SMME Forum defends minister

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rpm

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SMME Forum defends minister

Response to various criticisms regarding communication ministry’s position on self-provisioning iro recent telecoms market liberalization policy.
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za

"Whilst we will defend to death the precious liberties of free speech as enshrined in our Constitution and thus the public’s right to criticise the Minister and government, the SMME Forum believes that recent criticisms of the Minister is both unfair and unjustified."

Let the free speech flow :D
 
"We remind those self-anointed consumer activists that there also exist millions of voiceless communication-wanna-be-users who are desperate for the simplest of access to ICTs. These are the people we should be focusing most of our energies on."

Gawd RPM -- was this some stray shot across the mybroadband/hellkom bow !?

Who are these self anointed 'representatives' of the smme sector?
 
The bit I like best is this:

...
Had the Ministry allowed VANS to self-provide, this would have – at the minimum - put paid to the dawn of the SNO and would have also impaired the sustainability and business cases of all under-serviced area licence operators. Some of the members of the Forum are Under-serviced Area Licence (USAL) operators and would have been amongst those prejudiced were VANS allowed to self-provide.
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Boohoo I say, so what if the SNO became redundant due to a multitude of NNOs in the form of VANS rolling their own infrastructures, and the whole USAL issue who cares that a select few companies with USAL licenses would've faced competition from VANS in under-serviced areas, I'm sure the people of the country could care less if they get their telephony from VANS or USAL licensees - whichever is cheaper & provides decent service.

Another thing, this The SMME Forum (that I keep hearing about), which of the .za SMME Forums are they???, googling reveals several results...

Not that I have doused myself in petrol, who is going to gooi me a lit match?
 
Hi Reech

To the best of my knowledge not many companies/governments encourage consumer activism, especially when it is aimed at them. I also assume he means appointed… I am still waiting for Telkom/DoC to officially employ (in comparison to the self-appointed ones) consumer activists. I am quite certain that they will pay big money to get MaD…he is, after all, particularly effective :D

And then:

“Whilst we are correct to complain about lack of competition for Telkom, it may also be worth noting that there currently is not a single ISP or VANS operator providing services from townships and other under-serviced areas.”

They were not allowed to provide services! And they are still not allowed to produce their own infrastructure! So how on earth must they supply services where Telkom deems it unprofitable to provide a telecoms infrastructure? Maybe I am missing something…please explain Mr. Khaas
 
"it may also be worth noting that there currently is not a single ISP or VANS operator providing services from townships and other under-serviced areas."
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I was unaware that Mweb and other ISPS refuse to provide Internet accounts to township residents, this is indeed discrimination. Or was the writer implying that Mweb must supply the telephone line and modem as well?

No it couldn't be the latter because he says that they can't be allowed to self provision.

If you ask me the "only legacy of apartheid" are the blatant racial outburst by people such as the anonymous writer of that article.

How somebody can claim to champion SMME and (mis)quote Lenin in the same piece is beyond my comprehension.

I think I had better have a beer and calm down a bit.

Cheers
Chris

EDIT: I sent this a 19:00 and it has only just appeard
 
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South Africa’s ISPs and VANS providers should bury their heads in collective shame for doing less in developing our communities and stop criticising the Minister just for the sake of taking pitiful pot-shots at her.
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Ok, so I take it from this that it's ISP's and VANS fault that the vast majority of our countries people live in poverty ?

I'd love to know how an ISP or VAN provider is supposed to put infrastructure into place in communities still with only rudimentary services for people who battle enough as it is to feed thier families and educate thier children !

How much longer will government keep on playing the race card and blaming successful companies for the governments failure to deliver basic services to the population ?

You cannot even begin to cross a digital divide when education is in a mess, AIDS is a serious crisis, electricity isn't reaching enough people !

We remind those self-anointed consumer activists that there also exist millions of voiceless communication-wanna-be-users who are desperate for the simplest of access to ICTs. These are the people we should be focusing most of our energies on.
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I think it may be wise for the SMME forum to see how many electricity-wanna-be-users and water-supply-wanna-be-users and i-need-a-job-users there are before laying into the "self-anointed consumer activists"

I would advise the SMME forum to take a good look at Telkomopoly and how it is actually the government who are preventing SMMEs from getting of the ground in the ICT sector - with a 39.2% stake Telkom and prices WAY higher than other countries.

Yes, SMME forum, our government is holding back progress, not the ISP's or VANS - wake the hell up !

I'm so sick of hearing this damn race card played all the flippin' time - the IT industry is lily-white because the damn government hasn't got of it's collective ass - too busy partying and congratulating themselves.
Too busy with thier collective hands in the cookie jar.

The amount of corruption in this government of ours is sickening.

So it's ALWAYS down to the past and the whities - it's never governments lack of initiative or government not fulfilling thier promises to the people, no, it's the whites.

Sounds like our ministers and SMME forum have been listening to thier uncle Bob up north ! :mad:
 
RPM, just wondering, where did you find that jumble of contradictions that the SMME Forum representative spouted, is there a url?
 
Hi IC

It was a press release by Mr. Khaas from the SMME Forum... I published it as is (except the tile). I have invited Mr. Khaas to participate in this discussion and explain his statements. Lets hope he sees his way clear to provide us with some insight!

Regards,

RPM
 
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Thanks RPM,

Would it be too corny to say that I was really cheesed-off at Mr Khaas' press release? :D
 
"... South Africa is rated as having world-class telecommunication infrastructure and a sophisticated financial sector ..."
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Our bank charges are ridiculous, not to mention our world-class competitive pricing in our telecoms sector.

To her credit, the Minister moved swiftly to provide clarity over an issue whose cause and resultant mis-interpretation was not of her making.
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I think not that was the slowest last minute clarification ever.

SMME Forum believes that recent criticisms of the Minister is both unfair and unjustified.
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I bet you believe in Father Christmas also.

In any event, the Telecommunications Act, in its current form, does not allow for VANS to self-provide.
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;)

At the very least, they are not criticising those who should be doing a lot more for the under-privileged communities.
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Riiiight, so we must criticize government and the USAL operators more is that what you are saying?

Further, research of the ISP sub-sector of telecommunications industry shows that the industry is still lily-white
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Man…, fix the ****ing problem stop blaming apartheid for the ****ty state of telecoms. I’m so sick of the moaning about “oh no it's sooo white still bla bla…”, government will probably screw up the ITC sector also just like they screwed up healthcare and education. :mad:

Whilst we are correct to complain about lack of competition for Telkom, it may also be worth noting that there currently is not a single ISP or VANS operator providing services from townships and other under-serviced areas.
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Lies, anyone can get an account from an ISP, unfortunately due to certain last minute clarifications VANS cannot fix Telkom and the government’s screw-ups.

South Africa’s ISPs and VANS providers should bury their heads in collective shame for doing less in developing our communities and stop criticising the Minister just for the sake of taking pitiful pot-shots at her.
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What a load of trash.

Government and the Ministry are doing their utmost to connect under-serviced areas through telecentres, MPCCs and Cyberlabs. What is stopping the private sector (ISPs and VANS) to join in in droves?
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WTF are they stupid or something? You can’t exactly connect a under serviced area if you can't provide telecoms facilities now can you? :confused:

We remind those self-anointed consumer activists that there also exist millions of voiceless communication-wanna-be-users who are desperate for the simplest of access to ICTs. These are the people we should be focusing most of our energies on.
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Hence the drive for lower cost telecoms? I don’t see any one else saying anything about the **** state of telecoms. So I guess we will have to do hey. I just don’t understand how these/this people/person reason(s)

recent criticisms of the Minister can, at the very least, be described as pitiful and mischievous.
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More like “it’s true and publicly available for all to read! We have to respond.”.

Whenever I read articles like these, it makes sense why this country is in such a ****ty state. I wonder if an ITC competent person even read this article before they posted it. Obviously, these people have no idea how ISP’s provide there services.
:rolleyes:
 
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Located the online home of Tebogo Khaas, I knocked on the door & I have to pay R500pa before they will let me in...:rolleyes:...but in exchange for my R500pa I would be "entitled to free internet access, hosting and email through DataPro!", doesn't sound free to me if I still have to pay out 500 smackerooz before I can use my free entitlements...

"To join us, simply deposit your annual membership fee of R500.00 into our account."

Hmmm, I think not.
 
The SMME's are the ones probably suffering the most under Telkom's 'rule' - how come stand up for the person who can actually effect change in the Telecoms sector? If the Finance Minister kept changing his mind and bungling things with regards to tax - what would their stance be then?

Ivy does seem to have had a change of heart though and seems motivated to get the SNO up and running and also provide affordable communications to SA. Only time will tell how true this rings, it's a great pity indeed it didn't happen sooner.

As for the "Whilst we will defend to death the precious liberties of free speech as enshrined in our Constitution and thus the public’s right to criticise the Minister and government, the SMME Forum believes that recent criticisms of the Minister is both unfair and unjustified" comment.. why not criticise the person who is to blame? People are put in positions of power to do one thing - their job. So far nothing constructive has come out of the DoC, so Ivy is the obvious target.

They've even blocked mails from the Hellkom domain, so I have no kind words for them. Nation building at its best?? LOL.
 
If nothing else, Khaas has certainly succeeded in stirring up a hornet's nest of emotive responses that have no constructive value whatsoever, much like his article. If you analyse his writing style, you'll note that it is riddled with populist terminology designed to stir emotion - terms such as 'defend to the death', 'dawn of the SNO' and 'self-anointed' (as opposed to 'self-appointed'), as well as the concluding twisted quote (commonly referred to as a 'cheap shot'). That kind of style is reminiscent of the revolutionary spirit of the 70's, and has no place in today's milieu - methinx he's just showing his age, or has a mentor from that era in the background, pulling his strings. Be all that as it may, however, there is one thing that comes through very clearly for me, disguised by an ostensible cloak of defence for Dr Ivy - the promotion of self-interest.

Mr KHAAS:
Here's an open challenge to you, sir - prove to this forum that you have actively undertaken the rollout of ICT's in the past to under-serviced and unconnected areas (how did you achieve this without breaking the law?), and provide evidence of the fact that you have no interest, partnership or other kind of relationship with USAL holders (which would imply an immediate conflict of interest, given your stance regarding 'the sustainability and business cases of all under-serviced area licence operators'). Without such proof, your article remains nothing more than a self-serving piece of editorial, fit for nothing else except relegation to the dustbin.

I believe the SMME Forum has a constructive role to play in our economy, but this certainly does not include the publication of clearly sycophantic articles (notwithstanding your contention that sycophancy is not being encouraged) - I furthermore doubt that you would ever be asked to act as spokesperson for the Ministry, given the less-than-authoritative underpinnings evident in your article.

I await your response with interest, as I'm sure my peers on this forum do, too...
 
The SMME forum is simply a government lapdog.

Where is their clout?

*** damn, what a bunch of utter twits... Did they actually ask the forum they represent what their opinion is?

I think they would have found a different story from their members.

SMME forum YOU BUNCH OF TWITS. You are not deserving of your members!
 
mbs, good1 - I especially like the butt kissing (sycophantic) comment bcos it's exactly what that article is all about- "look yonder honourable Ivy, I hast defended thy honour and restored thy virtue, please bless me in the future by awarding tenders, licenses and morsels of food from thy table...shall I polish milady's riding boots now?..."
TheRoDent said:
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SMME forum YOU BUNCH OF TWITS. You are not deserving of your members!
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I 2nd that, and whilst Tobogo Khaas is about it, return the R500 to each of your members!!!
 
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Who gives a soggy, smelly tissue what Mr Khaas's ill-informed opinion is. It is obvious that he is another emotive propaganderist trying to get people to actually take him seriously. Secondly, who cares about the SMME forum? The fact that we have dedicated 2 forum pages to this drivel is disgraceful. I propose that this be the last post about this topic unless someone desperately needs to add one...
 
This article is more preposterous than Marcel Raath's comments on MyWireless’s service levels :eek:
 
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