South Africa needs stringent regulation of the Big Tech multinationals to protect local start-ups from anticompetitive behaviour, says Zwelibanzi Masilela, director for Brics and ICT bilaterals at the department of communications & digital technologies.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Brics meeting of communications ministers in Cape Town this week, Masilela said: “On these giants taking over and killing SMMEs … we have quite a strong, recent decision from the Competition Commission, which suggests that we are in safe hands in terms of preventing anticompetitive behaviour and even monopolies.”
He said it was vital for South Africa to protect its tech and innovation start-ups from anticompetitive behaviour by large multinational tech firms.
“The approach from the department — what it has invested in — is the promotion of innovation and the promotion of SMMEs. It has also actively facilitated partnerships between SMMEs and the giants that we are referring to, so that they pull the SMMEs up to levels at which they become competitors to the big giants.”
On Monday, the Competition Commission released a report on the dominant online companies, including Google and Apple, in which it ordered remedial action to level the playing field for smaller players in e-commerce, food delivery and internet search, among other areas. One of the local players singled out as a culprit was Takealot.
Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani, director-general of the department of communications, told the Brics meeting South Africa’s ICT sector had great value for the economy because of its potential for growth.
The South African ICT sector outperformed the economy of our country, in spite of the challenges brought about by load-shedding
— Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani, DG of the department of communications
“The South African ICT sector outperformed the economy of our country, in spite of the challenges brought about by load-shedding,” she said. “The growth of our sector is predicted to be 4%-7%, far surpassing national economic growth of 2%.”
Jordan-Dyani said for South Africa to achieve digital transformation and tech entrepreneurship, it needs to invest in infrastructure, connectivity and skills transfer.
“We still face challenges such as ensuring we lower the cost of communication, addressing the digital skills gap, ensuring allocation and usage of spectrum and finding ways to open the market to consumers and new entrants.”
Minister of communications Mondli Gungubele said the ICT sector in South Africa continued to grow despite the challenges.
“We remain a destination of choice for ICT investors in the continent. In 2021, the sector recorded R243.6bn in revenue, an increase from R243bn in 2020.”
Gungubele said the South Africa Connect programme — which is aimed at achieving universal broadband access — planned to expand the digital ecosystem, which was built on a foundation of more than 300,000km of fibre and at least eight undersea cables connecting South Africa to the rest of the world.
In a panel discussion, Sentech CEO Mlamli Booi said connecting citizens to broadband internet access would have a ripple effect on skills development and job creation.
Broadband Infraco acting CEO Gift Zowa said South Africa needed to leverage its Brics membership to establish skills exchange programmes with countries that had more advanced ICT sectors.
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