Why an obligation to provide South Africans with free public benefit content has stalled.
An obligation placed on South Africa’s biggest mobile network operators (MNOs) to start providing free access to content from public benefit organisations (PBO) has stalled because discussions with the communications regulator are yet to be finalised. This obligation was created following last year’s successful spectrum auction, where Telkom, Vodacom, MTN, Rain, Cell C and Liquid […]
Fight looming over zero rating in South Africa
The DG Murray Trust believes significant educational progress can be made in under-resourced schools in South Africa if only telecommunications operators would play ball. The trust wants educational and other websites “zero-rated” so that access to online resources is available to everyone at no cost. Having digital content zero-rated is a major advantage because it democratises access to information […]
eNCA Interview: Zero-rating – Making information accessible to everyone
In a recent discussion on eNCA, DGMT CEO David Harrison laid out a vision of connectivity and opportunity for South Africa. He made it clear: the door is open for mobile network operators (MNOs) to join DGMT’s Social Innovation Register and begin zero-rating public benefit organisations (PBOs). Zero-rating isn’t just about free data—it’s a […]
Not so fast — targeted strategies to stop hunger fail to reach one in six children
We need an urgent national conversation about food security in South Africa. For this reason, criticism of the ‘10-best-buys’ proposal, aimed to alleviate child hunger, is a welcome contrast to radio silence from the food industry, which has opted not to engage publicly with this proposal. Encouragingly, Shoprite has just released its Food Index report, […]
Schools must allow parents’ voices to be heard to ensure quality education
In Ganyesa, a small village outside of Vryburg in the North West, Mme Mashego*, an enthusiastic mother to a grade 6 learner, takes pride in going to her son’s school a week before assessments start to encourage learners to study and try their best at school. While Mme Mashego did not finish school, she wants […]
Let’s have an honest conversation about the link between booze and GBV
Government and South African men both need to step up and address the link between alcohol abuse and gender-based violence in South Africa. The rate at which women are killed by intimate partners in South Africa is five times higher than the global average. Gender-based violence (GBV) is an indictment of our nation. The relationship between […]
Cape Talk Interview: The care economy is predominantly women-led. We should value their work.
The care economy is predominantly women-led. Why don’t we value their work in the same way we value male-dominated sectors? Clarence Ford speaks to Kentse Radebe, DGMT Innovation Director. Listen to the full interview below.
INX Prime Interview: Funding for the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI) should continue
Bridget Hannah, DG Murray Trust’s Innovation Director, explains why funding for the Basic Education Employment Initiative should continue. Introduced through the President’s Employment Stimulus, 700,000 young people have been employed as teaching assistants at schools around the country. Read more here, and watch the interview below.
Radio 702 Interview: Basic Education Employment Initiative is scoring points on youth employment
John Perlman speaks to Bridget Hannah, a DG Murray Trust Innovation Director, about the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI). Born out of the Presidential Employment Stimulus, the BEEI was launched at the end of 2020 and is in its fourth phase. The programme has created more than 700,000 short-term work opportunities for young people across […]
Basic Education Employment Initiative is scoring points on youth employment – don’t pull the funding plug
The Basic Education Employment Initiative is a viable and promising programme where every rand spent by the state does double the work. Yet there might not be funding in the long run. With just under half of young South Africans between the ages of 15 and 34 without any learning or earning opportunities, interventions addressing this crisis are often […]
