Stage Two (1994 to 1998): Democratic process that led

to the 1996 Telecommunications Act 188

5.6 Stage Three (1997 to 2000): Further liberalisation,

privatisation of Telkom and the ICASA Act 189

5.7 Stage Four (2001 to 2006): More liberalisation, changes

to the 1996 Act, introduction of the Second National Operator,

the third and fourth mobile phone operators, the ICT Charter

and the ICASA Amendment Act 192

5.8 Further critique of the South African telecommunications

Policy formulation and implementation 200

5.9 Impact of convergence on South African communications 221


xi

CHAPTER 6

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 237


6.2 The research aim and the research question 237

6.3 Selection of telecentres 239

6.4 Research design 259

6.5 Data capturing, coding and analysis 279

6.6 Ethical issues 280

6.7 Reliability and validity 280

6.8 Critical evaluation of the research methodology 281


CHAPTER 7

QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 284


7.2 The user demographic characteristics 284

7.3 User telecentre access, transport and cost 299

7.4 Communication services and equipment use 310

7.5 Educational services 328

xii

7.6 User unmet needs 383

7.7 Rating of the telecentres by users 407

7.8 Telecentre impact on community development 417


Preamble 425

CHAPTER 8

QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 426


8.2 Data gained from personal interviews 427


CHAPTER 9

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS 447


9.2 Findings 447

9.3 Conclusions 458

9.4 A summary of the impact of the telecentres on users:

educational, economic and social aspects 465

9.5 Limitations of the study 491

9.6 Recommendations 491

xiii

Sources consulted 494

Addendum A: List of interview questions 563

Addendum B: The questionnaire 575

Addendum C: List of courses, ICT and costs therefore at

Siyabonga and Tombo telecentres 595

Addendum D: Answers to the open questions 600

Addendum E: Typical telecentre activity, user profile and

impact of centres on community development 612

Addendum F: A comparative analysis of ICT usage by users

(used and unused), and technology use for education, business,

government, health and other services 632

xiv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ABET - Adult Basic Education and Training

AD - Another Development

ADB - African Development Bank

Aids - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

AISGWG - African Information Society Gender Working Group

ANC - African National Congress

ANOVA - Analysis of variance

ARTA - Australian Rural Telecommunications Association

ASGISA - Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South

Africa

ATI - Agence Tunisienne dInternet,Tunisia

AT&T - American Telephone and Telegraph

ATM - Automatic Teller Machine

ATU - African Telecommunications Union

AU - African Union

B&B - Bed and Breakfast

BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation

BDT - Bureau for Telecommunications Development, ITU

BEE - Black Economic Empowerment

BMCC - Broadcasting Monitoring and Complaints Committee

BOG - Board of Governors

CBO - Community Based Organisation

CBPWP - Community Based Public Works Programme

CCI - Communications Commission of India

CD - Compact Disk

CEE - Central and Eastern Europe

CEO - Chief Executive Officer

CI - Community Informatics

CIC - Communications Information Centre

COL - Commonwealth of Learning

COC - Chipata Chamber of Commerce, Zambia

COE - Centre of Excellence

xv

COSATU - Congress of South African Trade Unions

CPE - Customer Premise Equipment

CREAD - Caribbean Electronic Distance Education Forum

CRWRC - Christian Reformed World Relief Council

CSIR - Centre for Scientific and Information Research

CSO - Community Service Obligation

CSSA - Computer Society of Southern Africa

CWU - Communications Workers Union

DA - Democratic Alliance

DBSA - Development Bank of Southern Africa

DE - Distance Education

DECT - Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology

DG - Director General

DoC - Department of Communications, South Africa

DOE - Department of Education

DOI - Digital Opportunity Initiative

DotForce - Digital Opportunity Task Force

DSC - Development Support Communication

DP - Democratic Party

DPIE - Department of Primary Industries and Energy,

Western Australia.

DsTV - Digital Satellite Television

DVD - Digital Video Disk

EC - Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

ECA - Economic Commission for Africa

ECLA - Economic Commission for Latin America

E-Citizen - Electronic Citizen

ECA - Electronic Communications Act of South Africa

E-commerce - Electronic Commerce

E-democracy - Electronic Democracy

E-education - Electronic Education or Tele-education

Edu-Net - Education Network

E-government - Electronic Government

ELCT - Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania

xvi

E-learning - Electronic Learning

E-mail - Electronic Mail

EPG - Eminent Persons Group

E-Rate - Education Rate

E-security - Electronic Security

E-shops - Shops on the Internet or Electronic Shops

e-touch - Electronic Touch

EUC - End User Computing

E-voting - Electronic Voting

FAO - Food and Agriculture Organisation

FCC - Federal Communications Commission (American)

FDI - Foreign Direct Investment

FEI - Freedom of Expression Institute

FET - Further Education and Training

FRIENDS - Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient Network for Disimbursement

of Services, Kerala Province, India

GATT - General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs

G7/G8 - Group of 7 or Group of 8 Developed Countries

GCIS - Government Communication and Information Services

GDP - Gross Domestic Product

GEAR - Growth, Economic Advancement and Restructuring

GET - General Education and Training

GII - Global Information Infrastructure

GIS - Global Information System

GP - Gauteng Province, South Africa

GREEN - Greater Edendale Environmental Network

GSM - Groupe Speciale Mobile

HBU - Historically Black University

HDI - Historically Disadvantaged Institution or Individual

HE - Higher Education

HIV - Human Immune Virus

HP - Hewlett Packard

HRD - Human Resources Development

HSRC - Human Sciences Research Council

xvii

IBA - Independent Broadcasting Authority

ICASA - Independent Communications Authority of South Africa

IC - Information Centre

ICDL - International Computers Drivers License

ICDL-F - International Computers Drivers License Foundation

ICT - Information and Communication Technology

ICTs - Information and Communication Technologies

IDRC - Independent Development Research Centre

ILO - International Labour Organisation

IMCC - Inter-Ministerial Communications Committee

Info-Lit - Information Literacy

INR - Institute of National Resources

IPO - Initial Public Offering

IRD - Integrated Rural Development

IRDP - Integrated Rural Development Programme (SA)

IS - Information System

ISAD - Information Society and Development

ISC - Internet Software Consortium

ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network

ISP - Internet Service Provider/s

ISRDS - Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy

IT - Information Technology

ITA - Invitation To Apply

IT&T - Information Technology and Telecommunications

ITU - International Telecommunication Union

ITU-T - International Telecommunication Union-Telecom

JSE - Johannesburg Stock Exchange

KZN - KwaZulu-Natal

LAN - Local Area Network

LDC - Less Developed Country

LED - Local Economic Development

LEOs - Low Earth Orbit satellites

LP - Limpopo Province

LSC - Local Steering Committee

xviii

LSF - Labour Force Survey

MACIS - Mamelodi Community Information Services

MAP - Millenium Africa (Recovery) Plan or Programme

MCT - Multipurpose Community Telecentre

MPCC - Multipurpose Community Centre

MDC - More Developed Country

MEO - Middle Earth Orbit Satellite

MFN - Most Favoured Nation

MKMVA - Umkhonto WeSizwe Military Veterans Association, South

Africa

MITE - Modular Interactive Telecommunications Environment

MITT - Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry, Egypt

MMS - Multimedia services

MNC - Multinational Corporation

MOE - Ministry of Education, Egypt

MPCC/s - Multipurpose Community Centre/s

MPC - Multi-User Card

MSC - Multimedia Super Corridor

MTN - Mobile Telephone Networks

NSF - National Skills Fund

NSW - New South Wales, Australia

NEPAD - New Economic Partnership for Africas Development

NFA - National Framework Agreement

NGBT - Negotiating Group on Basic Telecommunications

NGO - Nongovernmental Organisation

NMT - New Media Technology

NP - Northern Province (now Limpopo Province)

NRA - National Regulatory Agency

NRF - National Research Foundation

NQF - National Qualifications Framework

NTF - National Telecommunications Forum

NTIF - National Telecommunications and Information Forum

NTPP - National Telecommunications Policy Project

NTU - National Technological University, United States

xix

NUTN - National University Teleconferencing Network


NW - Northwest Province, South Africa

NYSE - New York Stock Exchange

OBE - Outcomes-based Education

OFTA - Office of Telecommunications Authority, China

OFTEL - Office of Telecommunications, United Kingdom

O R Tambo - Oliver Reginald Tambo

OSF - Open Society Foundation

OSISA - Open Society Institute for Southern Africa

PBX - Private Branch Exchange

PCM - Please Call Me

PCN - Presidential National Commission

PCO - Public Call Office in India

PE - Port Elizabeth (Technikon)

PIC - Public Investment Commissioners

PIT - Public Information Terminal

PMC - Project Management Committee

POP - Point of Presence

POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service

PPP - Public Private Partnership

PSTN - Public Service Telecommunication Network

PSTS - Public Service Telecommunication System

PTN - Public Telecommunications Network

PTO - Public Telecommunications Operator

PTT - Public Telephone and Telegraph

QoS - Quality of Service

RDP - Reconstruction and Development Programme

Seta - Sectoral Education and Training Authority

SA - South Africa

SABC - South African Broadcasting Corporation

SADC - Southern African Development Community

SAFE - South Africa Far East

xx

SAIDE - South African Institute for Distance Education

SAITIS - South African Information Technology Industry Strategy

SAPO - South African Post Office

SAPT - South African Posts and Telecommunications

SAQA - South African Qualifications Authority

SAT3 - South Africa Atlantic Telephony

SATRA - South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority

SAVA - South African Vans Association

SBC - Southwestern Bell Corporation (America)

SEIDET - Siyabuswa Education Empowerment and Development

SEP - Strategic Equity Partnership

SETA - Sector Education and Training Authority

SME - Small and Medium Enterprise

SMME - Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise

SMS - Short Message System

SNO - Second National Operator

SOE - State-Owned Enterprise

Sonatel - Senegal Telecommunications Operator

SOTE - State-owned Telecommunications Enterprise

SPSS - Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

TACC - Technology Access Community Centre in Egypt

TAFE - Technical and Further Education, Australia

TAM - Technology Acceptable Model

TASA - Telecentre Association of South Africa

TDC - Tombo Development Centre

TECD - Tombo Entrepreneurial Development Centre

TRASA - Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Southern Africa

TSCs - Thusong Service Centres, South Africa

TUT - Tshwane University of Technology

TV - Television

TWIB - Technology for Women in Business

UCARC - Umtata Child Abuse Resource Centre

UFH - University of Fort Hare

xxi

UNECA - United Nations Commission for Africa

UK - United Kingdom

UN - United Nations

UNCSTD - United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for

Development

UNDP - United Nations Development Program

UNISA - University of South Africa

UNRISD - United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply

U.S. - United States of America

USA - Universal Service Agency, South Africa

USAA - Universal Service and Access Agency

USAASA - Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa

USALs - Under-serviced Area Licenses

USF - Universal Service Fund, South Africa

USO - Universal Service Obligation

UWC - University of the Western Cape, South Africa.

VUDEC - Vista University Distance Education Campus

VANS - Value Added Network Services

WADoT - Western Australia Department of Training

WHO - World Health Organisation

WILs - Wireless Internet Laboratories, South Africa

WSIS - World Summit on the Information Society Wits - University of Witwatersrand

WP - Western Cape Province, South Africa

WST - World Systems Theory

WTO - World Trade Organisation

WWW - World Wide Web

xxii

LIST OF FIGURES

PAGE

Figure 1: USA Telecentre Survey Results at end-2001 171

Figure 2: Some modern houses in Orange Farm informal

settlement near Siyabonga telecentre 243

Figure 3: A shack house in Orange Farm near Siyabonga

telecentre 243

Figure 4: Siyabonga telecentre 246

Figure 5: A computer training class in session at Siyabonga

telecentre 247

Figure 6: Telecentre users (teachers) learning IT and OBE

skills at Hoxani telecentre 256

Figure 7: A newsletter produced by teachers at Hoxani

telecentre 257

Figure 8: Telecentre model 463

Figure 9: A Theoretical Model of Telecentre Impact on the

South African User: A Multi-Dimensional View 488

xxiii

LIST OF TABLES

PAGE

Table 1: Access to information and communication technology 31

Table 2: African main telephone lines 1998 2003

(selected countries) 33

Table 3: African cellular subscribers, 1998 and 2003


Table 4: African access to IT in 2003 (selected countries) 35

Table 5: Africa ICT Indicators, 2006 (selected countries) 36

Table 6: Africa Fixed-Line Telephones and Internet Statistics,

2008 (selected countries) 37

Table 7: Comparison of African and Asian start-up and

Monthly costs for mobile and fixed-line phones (selected

developing countries) 50

Table 8: South African Household ICT Penetration, 2008 54

Table 9: South African ICT Indicators, 2008 62

Table 10: South African Public and Community Access Points,

2008 64

Table 11: South African teledensity levels 1996 2004 94

Table 12: Percentage of households with a fixed-line in South

Africa: 1994 2002 95

xxiv

Table 13: Mobile prices in $US 99

Table 14: Stages in the digital divide 103

Table 15: IT and related services available at the four telecentres

for individual educational advancement and community

development 258

Table 16: Interview and respondent details 267

Table 17: Respondent profile by gender 285

Table 18: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by gender 286

Table 19: Telecentre user profile by age 287

Table 20: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by age 288

Table 21: Telecentre user profile by marital status 290

Table 22: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by marital status 291

Table 23: Telecentre users profile by highest educational

qualification 292

Table 24: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by educational

status 293

Table 25: Telecentre User Profile by Employment status

and occupation 294

Table 26: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by occupation 296

xxv

Table 27: Telecentre user profile by monthly income 297

Table 28: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by monthly

income 298

Table 29: Distance to a telecentre (in kilometres) 300

Table 30: Chi-square test: Distance to a telecentre 301

Table 31: Transport mode 302

Table 32: Chi-square test: Mode of transport used to reach

telecentre 303

Table 33: Transport costs 304

Table 34: Chi-square test: Cost of getting to the telecentre today 305

Table 35: Visit frequency 306

Table 36: Chi-square test: Visit frequency 307

Table 37: Visit duration 308

Table: 38: Chi-square test: Visit duration 309

Table 39: Mean and Standard Deviation: Visit frequency and

visit duration 310

Table 40: Analysis of Variance: Visit frequency and visit

duration 313

Table 41: Telephone and facsimile use 317

xxvi

Table 42: Internet communication computer software use 320

Table 43: Desktop applications 322

Table 44: Computer hardware use 325

Table 45: Mean and Standard deviation: television, radio and

other media 328

Table 46: Use of office equipment: 331

Table 47: Educational facility use 335

Table 48: Telecentre ICT for educational use 337

Table 49: Analysis of variance: use of ICT for educational

purposes 338

Table 50: Telecentre impact: Training in computer use 339

Table 51: Chi-square test: User training in computer use 340

Table 52: Analysis of variance: Computer training and technical

assistance 342

Table 53: Extent of improvement of users computer literacy by the

Telecentres 345

Table 54: Telecentre ICT for business use 347

Table 55: Extent to which the telecentres assisted users to obtain

employment 349

Table 56: Extent to which users were assisted by the telecentres

xxvii

to start their own businesses 352

Table 57: Telecentre ICT use for medical, political and other

Uses 354

Table 58: Extent to which the telecentres developed users in other

Areas 362

Table 59: Other purposes ICT is used for at the centres 364

Table 60: Mean and Standard deviation: ICT charges 365

Table 61: Respondent feelings about telecentre prices 369

Table 62: ICT or services used by respondents at the telecentres 370

Table 63: Mean and Standard deviation: ICT benefits impact

Of telecentres on non-formal and formal education 371

Table 64: Analysis of variance (ANOVA): Telecentre ICT

Benefits impact of telecentres on non-formal and formal

Education of users 378

Table 65: ANOVA: Telecentre impact on non-formal and

formal education 384

Table 66: Ways in which user formal education was advanced 394

Table 67: Other ways in which the telecentres assisted users 402

Table 68: Unmet needs per telecentre 408

Table 69: Further ICT training required by the respondents 410

xxviii

Table 70: Extent of improvement of users non-formal education 412

Table 71: Telecentre rating by users with respect to staff attitude 414

Table 72: Telecentre rating by users with reference to technical

assistance offered 415

Table 73: Telecentre rating by users with respect to ICT training

Received 417

Table 74: Telecentre rating by users with respect to the quality

of services offered 423

Table 75: Telecentre rating by users with respect to staff technical

Competence 473

Table 76: Means and Standard deviations: Telecentre impact

on community development 476

Table 77: Analysis of variance: Telecentre impact on individual

and community development 478

Table 78: Telephone and Facsimile services offered at Siyabonga

Telecentre and costs thereof 593

Table 79: Typing, printing and multi-media service costs

At Siyabonga telecentre 594

Table 80: Photocopying costs at Siyabonga telecentre 595

Table 81: Desktop publishing costs at Siyabonga telecentre 595

Table 82: Computer course and ICT training costs at Siyabonga

telecentre 596

xxix

Table 83: Computer courses and ICT training costs at Siyabonga

Telecentre 597

Table 84: Costs of using ICT facilities at Tombo telecentre 597

Table 85: Telecentre user demographic profile, access and cost

issues: a comparative analysis 613

Table 86: A comparative analysis of ICT usage by users



Student number: 893-232-8

I declare that THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICTs) ON

DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF TELECENTRES ON THE EDUCATION OF

USERS is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated

and acknowledged by means of complete references.

................................... ......................... SIGNATURE DATE (Mrs N C Lesame)

ii

THESIS SUMMARY

This study investigates the use of telecentres for educational purposes in telecommunications

under-serviced regions of South Africa. The problem addressed by this research has both

equity and efficiency aspects. In particular, the thesis examines the impact of telecentres on

the formal and non-formal education outcomes of recipient communities - four telecentres,

two in townships and two in rural areas. The urban telecentres are Siyabonga in Orange Farm

near Johannesburg and Mamelodi Communication and Information Services (MACIS), in

Mamelodi township, near Pretoria in Gauteng Province. The rural telecentres are Tombo near

Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape Province and Hoxani near Bushbuckridge on the

Mpumalanga-Limpopo Province border.

The main aim of the research is to conduct a quantitative survey of the telecentre users use of

telecentres in the above mentioned locations. On the basis of this, the thesis seeks to come to

some conclusions about the use and effectiveness of the South African telecentre program.

The quantitative analysis of users is supported by a qualitative report and analysis of data

gathered through personal interviews of telecentre operators and employees. The thesis

reports on the outputs of the centres, limitations in their function, inhibitors to their economic

performance, and recommendations for improving their operations.

Some of the findings are that telecentres established through public-private partnership (PPP)

funding are more effective and successful, computer literacy is a major resource offered,

Hoxani telecentre offers outcomes-based education management skills training for local

teachers, while Tombo, MACIS and Siyabonga telecentres offer additional business and

electronic courses. The thesis also reviews the South African telecentre program against the

background of similar programs in selected Asian and Latin American countries, Australia,

Canada, and Europe and against the background of an analysis of South African post-

apartheid telecommunications sector reforms (1996 to 2007). Insights into the unique nature

of challenges facing geographically located telecentres as well as a new model for

understanding telecentre operations in South Africa are offered.

Key terms

:

Telecentres; Formal and non-formal education; Telecentre users; Universal service;

Universal access; Capacity building; Information and Communication Technology; Electronic

communications and broadcasting services; Internet; New media; Electronic education;

iii

Electronic government; Electronic health; Electronic business or commerce. Computer

literacy skills training; Outcomes-based education; Rural development; Digital divide.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank the following people for assisting and supporting me towards the

completion of this thesis and degree:

1. My promoters, Prof P. J. Fourie of UNISA for academic guidance, motivation

and support; and Prof G. Madden, of Curtin University of Technology, Perth,

Australia, for capacity building, academic guidance, motivation and academic

wisdom. Your academic wisdom and vision and teachings are highly

appreciated. Prof E. Bornman of UNISA is also thanked for imparting some of

her knowledge and expertise of research methodology aspects to me.

2. Statisticians and research experts, Prof M. Lesaoana of the Statistics

Department, University of Limpopo, and Prof S. Mmusi, of the Department of

Media Studies, University of Limpopo, Limpopo Province, for assistance

regarding visits to eight telecentres in Limpopo Province and analysis of

quantitative data. Mr Cas Coetzee of the Department of Psychology, UNISA,

also for assistance with quantitative data analysis. A special thanks to Prof

Mmusi, who spent her valuable time and resources taking me on a Limpopo

Province tour, showing me rural areas in Limpopo Province where telecentres

and community radio stations are located, with the purpose of laying the

necessary groundwork for analysing the role of telecentres and ICT in the

development of Limpopo Province;

3. Dr F. G. Netswera, formerly of the National Research Foundation (NRF), now

with UNISAs Research Directorate, who also assisted with analysis of

quantitative data;

4. Colleagues from the Free University of Brussels, Prof L. van Audenhove, Mr

G. Nulens and Mr B. Lievens, who motivated me to undertake the study and

supported me with information upon request;

5. Communication Economics and Electronic Research Centre (CEEM) Staff at

Curtin University of Technology, for support, updated information and ICT

expert knowledge;

iv

6. Mr D. Levey, of the Department of English, UNISA and my sincerest

gratitude also goes to Dr C. D. Schutte of UNISA Editorial Department, who

finally editing the thesis. I also wish to thank Mr M. Magocha who acted as an

editorial assistant.

7. Mr D. Wigston, of the Department of Communication Science, UNISA, for

his assistance with production of some graphics;

8. Telecentre managers, and their assistants, of Tombo, Siyabonga, MACIS and

Hoxani telecentres for support and help while conducting field research. The

managers are Mrs P. Makoro and Mr Msimango of Siyabonga, Mr Njenge and

Miss Smauza of Tombo, Mr Maako of MACIS and Miss Ndlovu of Hoxani

telecentre. Your help is highly appreciated as this study would not have been

complete without your assistance. I also thank the managers of those

telecentres visited but not selected for research, especially at Limpopo

Province because the information they provided me is also important for South

African rural development and may be useful in future, for other projects;

9. Research assistants, the late Mr Benedict Mnisi (may his soul rest in peace). I

am honoured to have worked with Mr Mnisi, who spent his time and energy

showing me the area of Bushbuckridge and telecommunication services in

Mpumalanga (and some parts of Limpopo) Province. Mr Mnisi also provided

translation services of Shangaan to English and vice versa. Mr Mnisis

untimely death in 2006 in a car accident is tragic and sad. However, he will be

remembered and his work will enlighten the living (as they did myself and

others who will gain some knowledge from this work), about Bushbuckridge,

Tembisa township, as well as Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces;

10. National government Department of Communications and former Universal

Service Agency staff who assisted with documents, information and study-

related interviews;

11. The National Research Foundation for research funds to conduct the field

research in 2005;

12. Special thanks to my extended family, brothers and sisters, brothers-in law and

sisters-in-law, and the rest of the family for mutual love and admiration

throughout the journey of my life. I love you people! Always Bantu bakuthi

abanobubele nokuhle kodwa. Nangomso MaHlubi nani nonke abanye bethu;

Ke a leboga!

v

13. My immediate family, husband and children, William, Pepe, Phesana and

Thandoza, for love and support. I love you more;

14. My parents, my late father Mtimkulu Thomas (may your sould rest in peace

Daddy) and my mother, Edith Elda Vuyiswa Mpondwana, for lessons in hard

work and discipline and for love and emotional support. I love you. Siyabulela

ke Mbongwe, Sondisa, Mvemnyama ngako konke osiphe kona!!; Thank you

Mama, these are also the fruits of the foundation you laid when you taught me

education basics at Mapassa Farm School, your school. Thank you very much,

where there is will, there is a way and last but not least

15. Other persons who made some contribution to the production of this thesis in

one way or another, but whose names I may have forgotten as a result of some

pressure, stress or credit crunch, and any other temporary human and social

challenges I endured while compiling this thesis. Ndiyanibulela nonke

ngokundakha nokundinceda. Impumelelo yona inyanzelekile.

vi

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedication to my late father who was an educator in the Eastern Cape

Province, MR THOMAS THOS MTIMKULU MPONDWANA. Your discipline

and dedication to serving humanity and developing other persons shines through us.

We will always honour your memory through our work and lives, Rhadebe,

Mthimkhulu, Ndlebentle zombini!. Siphumle phantsi kwaloo mthumnzi wothi omkhulu.

Zonke zihamba ngendlela, kuba kaloku wasibonisa indlela. Unethamsanqa lowo

afumane isisekelo esisiso kwangethuba, kuba wophila ngaso ebomini.

Tribute is also paid to my research assistant Mr Benedict Mnisi of Bushbuckridge

who passed away in 2006. May your souls rest in peace and God be with you.

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 The purpose of this chapter 1

1.2 The need for this study 1

1.3 Background to the study 11

1.4 A brief explanation of formal and non-formal education 23

1.5 Telecentres role in formal and non-formal education 25

1.6 South Africas telecommunications socio-economic

background and telecentre development 29

1.7 Theoretical approaches to the study 65

1.8 The aim of the study 66

1.9 The research question 67

1.10 Research methodology 68

1.11 Summary and outline of chapters 69

CHAPTER 2

CONCEPTS AND CONSTRUCTS 72

2.1 ICT 73

viii

2.2 Telecentres 75

2.3 Information 75

2.4 Public-Private-Partnerships 76

2.5 Telecommunications 78

2.6 Formal and non-formal education 79

2.7 Development 81

2.8 Universal access 84

2.9 Universal service 87

2.10 Teledensity 97

2.11 Digital divide 101

2.12 Technology transfer 110

2.13 Globalisation 111

2.14 Reconstruction and Development Programme and

the GEAR Strategy 114


ix

CHAPTER 3

THE ROLE OF INFORMATION AND

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN

DEVELOPMENT 123

3.1 Telecommunications and development 123

3.2 Theoretical frameworks regarding the role of ICT in

development 131

3.3 Theories of development communication 139


CHAPTER 4

THE ROLE OF TELECENTRES IN

DEVELOPMENT - AN INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE 153


4.2 Telecentres in MDCs 153

4.3 UN and ITU-established telecentres 155

4.4 Telecentres in Latin America and the Caribbean 156

4.5 Asian telecentres 159

4.6 Telecentres in other African countries 159

4.7 Research on South African telecentres 166

4.8 Keys to South African telecentre success 177

x


CHAPTER 5

TELECOMMUNICATIONS REFORMS

IN SOUTH AFRICA - AN ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK 180


5.2 Meaning and goals of policy 182

5.3 Theories of telecommunications regulation 184

5.4 Stage One (Late -1980s to 1993): Pre-democracy 187

5.5 Stage Two (1994 to 1998): Democratic process that led

to the 1996 Telecommunications Act 188

5.6 Stage Three (1997 to 2000): Further liberalisation,

privatisation of Telkom and the ICASA Act 189

5.7 Stage Four (2001 to 2006): More liberalisation, changes

to the 1996 Act, introduction of the Second National Operator,

the third and fourth mobile phone operators, the ICT Charter

and the ICASA Amendment Act 192

5.8 Further critique of the South African telecommunications

Policy formulation and implementation 200

5.9 Impact of convergence on South African communications 221


xi

CHAPTER 6

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 237


6.2 The research aim and the research question 237

6.3 Selection of telecentres 239

6.4 Research design 259

6.5 Data capturing, coding and analysis 279

6.6 Ethical issues 280

6.7 Reliability and validity 280

6.8 Critical evaluation of the research methodology 281


CHAPTER 7

QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 284


7.2 The user demographic characteristics 284

7.3 User telecentre access, transport and cost 299

7.4 Communication services and equipment use 310

7.5 Educational services 328

xii

7.6 User unmet needs 383

7.7 Rating of the telecentres by users 407

7.8 Telecentre impact on community development 417


Preamble 425

CHAPTER 8

QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 426


8.2 Data gained from personal interviews 427


CHAPTER 9

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS 447


9.2 Findings 447

9.3 Conclusions 458

9.4 A summary of the impact of the telecentres on users:

educational, economic and social aspects 465

9.5 Limitations of the study 491

9.6 Recommendations 491

xiii

Sources consulted 494

Addendum A: List of interview questions 563

Addendum B: The questionnaire 575

Addendum C: List of courses, ICT and costs therefore at

Siyabonga and Tombo telecentres 595

Addendum D: Answers to the open questions 600

Addendum E: Typical telecentre activity, user profile and

impact of centres on community development 612

Addendum F: A comparative analysis of ICT usage by users



xiv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ABET - Adult Basic Education and Training

AD - Another Development

ADB - African Development Bank

Aids - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

AISGWG - African Information Society Gender Working Group

ANC - African National Congress

ANOVA - Analysis of variance

ARTA - Australian Rural Telecommunications Association

ASGISA - Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South

Africa

ATI - Agence Tunisienne dInternet,Tunisia

AT&T - American Telephone and Telegraph

ATM - Automatic Teller Machine

ATU - African Telecommunications Union

AU - African Union

B&B - Bed and Breakfast

BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation

BDT - Bureau for Telecommunications Development, ITU

BEE - Black Economic Empowerment

BMCC - Broadcasting Monitoring and Complaints Committee

BOG - Board of Governors

CBO - Community Based Organisation

CBPWP - Community Based Public Works Programme

CCI - Communications Commission of India

CD - Compact Disk

CEE - Central and Eastern Europe

CEO - Chief Executive Officer

CI - Community Informatics

CIC - Communications Information Centre

COL - Commonwealth of Learning

COC - Chipata Chamber of Commerce, Zambia

COE - Centre of Excellence

xv

COSATU - Congress of South African Trade Unions

CPE - Customer Premise Equipment

CREAD - Caribbean Electronic Distance Education Forum

CRWRC - Christian Reformed World Relief Council

CSIR - Centre for Scientific and Information Research

CSO - Community Service Obligation

CSSA - Computer Society of Southern Africa

CWU - Communications Workers Union

DA - Democratic Alliance

DBSA - Development Bank of Southern Africa

DE - Distance Education

DECT - Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology

DG - Director General

DoC - Department of Communications, South Africa

DOE - Department of Education

DOI - Digital Opportunity Initiative

DotForce - Digital Opportunity Task Force

DSC - Development Support Communication

DP - Democratic Party

DPIE - Department of Primary Industries and Energy,

Western Australia.

DsTV - Digital Satellite Television

DVD - Digital Video Disk

EC - Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

ECA - Economic Commission for Africa

ECLA - Economic Commission for Latin America

E-Citizen - Electronic Citizen

ECA - Electronic Communications Act of South Africa

E-commerce - Electronic Commerce

E-democracy - Electronic Democracy

E-education - Electronic Education or Tele-education

Edu-Net - Education Network

E-government - Electronic Government

ELCT - Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania

xvi

E-learning - Electronic Learning

E-mail - Electronic Mail

EPG - Eminent Persons Group

E-Rate - Education Rate

E-security - Electronic Security

E-shops - Shops on the Internet or Electronic Shops

e-touch - Electronic Touch

EUC - End User Computing

E-voting - Electronic Voting

FAO - Food and Agriculture Organisation

FCC - Federal Communications Commission (American)

FDI - Foreign Direct Investment

FEI - Freedom of Expression Institute

FET - Further Education and Training

FRIENDS - Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient Network for Disimbursement

of Services, Kerala Province, India

GATT - General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs

G7/G8 - Group of 7 or Group of 8 Developed Countries

GCIS - Government Communication and Information Services

GDP - Gross Domestic Product

GEAR - Growth, Economic Advancement and Restructuring

GET - General Education and Training

GII - Global Information Infrastructure

GIS - Global Information System

GP - Gauteng Province, South Africa

GREEN - Greater Edendale Environmental Network

GSM - Groupe Speciale Mobile

HBU - Historically Black University

HDI - Historically Disadvantaged Institution or Individual

HE - Higher Education

HIV - Human Immune Virus

HP - Hewlett Packard

HRD - Human Resources Development

HSRC - Human Sciences Research Council

xvii

IBA - Independent Broadcasting Authority

ICASA - Independent Communications Authority of South Africa

IC - Information Centre

ICDL - International Computers Drivers License

ICDL-F - International Computers Drivers License Foundation

ICT - Information and Communication Technology

ICTs - Information and Communication Technologies

IDRC - Independent Development Research Centre

ILO - International Labour Organisation

IMCC - Inter-Ministerial Communications Committee

Info-Lit - Information Literacy

INR - Institute of National Resources

IPO - Initial Public Offering

IRD - Integrated Rural Development

IRDP - Integrated Rural Development Programme (SA)

IS - Information System

ISAD - Information Society and Development

ISC - Internet Software Consortium

ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network

ISP - Internet Service Provider/s

ISRDS - Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy

IT - Information Technology

ITA - Invitation To Apply

IT&T - Information Technology and Telecommunications

ITU - International Telecommunication Union

ITU-T - International Telecommunication Union-Telecom

JSE - Johannesburg Stock Exchange

KZN - KwaZulu-Natal

LAN - Local Area Network

LDC - Less Developed Country

LED - Local Economic Development

LEOs - Low Earth Orbit satellites

LP - Limpopo Province

LSC - Local Steering Committee

xviii

LSF - Labour Force Survey

MACIS - Mamelodi Community Information Services

MAP - Millenium Africa (Recovery) Plan or Programme

MCT - Multipurpose Community Telecentre

MPCC - Multipurpose Community Centre

MDC - More Developed Country

MEO - Middle Earth Orbit Satellite

MFN - Most Favoured Nation

MKMVA - Umkhonto WeSizwe Military Veterans Association, South

Africa

MITE - Modular Interactive Telecommunications Environment

MITT - Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry, Egypt

MMS - Multimedia services

MNC - Multinational Corporation

MOE - Ministry of Education, Egypt

MPCC/s - Multipurpose Community Centre/s

MPC - Multi-User Card

MSC - Multimedia Super Corridor

MTN - Mobile Telephone Networks

NSF - National Skills Fund

NSW - New South Wales, Australia

NEPAD - New Economic Partnership for Africas Development

NFA - National Framework Agreement

NGBT - Negotiating Group on Basic Telecommunications

NGO - Nongovernmental Organisation

NMT - New Media Technology

NP - Northern Province (now Limpopo Province)

NRA - National Regulatory Agency


NQF - National Qualifications Framework

NTF - National Telecommunications Forum

NTIF - National Telecommunications and Information Forum

NTPP - National Telecommunications Policy Project

NTU - National Technological University, United States

xix

NUTN - National University Teleconferencing Network


NW - Northwest Province, South Africa

NYSE - New York Stock Exchange

OBE - Outcomes-based Education

OFTA - Office of Telecommunications Authority, China

OFTEL - Office of Telecommunications, United Kingdom

O R Tambo - Oliver Reginald Tambo

OSF - Open Society Foundation

OSISA - Open Society Institute for Southern Africa

PBX - Private Branch Exchange

PCM - Please Call Me

PCN - Presidential National Commission

PCO - Public Call Office in India

PE - Port Elizabeth (Technikon)

PIC - Public Investment Commissioners

PIT - Public Information Terminal

PMC - Project Management Committee

POP - Point of Presence

POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service

PPP - Public Private Partnership

PSTN - Public Service Telecommunication Network

PSTS - Public Service Telecommunication System

PTN - Public Telecommunications Network

PTO - Public Telecommunications Operator

PTT - Public Telephone and Telegraph

QoS - Quality of Service

RDP - Reconstruction and Development Programme

Seta - Sectoral Education and Training Authority

SA - South Africa

SABC - South African Broadcasting Corporation

SADC - Southern African Development Community

SAFE - South Africa Far East

xx

SAIDE - South African Institute for Distance Education

SAITIS - South African Information Technology Industry Strategy

SAPO - South African Post Office

SAPT - South African Posts and Telecommunications

SAQA - South African Qualifications Authority

SAT3 - South Africa Atlantic Telephony

SATRA - South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority

SAVA - South African Vans Association

SBC - Southwestern Bell Corporation (America)

SEIDET - Siyabuswa Education Empowerment and Development

SEP - Strategic Equity Partnership

SETA - Sector Education and Training Authority

SME - Small and Medium Enterprise

SMME - Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise

SMS - Short Message System

SNO - Second National Operator

SOE - State-Owned Enterprise

Sonatel - Senegal Telecommunications Operator

SOTE - State-owned Telecommunications Enterprise

SPSS - Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

TACC - Technology Access Community Centre in Egypt

TAFE - Technical and Further Education, Australia

TAM - Technology Acceptable Model

TASA - Telecentre Association of South Africa

TDC - Tombo Development Centre

TECD - Tombo Entrepreneurial Development Centre

TRASA - Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Southern Africa

TSCs - Thusong Service Centres, South Africa

TUT - Tshwane University of Technology

TV - Television

TWIB - Technology for Women in Business

UCARC - Umtata Child Abuse Resource Centre

UFH - University of Fort Hare

xxi

UNECA - United Nations Commission for Africa

UK - United Kingdom

UN - United Nations

UNCSTD - United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for

Development

UNDP - United Nations Development Program

UNISA - University of South Africa

UNRISD - United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply

U.S. - United States of America

USA - Universal Service Agency, South Africa

USAA - Universal Service and Access Agency

USAASA - Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa

USALs - Under-serviced Area Licenses

USF - Universal Service Fund, South Africa

USO - Universal Service Obligation

UWC - University of the Western Cape, South Africa.

VUDEC - Vista University Distance Education Campus

VANS - Value Added Network Services

WADoT - Western Australia Department of Training

WHO - World Health Organisation

WILs - Wireless Internet Laboratories, South Africa

WSIS - World Summit on the Information Society Wits - University of Witwatersrand

WP - Western Cape Province, South Africa

WST - World Systems Theory

WTO - World Trade Organisation

WWW - World Wide Web

xxii

LIST OF FIGURES

PAGE

Figure 1: USA Telecentre Survey Results at end-2001 171

Figure 2: Some modern houses in Orange Farm informal

settlement near Siyabonga telecentre 243

Figure 3: A shack house in Orange Farm near Siyabonga

telecentre 243

Figure 4: Siyabonga telecentre 246

Figure 5: A computer training class in session at Siyabonga

telecentre 247

Figure 6: Telecentre users (teachers) learning IT and OBE

skills at Hoxani telecentre 256

Figure 7: A newsletter produced by teachers at Hoxani

telecentre 257

Figure 8: Telecentre model 463

Figure 9: A Theoretical Model of Telecentre Impact on the

South African User: A Multi-Dimensional View 488

xxiii

LIST OF TABLES

PAGE

Table 1: Access to information and communication technology 31

Table 2: African main telephone lines 1998 2003


Table 3: African cellular subscribers, 1998 and 2003


Table 4: African access to IT in 2003 (selected countries) 35

Table 5: Africa ICT Indicators, 2006 (selected countries) 36

Table 6: Africa Fixed-Line Telephones and Internet Statistics,

2008 (selected countries) 37

Table 7: Comparison of African and Asian start-up and

Monthly costs for mobile and fixed-line phones (selected

developing countries) 50

Table 8: South African Household ICT Penetration, 2008 54

Table 9: South African ICT Indicators, 2008 62

Table 10: South African Public and Community Access Points,

2008 64

Table 11: South African teledensity levels 1996 2004 94

Table 12: Percentage of households with a fixed-line in South

Africa: 1994 2002 95

xxiv

Table 13: Mobile prices in $US 99

Table 14: Stages in the digital divide 103

Table 15: IT and related services available at the four telecentres

for individual educational advancement and community

development 258

Table 16: Interview and respondent details 267

Table 17: Respondent profile by gender 285

Table 18: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by gender 286

Table 19: Telecentre user profile by age 287

Table 20: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by age 288

Table 21: Telecentre user profile by marital status 290

Table 22: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by marital status 291

Table 23: Telecentre users profile by highest educational

qualification 292

Table 24: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by educational

status 293

Table 25: Telecentre User Profile by Employment status

and occupation 294

Table 26: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by occupation 296

xxv

Table 27: Telecentre user profile by monthly income 297

Table 28: Chi-square test: Telecentre user profile by monthly

income 298

Table 29: Distance to a telecentre (in kilometres) 300

Table 30: Chi-square test: Distance to a telecentre 301

Table 31: Transport mode 302

Table 32: Chi-square test: Mode of transport used to reach

telecentre 303

Table 33: Transport costs 304

Table 34: Chi-square test: Cost of getting to the telecentre today 305

Table 35: Visit frequency 306

Table 36: Chi-square test: Visit frequency 307

Table 37: Visit duration 308

Table: 38: Chi-square test: Visit duration 309

Table 39: Mean and Standard Deviation: Visit frequency and

visit duration 310

Table 40: Analysis of Variance: Visit frequency and visit

duration 313

Table 41: Telephone and facsimile use 317

xxvi

Table 42: Internet communication computer software use 320

Table 43: Desktop applications 322

Table 44: Computer hardware use 325

Table 45: Mean and Standard deviation: television, radio and

other media 328

Table 46: Use of office equipment: 331

Table 47: Educational facility use 335

Table 48: Telecentre ICT for educational use 337

Table 49: Analysis of variance: use of ICT for educational

purposes 338

Table 50: Telecentre impact: Training in computer use 339

Table 51: Chi-square test: User training in computer use 340

Table 52: Analysis of variance: Computer training and technical

assistance 342

Table 53: Extent of improvement of users computer literacy by the

Telecentres 345

Table 54: Telecentre ICT for business use 347

Table 55: Extent to which the telecentres assisted users to obtain

employment 349

Table 56: Extent to which users were assisted by the telecentres

xxvii

to start their own businesses 352

Table 57: Telecentre ICT use for medical, political and other

Uses 354

Table 58: Extent to which the telecentres developed users in other

Areas 362

Table 59: Other purposes ICT is used for at the centres 364

Table 60: Mean and Standard deviation: ICT charges 365

Table 61: Respondent feelings about telecentre prices 369

Table 62: ICT or services used by respondents at the telecentres 370

Table 63: Mean and Standard deviation: ICT benefits impact

Of telecentres on non-formal and formal education 371

Table 64: Analysis of variance (ANOVA): Telecentre ICT

Benefits impact of telecentres on non-formal and formal

Education of users 378

Table 65: ANOVA: Telecentre impact on non-formal and

formal education 384

Table 66: Ways in which user formal education was advanced 394

Table 67: Other ways in which the telecentres assisted users 402

Table 68: Unmet needs per telecentre 408

Table 69: Further ICT training required by the respondents 410

xxviii

Table 70: Extent of improvement of users non-formal education 412

Table 71: Telecentre rating by users with respect to staff attitude 414

Table 72: Telecentre rating by users with reference to technical

assistance offered 415

Table 73: Telecentre rating by users with respect to ICT training

Received 417

Table 74: Telecentre rating by users with respect to the quality

of services offered 423

Table 75: Telecentre rating by users with respect to staff technical

Competence 473

Table 76: Means and Standard deviations: Telecentre impact

on community development 476

Table 77: Analysis of variance: Telecentre impact on individual

and community development 478

Table 78: Telephone and Facsimile services offered at Siyabonga

Telecentre and costs thereof 593

Table 79: Typing, printing and multi-media service costs

At Siyabonga telecentre 594

Table 80: Photocopying costs at Siyabonga telecentre 595

Table 81: Desktop publishing costs at Siyabonga telecentre 595

Table 82: Computer course and ICT training costs at Siyabonga

telecentre 596

xxix

Table 83: Computer courses and ICT training costs at Siyabonga

Telecentre 597

Table 84: Costs of using ICT facilities at Tombo telecentre 597

Table 85: Telecentre user demographic profile, access and cost

issues: a comparative analysis 613

Table 86: A comparative analysis of ICT usage by users



1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 THE PURPOSE OF THIS CHAPTER

This thesis is aimed at investigating and highlighting the important role played by telecentres in

the improvement of formal and non-formal education of people who use telecentres in South

Africa. The study therefore focuses on how telecentres bridge the digital and information divide

between rural and urban South Africa by teaching telecentre users certain information and

communication technology (ICT) skills. The purpose of this introductory chapter is to explain the

need for the study, against the background of the South African telecommunications (hereafter

telecoms) landscape and socio-economic conditions. This first chapter also states the aim of the

study, poses the research question, and discusses theoretical approaches to the study and the

research methodology. It also explores why telecentres are necessary to bridge the digital divide in

South Africa. The role of telecentres in education, in South Africa and other countries, is briefly

discussed.

A summary of the chapter and an outline of forthcoming chapters are provided. At this point it is

necessary to explain why this study was undertaken in the first instance. This chapter is

expounded mainly because it was necessary to describe the historical background and

development of the telecommunication (hereafter telecom) industry and the education challenge

facing South Africa. It was equally important to define and introduce concepts employed in this

thesis and explain how telecentres can assist local people to address the high illiteracy challenge.

African ICT statistics, among them those of Sub-Saharan Africa, were included as this

background is crucial because of the important political and economic development role played

by South Africa in the rest of Africa.

1.2 THE NEED FOR THIS STUDY

There is a need for this study to assess and understand how information and communication

technology (ICT) in South African telecentres contributes to formal and non-formal education of

telecentre users. The focus falls on telecentres in rural and semi-urban areas. The reason is that

2

these areas do not have adequate telecoms services and are in need of shared communication

facilities which makes the services more affordable if they are in public institutions because

connection (to networks) and usage charges are shared amongst the users. Information gathered

from this study aims to provide data on how information and communication technologies (ICTs)

in these telecentres contribute to the improvement of the education of the users, which in turn

contributes to their socio-economic development.

Former South African Minister of Communications, the late Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri (2001a:

2), stated that her government recognised that the ICT sector is at the epicentre of growth and

development of the country, and that this will be achieved through lowering input costs,

increasing efficiency and development of skills. Against this background, and because of other

similar sentiments and statements that have been publicly expressed by government department

representatives to the effect that ICT should be employed to develop people in this country and

improve lives, it is necessary to assess how ICT - in telecentres contributes to this development

of skills and reduces illiteracy.

South Africa has high illiteracy levels and it is believe that telecentres should be employed by

South Africans, especially by government departments such as Education, Science and

Technology and Communications to assist in the reduction of illiteracy by teaching local residents

pertinent issues and courses which are geared towards the improvement of their education and

computer skills. Mail and Guardian (December 2006 to January 2007:5) argued that the

television Learning Channel is attempting to solve South Africas education crisis. The article

stated that South Africa is facing an educational crisis and the sooner the problem is addressed by

institutions such as universities with the assistance of other less formal ones, such as telecentres

and other concerned parties, the better.

According to the same Mail and Guardian (2006-7:5) article, South Africa has a population of 47

million people, 30, 6 million of whom are over the age of 16 which means about 16, 4 million

South Africans are children of 16 or younger. Altogether 35 per cent of South Africans have a

matric exemption and only 9, 9 per cent have a post matric qualification. Research conducted by

the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) on South African education has produced results

which require immediate attention and solutions to the problems identified. In particular, in 2002

only 23, 9 per cent of Africans aged 18-24 had a matric and 3, 8 per cent had tertiary education

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(ibid.). This lost potential can also be seen in the 551 000 youth who drop out of school between

Grades 1 and 11 each year (ibid.).

Furthermore, according to Statistics South Africa (Mail and Guardian 2006-7:5), unemployment

among 20 to 30 year-olds increased significantly between 1995 and 2002 and in 1995

approximately 100 000 20 year olds were unemployed. In 2002 that figure had grown to about

250 000 (ibid.). Stats SA stated that young people find it difficult to find employment, and when

they do, many of them are underemployed. Almost 69 per cent of employed youth work in the

service industry and 24 per cent of employed youth work in temporary jobs. It takes an average of

14, 5 months for young people to become employed after leaving school, 16 months for Africans

and 12 months for white people. Seventy-three per cent of African youths between the ages of 18

and 35 have never had a job, while 20 per cent of young people believe they will never get a job

(ibid.). In view of this reality, the challenge for the education (and business) sector is to reduce

high illiteracy levels. In this regard, telecentres could be employed by educational institutions to

seek to alleviate this problem in a small way but meaningful way. It is reasonable to assume that

young people are prepared to learn. Accordingly educational institutions should manage these

educational challenges effectively by providing society, inter alia, with the necessary information,

digital and strategic skills.

Benjamin (2003:19), who conducted a few studies on South African telecentres that identified

deficiencies (cf. Chapter 4), and concluded that telecentres do have a role to play in educating the

South African public:

A few of the USAs telecentres have been very successful, such as Mamelodi,

Gaseleka and Acornhoek. However, many are struggling with the technology not

finding much local application. From the past few years we have seen how

technology is wasted if there is not sufficient training and infrastructure support

where local applications of the technology are not developed, the technology

serves little purpose. This work must now change in focus. Work should now

focus on exploring ways in which these technologies can be of use in

increasing the capacity of people in poverty.

Much has been written about the success of Gaseleka telecentre (Latchem and Walker 2001;

Hulbert 2006). In his writings about South African telecentres (cf. Chapter 4), Benjamin does not

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suggest the writing-off of South African telecentres as instruments of development, but

acknowledges that these telecentres have sustainability challenges. Benjamin (2003:12) suggests

that new ways should be found to make these telecentres more useful for the communities they

are located in and a large part of this involves providing ICT training. This study concurs with

Benjamins view and further emphasises that working telecentres (e.g., Gaseleka and the four

sampled for this research), should serve as models to establish more telecentres, rather than some

telecom analysts lamenting that the telecentres have failed. Besides, if the communities or

telecentre owners wish to continue running the telecentres, they will continue to operate the

centres regardless of whether some critics regard these centres as failures. This is partly a

consequence of community members positive view about the telecentres role in their

communities and this researchers research observations among local residents, among whom she

conducted research on local telecentres since 2001. Thus local community members often speak

of their telecentres and how they view the centres as having a positive impact on their lives. The

researcher was also intrigued by why published works on telecentres maintained that telecentres

were failing whereas telecentre operators, when interviewed, stated that the telecentres had a

positive impact on the lives of users and communities. This dichotomy of views between

academics and telecentre operators induced this researcher to conduct this study to find out in real

terms what the telecentre impact is, from the users perspective.

Conducting this study was one way of specifying what the impact is in tangible terms, especially

regarding user education. The experience of this researcher with several urban and rural

telecentres in four provinces she visited (Ndevana, Machibini, Ntselamanzi, Tombo, Hoxani,

Modimosana, Botlokwa, Mankweng, Mohodi, Moletji, Moteti, Rustenburg, Siyabonga and

MACIS), is that local community members at the centres were optimistic and enthusiastic about

the positive role played by the centres in their communities and very few were pessimistic.

Therefore, user views and benefits required further research and recording.

This researcher was also mystified by suggestions that telecentres are failed interventions to ICT

problems because telecentres are successful in many countries employed to bring ICT services to

rural areas. Therefore, the question arose why telecentres are failing in South Africa, if indeed

they are, and how this failure could be remedied or avoided in future. Moreover, if telecentres

indeed fail, then how can ICT services be deployed in rural areas as telecentres are a practical and

cheap way of introducing ICT to rural (and poor) areas because they offer affordable (worldwide)

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shared services. Also, an abundance of literature suggests that ICT has been proven to play a

crucial role in developing poor countries, reducing poverty and societal inequality, and bridging

the digital and information divides, e.g., in Latin America and rural China (see Ameriles, Paz,

Russell and Johnson [Sa]; Coward 2008; India, Brazil and South Africa Dialogue Forum 2008;

Fuchs and Horak 2008; Ki-Moon 2007; Sawhney and Jayakar 2005; Xia and Lu 2005, 2008).

Additionally, Coward (2008:1) states there are three reasons that necessitate more research

attention to telecentres despite previous studies leaning to the conclusion that telecentres are not

fulfilling their potential in achieving self-sustainability, reaching disadvantaged populations or

bringing about noticeable socio-economic change (ibid.). Coward states that most previous

research on telecentres is more qualitative in nature and based on perceptions; and that from a

research perspective, this is far from ideal.

Unlike most previous studies on telecentres, this study offers both qualitative and quantitative

investigation of telecentre impact, with impact measured using variables such as use of ICT for

communicating with other human beings in geographically different locations, increase in

telecentre user ICT awareness and use, improved educational qualifications, e.g., diplomas passed

at the centres, improved computer literacy and software usage skill, access to government services

using telecentre building and Internet, access to other Internet services e.g., access to multimedia

services such as music, CDs and movies (as two users were watching movies on earphones at

MACIS), doing school homework and writing (and posting mail) university assignments at the

centre, and gaining business skills (computer related) and other gains. Most of these benefits (in

relation to the four telecentres under study) are stated in Chapters 7 and 8.

The quantitative part of the study add

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