Telecoms costs cut by 45%
Presenting a report of somewhat mixed achievement to a media conference held in both Pretoria and Cape Town on Tuesday, Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa noted that one of the successes of the economic cluster of ministers was that telecommunications costs have been cut over the past three years by 45%.
He promised that further cuts were in hand, and would be brought about by the extensive undersea cable network being put in place around Africa.
He also said that macro-economic stabilisation has created space for the country to grow more strongly and to effect redistribution.
However to the downside, he reported that there is a need for faster action on growth and that coordination in economic policy development requires improvement.
He admitted that the government’s own capacity to coordinate and implement the ministers’ programmes needed improvement, and there was a need to secure additional money to implement their interventions.
"Less was achieved in some programme of action items," he said, "and all work in progress … will be carried forward into the next term of government."
Other problems he said the ministers face include the management of the exchange rate and the shortage of skills.
"Skills shortages continue to pose a constraint to the economy including the infrastructure build programme, which seeks to ensure that our economy continues to grow in the current global slowdown," he said.
The infrastructure build programme, he suggested, was being hampered by a lack of an integration plan which would ensure the policies strategies and plans of various sectors are coordinated and optimised to support overall government objectives rather than just sectoral imperatives.
The integrated plan’s first draft was put to the cabinet, but more work needs to be done, the minister said. "We had to develop a security programme that would protect commercial confidentiality," he said.
Telecoms cost cuts – give your views
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