Did you know SA is supposed to have a telecommunications museum? Few people do.
But according to chapter 13 of the Electronic Communications Act, the department of communications must create and manage a museum that showcases the evolution of the history of communications technology in SA.
The act calls on communications department director-general, currently Mamodupi Mohlala, to take on the artefacts that were once housed at the now-closed Telkom-managed Exploratorium, which was based in the Union Castle building in Cape Town.
The Exploratorium was a hands-on institution, where visitors could touch and feel the technology used by Telkom over the years. It was hailed internationally as a comprehensive look at legacy systems.
According to Telkom spokesman Pynee Chetty, the Exploratorium closed several years ago and many of its artefacts are now in storage.
“There are all sorts of interesting pieces in storage, old multi-selectors (a type of switch) and the British selectors,” he says.
Telkom says the technology is available if government decides to get its own museum up and running.
The Electronic Communications Act does not stipulate by when the museum must be established. The communications department was not immediately available to comment. — Candice Jones, TechCentral
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