Today there is little evidence of the “digital villages” across South Africa. “[They] worked well for a while but collapsed as soon as the sponsors stopped funding the activities – the community had failed to make the use of technology self-sustaining.” Adrian Schofield, Vice Chairman, Africa ICT Alliance tells me: “What should have been a model for others to follow became a failure. This is a common outcome, where there is no long-term follow through.”
The same is true of numerous online projects to get rural communities connected. The Centre for Appropriate Rural Technology (C.A.R.T) has not issued any news since 2010. The Independent Online reported on Wednesday that “R1bn later, Gauteng Online is no more.” While the Computers for Schools project, which is massive across other parts of Africa, is simply not to be found in SA.
In fact many aid agencies often bypass South Africa in favour of more receptive markets. Schofield stresses: “South Africa is losing out – to Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana, Rwanda… losing out to countries where there is an appreciation that grasping the opportunities afforded by adopting technology is the only way to grow their economies and become an attractive investment destination.”
