ICT access still a major challenge in rural areas

Rural areas in the country lags behind with regard to ICT access and in terms of economic development, such as literacy, computer skills and higher income. Moses Sithole and colleagues* report on a survey to measure ICT use in South Africa. To understand the benefits ordinary South Africans could derive from having increased access to ICT, data from the annual South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) from 2003 to 2009 was analysed. The objective was to specifically measure whether there had been an increase in access to ICT in rural South Africa compared to urban areas. The SASAS survey is a national representative survey of adults aged 16 and older, regardless of their nationality or citizenship. Respondents were asked to indicate whether they had access to a range of ICT platforms such as a landline telephone, a computer, the internet, a television, radio and cellphone.