Internet In South Africa Research Articles

Internet access as citizen's right? Citizenship in the digital age

Discourses about Internet and rights generate ideological, economic, and policy debates that bring to prominence the question of citizenship in today's digital age. But what does Internet access as a citizen's right imply? What are the pragmatic meanings of the intersection of citizenship, rights, and technology access? Specifically, what does citizens' right to technology mean for African states? This paper examines citizenship, rights, and Internet in South Africa, and attempts to move the discourse beyond philosophical rhetoric to practical policy interpretations. To do this, the study examines interpretations and reactions of policy-makers to the idea of Internet access as a citizen's right, and through a survey explores the views of many youth on this subject. Findings reveal strong opinions about rights and technology access in South Africa. For policy-makers, the reality of the socioeconomic challenges of Africa humbles an egalitarian aspiration of rights and Internet access.

Blogging and tweeting climate change in South Africa

It is widely agreed that the mainstream mass media play an important role in the climate change debate by providing coverage and thus placing the issue on the public agenda; by providing their audiences with the key aspects of the debate and information related to mitigation and adaption; and, to a lesser extent, by driving policy agendas. Much research on media coverage of climate change is located in the North; and ‘the media’ is often taken to mean mainstream print newspaper media. As the body of literature exploring links between the media and climate change grows, there is a glaring absence of studies about and from the global South, and of a focus on ‘new’ forms of journalism and social media. With the global decline of newspaper circulation internationally and in South Africa, this article argues for an increased focus on digital journalism in the examination of the media coverage of climate change. Journalists’ blogs on the Mail & Guardian newspaper's Thought Leader site, and Twitter newsfeeds are analysed qualitatively to argue that while there is some similarity in the coverage between print and online media, the latter has the potential to reach audiences more effectively and immediately, with the growth of the mobile Internet in South Africa.

Digital inequalities and implications for social inequalities: A study of Internet penetration amongst university students in South Africa

International and national data sources confirm the limited access to the Internet in South Africa. However, there is a need to study how this limited access is distributed amongst population groups in the country. This study investigates the pattern of Internet access amongst university students in South Africa. University students are a relevant population group for studying technology penetration; this population is a generation born in the current era of digital revolution, they are presumably early adopters of technology and are adept in using them. A survey conducted in ten South African universities reveals that beyond publicly available access on campuses – with its attendant constraints, personal/household Internet access is a challenge and it reflects a pattern of inequalities in South Africa. Bearing in mind that social and economic exclusion is the biggest challenge for South Africa, this study reveals that digital inequalities amongst students replicate the pattern of social inequalities in the country. This exacerbates existing social inequalities, specifically amongst university students in South Africa, with certain categories of students being disproportionately disadvantaged.

An elusive community? Lesbian usage of the Internet in South Africa

The initial celebratory response that hailed the Internet as some kind of utopia has been tempered, and gender scholars increasingly interrogate the Internet in relation to gender (in)justice. There is still a scarcity of work that engages with non-normative identities, and while there is a growing visibility of gay sexuality in the literature, lesbian usage is seldom considered – particularly in South Africa. Against the background of homophobia and limited Internet access, the article first presents an overview of sites relevant to lesbian users by mapping the South African lesbian web sphere, and categorising dating, lifestyle and political sites. It then considers the responses of lesbian users of the Internet as pertains to the value they ascribe to it. While the overview of the websites suggests a fragmented or elusive online lesbian community, the respondents insist on the value of the Internet as a space for community engagement. This contradiction points to the potential for personal and political engagement through the Internet – one that is arguably not yet fully realised.

An Overview of Internet Developments and their Impact on E-Government in South Africa

The usage of the internet has grown over recent years in South Africa but at a very slow rate. This is the result of several challenges facing the growth of the Internet in South Africa. These challenges are mostly related to the lack of infrastructure for the Internet, high cost of computer technology and service provider challenges. The paper provides an overview of the Internet usage and its impact on E-Government in South Africa. It examines regulatory issues pertaining to the Internet. It also examines Internet growth in the business and government sectors. In the government sector, the Cape Online Strategy, is an initiative by the provincial government of the Western Cape in SA, is an example of a global trend towards greater levels of interactivity between government and citizens. This initiative is an excellent example of how Web-based solutions can be used to deliver certain services to citizens. Another excellent example is an E-justice initiative undertaken by the Department of Justice. The initiative aims at promoting a more efficient system of Justice in SA. The paper also provides an overview of the challenges to Internet adoption in South Africa.

Negotiating the Net: The Internet in South Africa (1990–2003)

The adoption of an analytical approach based on the examination of Critical Negotiation Issues provides a vehicle for a richly textured account of policy contestation from the perspective of its participant actors. This approach also accounts for the impact of such contestation on the diffusion of the Internet in a developing country such as South Africa. By tracking issues that have high relevance to the development of the Internet, that are highly contested, and which, if left unresolved, will impede diffusion, the changing policy environment and its impact can be better understood. In the case of South Africa four Critical Negotiation Issues in particular have impacted the development of the Internet: competition between ISPs and IAPs; access to facilities; telecommunications liberalization, privatization, and deregulation; and e-commerce policy.

Promoting children’s literature: The challenges and possibilities of using the Internet in a developing society

This article explores the possibilities and practicalities of using the Internet in a multicultural society such as South Africa to the benefit of language and cultural identity, media literacy and children’s literature. Stories create opportunities for worlds to meet and for cultural and language identities to be formed – especially in the minds of children. It is thus of crucial importance that children’s literature should be available and advanced in all indigenous languages. The Internet, the information and communication technology of the future, can play a significant role in the creation and transference of cultural identity, including the advancement of indigenous languages in general, and literature and literacy in particular. The vast technical possibilities of the Internet, its cost-efficiency and interactive and inviting character make it an important option to consider for the advancement of children’s literature. Although access to the Internet in South Africa is still relatively limited, the importance of new communication technologies is recognised by various policies, the implementation of which could result in the accessibility of electronic media and the literacy of its users. With “Storiewerf”, an existing website for Afrikaans children’s literature as a working example, new websites can be developed to provide content and services for other target groups as well.

Competitiveness of the water utility consulting industry on the Internet in South Africa

An adapted version of Michael E. Porter's five competitive forces model was used to determine the competitiveness of the water utility consulting industry on the Internet, in South Africa. This was done by analysing the hits that were obtained by using the search phrase 'water utility' in a South African search engine, Aardvark. Furthermore, an analysis was done of the database of consulting engineering enterprises registered with the South African Association of Consulting Engineers (SAACE). The reason for the database analysis was to determine the number of enterprises or potential entrants, that currently had the potential to render services to water utilities enterprises and which could not be traced via the Internet. The results of the research indicated that there was very little competitiveness in the water utility consulting industry on the Internet in South Africa. However, there were also indications that the situation could change if water utility consulting enterprises started to advertise all the services they render on the Internet and specifically indicated that these services could be rendered to water utility enterprises.

Financial reporting on the internet in South Africa

The inherent nature of the Internet affects financial reporting in the sense that information on a website is available to anyone, anywhere and at any time. Financial reporting on the Internet reduces the cost of financial reporting, makes instantaneous reporting a reality, adds breadth and depth to business reporting, allows analytical tools to be used on underlying business data and makes it easier to disseminate reports to any place in the world where there is a computer. A cursory exploration of financial reporting on the websites of South African companies reveals great variations in terms of the amount of content (e.g. summary financial statements vs detailed financial statements), the style of presentation (e.g. similar to paper‐based reports vs inclusion of multi‐media) and the manner in which companies incorporate navigation aids (e.g. hyperlinks, search boxes and others). The advantages of the Internet as a new mode of information dissemination are clear, but Internet financial reporting creates a number of challenges for companies and their auditors as well as for regulatory and standard‐setting organisations. This paper assesses Internet reporting in South Africa. It explores the manner in which financial and certain non‐financial information is presented on companies’ websites and determine whether reporting practices on the websites of South African companies differ fromthose of their international counterparts. The study revealed that although Internet usage in South Africa has expanded as a medium for presentation of financial information via companies’ websites, top South African companies use their websites as a bulletin board with limited real‐time financial information and note disclaimers.

Risks to the South African financial markets — PART 2

In this second part of their two-part paper, Johan Henning and Gerrie Eberson conclude their insightful exploration of the possibilities provided by the growth of the Internet in South Africa in which they provide an assessment of the potential risks to the South African markets posed by market manipulation, insider trading, money laundering, viruses, hackers, software piracy and electronic espionage and discuss some of the possible solutions to these growing problems.

Risks to the South African financial markets — PART 1

This is the first in a two-part paper in which Johan Henning and Gerrie Eberson provide an insightful exploration of the possibilities provided by the growth of the Internet in South Africa and provide an assessment of the potential risks to the South African markets posed by market manipulation, insider trading, money laundering, viruses, hackers, software piracy and electronic espionage and discuss some of the possible solutions to these growing problems.

The development of the Internet in South Africa

Predictions attesting to the evolution of the Internet from a non-commercial utility to a commercial oriented tool are coming to fruition. In the late 1990s, the development of the Internet is led by commercial interests supported by amongst others Supranational institutions to the detriment of the development of universal service oriented to the larger public. Commercial interests guide both the content, software and infrastructure of the Internet. This paper investigates the implications of such developments in particular in South Africa where the government is harnessing a wide definition of universal service to include the Internet as a basic service. It is argued that the government’s initiatives may not be realised as commercial prerogatives predominate over the Internet and coalesce with internal socio-economic and political shortcomings to subdue the potential universal uptake of the Internet in South Africa.