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No. 37261
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 24 JANUARY 2014
10.Government has a responsibility to maximise the overall public benefit derived from the
use of public resources;
11.South Africans are entitled to a communications sector that facilitates innovation, fair
competition and equitable treatment of all role players;
12.South African citizens are entitled to consumer protection rights with regards to
communication services;
13. South Africans have a right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing.
14. Policy must recognize the need to protect children from potentially harmful content
There were some additional objectives suggested by respondents to the Framing Paper. The
Green Paper invites comment from the public on these additions. Among these were the
following:
South Africans have a right to an inclusive, transparent, accessible and technologyneutral policy making and regulatory process that promotes stability and fosters a
knowledge based society;
2. South Africans are entitled to a communications sector that prioritises and promotes
public interest, independent regulation, fair and equitable treatment of all role players,
and net neutrality;
1.
3. All
South Africans are entitled to a secure cyber environment
in
which all
infrastructure, network and service providers work together to maintain the highest
standards of security;
4. South Africans have a right to a three-tier system of broadcasting providing for public,
community and private ownership; and
5. South Africans have a right to access public information through the communications
services in order for them to be active participants in political and social life, as well
as in the construction of a knowledge-based society.
2.3 Historical Overview
The ICT sector is currently experiencing major technological and market changes, with many
referring to it as a revolution of the scale last experienced with the invention of the printing
press. Such rapid change means policies and laws need to be regularly reviewed in order to
set the framework for implementation across sectors. The policies, laws and regulations
under review in this Green Paper date back to the 1990s and were drafted shortly after the
first democratically elected Government was inaugurated in 1994. A flurry of policies and
legislation was drafted, across the communications sector, in order to align with the
objectives set out in the Constitution.
2.4 Why review the policies, laws and regulations governing the Communications
Sector?
2.4.1 A changing society
Much has changed in recent years, especially in the ICT sector due to the rapid expansion
and fast-paced developments in technology, and the emergence of new media as a result of
the Internet. Both homes and offices have been transformed technologically and a new
worker entering the market today would be puzzled by equipment found in an office just 20
years ago: telex machines, floppy-disc computers, tape cassettes and monochrome
computers devoid of graphics and of course without a mouse. To make a telephone call you
needed to stand still as mobile devices were still emerging; to get in touch with someone
urgently you "paged" them, which involved phoning an operator, who would send a text
message to the recipient on a device that would beep to inform them to call you back; the
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