Minister of Communications Roy Padayachie has held a consultative meeting with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and the Steel and Engineering Industry Federation of SA (SEIFSA) on progress in the implementation of digital terrestrial broadcasting (DTT) and the role that this can play in the revitalisation of the South African electronics and related components industry.
The imperatives of this consultation arise from the President Zuma’s call to the nation for all role players to respond to the national responsibility to create jobs for our people. This meeting follows on initiatives taken by the Ministry to consult with big and small businesses as well as labour and civil society.
This meeting was as a result of the recent developments relating to the launch of digital terrestrial broadcasting in April 2012 and has identified other opportunities in the entire Information and Communication Technology (ICT), especially the electronics sub-sector. This includes further opportunities for the manufacturing of digital antennas, transmission equipment, cables and smart meters as applications for water, energy and other utilities management as well as software development and content applications.
These opportunities underscore the central importance of the electronics industry in the emerging digital future. The parties have committed to work together by establishing a task team (NUMSA, SEIFSA and the Department of Communications) to explore all the identified opportunities in the sector.
This engagement will build on the work currently being done by the Department of Communications on digital migration.
