Universal access wheel : towards achieving universal access to ICT in Africa

This paper argues against the idea that simply providing access to information and communication technology devices and infrastructures in semi-urban, rural and remote locales has accelerated the universal service and access programme in Africa. In doing this, the paper posits an holistic approach to extending information and communication technology services. This approach takes cognisance of the socio-cultural landscape and also notes that information and communication technology service extension should work in tandem with extension of other social utilities. A universal access wheel is conceptualised, which proposes that various elements should be in place, in order to achieve the goal of universal access, specifically in Africa. The paper revisits the diverse meanings of universal service and access and analyses the importance of providing access to information and communication technology services in developing regions of the world, such as Africa. The universal access wheel does not project totality; rather it provides flexibility and dynamism typical of the information and communication technology sector. Consequently, as other elements and issues arise, they may be added to the wheel

Universal Access Wheel: Towards Achieving Access to ICT in Africa

This paper argues against the idea that simply providing access to information and communication technology devices and infrastructures in semi-urban, rural and remote locales has accelerated the universal service and access programme in Africa. In doing this, the paper posits an holistic approach to extending information and communication technology services. This approach takes cognisance of the socio-cultural landscape and also notes that information and communication technology service extension should work in tandem with extension of other social utilities. A universal access wheel is conceptualised, which proposes that various elements should be in place, in order to achieve the goal of universal access, specifically in Africa. The paper revisits the diverse meanings of universal service and access and analyses the importance of providing access to information and communication technology services in developing regions of the world, such as Africa. The universal access wheel does not project totality; rather it provides flexibility and dynamism typical of the information and communication technology sector. Consequently, as other elements and issues arise, they may be added to the wheel

Parental communication about sex and motherhood trends among students at a South African university

Pregnancy among teenagers and unmarried young adults is common in South Africa. This presents challenges and concerns due to the association with lower socio-economic status, lack of paternal support and commitment among male partners, disruption of schooling that potentially accompanies pregnancy, and many others. It also raises critical sociological and communication questions: Do parents talk to their children about sex-related issues? What are the young adults’ idea of love, sex and relationships? What are the patterns of motherhood and pregnancy among university students? Many studies have explored teenage pregnancy in South Africa, but there is limited focus on young adult students at universities, especially rural universities. Through a survey of 150 students at the University of Limpopo in South Africa, this study shows that parental communication about sex is not a popular communicative practice among many students, and for those whose parents have talked to them about sex, the parental communication tends to have limited influence on the students’ attitude to safe sex. In this study,  or a third of the students who are mothers the concerns about young motherhood continue to shape their economic and socio-cultural experiences

The partially digital: Internet, citizenship, social inequalities, and digital citizenship in South Africa

The Internet has evolved as a major medium of information and communication; broadband connection especially enhances Internet\u27s capacity as a virtual platform for social, economic, political and civil activities. The problem is there is a limited and skewed access to the Internet in South Africa. The slow growth of household Internet and fixed broadband is problematic for a country that aspires to be an advanced information society in which information and ICT tools are key drivers of economic and societal development (South African Broadband Policy 2010). This dissertation investigates the pattern of Internet penetration in South Africa. Largely, I explore the pattern of Internet penetration amongst university students; data were collected from 10 universities located in both rural and urban areas with other demographic qualities that are representative of the student population in South Africa. Following Mossberger, Tolbert & McNeal\u27s (2008) use of the concept of digital citizenship, I rearticulate the concept as a citizenry with the fulfilled rights to regular and flexible access to the Internet—implicitly individual and household forms of access, the skills to use the Internet, and regular use of the Internet for participation in all spheres of society. I then develop a theoretical framework of digital citizenship by identifying five key elements, namely: citizenship rights, Internet access, Internet use, Internet/digital skills, and policy. These elements are used as measures to investigate the pattern of Internet penetration in South Africa. I conducted a survey amongst students, interviewed officials in government agencies in the communications sector, studied selected policy documents, and carried out digital skill experiments. From the findings, I argue that digital citizenship is largely nonexistent in South Africa, particularly amongst the university students. I claim that most of these students are partially digital . A partially digital person has limited access to the Internet, inadequate skills to apply this technology and as a result cannot efficiently use the Internet to participate effectively as a citizen in society. The study also reveals the skewed access to the Internet replicates the existing pattern of social inequalities in the country, often analyzed in terms of rural-urban inequalities, inequalities based on gender of household heads, family income, racial and population groups. I also claim that students from households that bear the brunt of social inequalities in South Africa are further deprived by the lack of access to the Internet, particularly household access, and the inability to effectively use the Internet. This deprivation means that their rights and abilities to participate in society as citizens using digital means are compromised. In conclusion, I offer recommendations towards achieving digital citizenship

Communicating masculinity: attitudes of adolescent males in rural South Africa to rape and gender relations

Rape is a national crisis in South Africa. The high prevalence of rape is evidenced by reports that a woman is raped every four minutes. Various studies have explored attitudes of adolescents to rape; however, they tend to focus on urban, township and college youth with the attitudes of rural boys almost neglected. Drawing on the socialisation theory, it is assumed that the way a boy is socialised through communicative practices at home, school, among the peer group, and in society at large impacts on his attitudes to gender and rape. Through focus group interviews with adolescent boys in Duthuni village in the Limpopo province of South Africa, this study confirms that cultural communicative practices about gender, such as interpersonal communication in family, shape the socialisation of these boys, which influence the acceptance of gender roles displayed in the social construction of masculinity and femininity. This consequently influences their perceptions of rape, and the social efforts to combat rape

Social media and the cultural ideology of beauty among young black women in South Africa

Celebrities and celebrity culture tend to influence young people’s ideas of culture and the aspirational perception of self and identity. With social media platforms increasingly becoming spaces of influence for celebrities, how do they use these platforms to communicate their perceptions of beauty and the feminine body, and what messages do they communicate in this manner? This articles reports on a study that explored the cultural ideology of beauty against the backdrop of a digital culture that draws on celebrity beauty performances on social media. Through non-participatory digital ethnographic observations on social media of four female South African celebrities and conversational interviews with young adults, the study examined how celebrities present their bodies in the performance of beauty on social media and explored the messages that pertain to feminine beauty amongst young women. The findings revealed that celebrity culture perpetuates the ideology that black beauty can be achieved through natural skin colour erasure, extended artificial weaves and a thin body frame