United in diversity? Digital differences and inequalities within a South African rural community

Abstract

ABSTRACT Digital inequalities in Africa have been explored in terms of dimensions such as gender, age, education, socio-economic status, language, ability/disability etc. In the present study, we draw on qualitative research emphasising digital differences within Dwesa, a rural community on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. For the past decade and a half, this has been the site of extensive ethnographic and ICT-for-development research highlighting complex and nuanced social arrangements, social stratification and local power dynamics. Mobile communication and media appear to either entrench or challenge the status quo, e.g., by strengthening the bond with community members who migrated to urban areas, by disrupting cultural norms or by opening up work and education opportunities. Mobile digital access, use and benefits are unevenly distributed within the community. Teachers and local business people tend to be early adopters and use phones extensively for work-related purposes and to maintain contacts outside the community. The youth appear to be the most sophisticated and frequent users of social media to organise events and meet new people. Somewhat surprisingly, mature women provide some of the most innovative examples of collaboration and empowerment. People of all ages, genders and socio-economic backgrounds recognise the disruptive potential, costs and limitations of digital technology and some deliberately limit themselves to voice calls. Our findings problematise a view of rural African communities as digitally homogeneous and provide some examples of how actual experiences in the Global South challenge expectations based on research from the Global North.