The department of communications & digital technologies will host a policy colloquium soon to solicit inputs ahead of a planned overhaul of South Africa’s ICT sector legislation.
Speaking in parliament on Friday, Malatsi said the goal of the colloquium will be to ensure South Africa’s policy and regulatory regime is up to date with the “rapid developments” in the technology sector.
“Many stakeholders, including the parliamentary portfolio committee and various industry players, have called for a review, some even advocating for a revitalisation of legislation governing this sector,” Malatsi said in his budget vote speech.
“I have heard all these calls, and I agree with you. Thirty years into our democracy, the legislation in our portfolio has not kept up with the evolution of our sector. It is for this reason that we will be convening a legislative and policy colloquium in this quarter [ended 30 September].”
Malatsi said the process will bring together government, business, civil society and academia to debate the next steps needed to ensure the policy environment is “fit for purpose and future orientated”.
Legislative delays in the communications sector have particularly impacted the SABC, including its funding model. Malatsi in November 2024 withdrew the contentious SABC Bill from parliament, arguing that in its current form, it failed to address the funding model properly.
Malatsi was also worried that the bill gave too much power to the communications minister over who gets appointed to the SABC board, thereby threatening its constitutionally mandated independence from the executive arm of government.
‘Future-fit’ reforms
The move made Malatsi, a Democratic Alliance MP, the subject of much attack from ANC MPs, including his own deputy, Mondli Gungubele, minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and parliamentary committee chair Khusela Diko.
Speaking in parliament on Friday, Diko said: “The department’s lacklustre pace in enacting urgent legislative reforms has weakened the sector and left the vulnerable defenceless, whether it be women that are being bullied on online platforms or struggling media entities that are being cannibalised by over-the-top services.”
Read: Hiking TV licence fees won’t solve the SABC’s funding crisis
According to Malatsi, the upcoming colloquium will allow stakeholders across the sector to contribute to a set of proposed “future-fit” legislative reforms. “I want to emphasise that this will be an intense and inclusive process, that we ought to move with speed and urgency to drive this collective agenda that will spur change and progress,” he said. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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