South Africa is no stranger to separation, to chasms between the haves and have-nots, which is why there should be absolute urgency to bridge the digital divide.
pandemic, widely touted as a disruption event catapulting the world into a digital future, held a magnifying glass over the inequality fault lines in our society and in many instances made them worse. There will be no digital future for the majority of South Africans unless we build bridges, and fast.
There is no way around it – connectivity enables communities to enjoy economic growth. Perhaps the best analogy is imagining two parallel worlds. One world is connected, packed with information, fast, innovative and competitive, while the other hasn’t bought a ticket and can only watch as the train leaves the station. It is uncompetitive and has far more restricted access to information, which carries a cost premium due to its limited supply.
in 2016 that said, “the same rights people have offline must also be protected online”. Being connected and having access to information should be within the grasp of more people.Digital access should be a leveller, there’s work to be done. During the hard lockdowns, schools closed, and millions of children were sent home. As painful as it is to acknowledge, the children of wealthier parents were able to switch to online learning fairly easily.
This isn’t new. The #DataMustFall protests were borne from this frustration, and a broad sense that wi-fi is the preserve of the elite, a privilege for those that live in upmarket suburbs with access to public hotspots. While R100 on data may be small fry to someone reading this, if that data runs out before an assignment is submitted it could be catastrophic for a student working remotely.