President Jacob Zuma said little about IT or telecommunications in his state of the nation address, delivered in parliament on Thursday evening.

Zuma’s speech, which focused heavily on job creation, made cursory reference to SA’s move from analogue to digital terrestrial television.

“In communications, we have committed to convert our television and radio signals from the analogue platform to the more advanced digital signal which will enable quality pictures and sound,” Zuma said. “Jobs will be created in manufacturing, packaging, distribution and installation.”

In last year’s speech, Zuma promised to reduce the cost of broadband Internet access as well as cellphone and fixed-line calls. No reference was made about those promises in this year’s address.

Communications minister Roy Padayachie and science & technology minister Naledi Pandor were expected to announce their jobs targets and more specific details in their budget-vote speeches.

The State IT Agency, government’s technology procurement arm, could also come under scrutiny over the coming year, with Zuma’s announcement that a multi-agency working group on procurement, led by national treasury, the SA Revenue Service and the Financial Intelligence Centre was reviewing the entire state procurement system “to ensure better value for money from state spending”.

The only other reference Zuma made to technology was the country’s bid for the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope project. He said the project had already provided 800 construction jobs in the Northern Cape and would create another 100 jobs over the coming year.

Zuma announced the establishment of a jobs fund of R9bn over the next three years to finance new job-creation initiatives. He also announced R20bn in tax breaks to encourage investment in the manufacturing sector.

Indirectly, some of the job-creation initiatives could help stimulate the technology sector. Zuma said government planned to create and maintain a database of job seekers to help alleviate joblessness. This database would have to have connectivity, hardware and software.

The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) had set aside R10bn over the next five years for investment in economic activities with a high job-creation potential, Zuma told parliament.

As a debate rages in the ruling party on the role of the state in creating jobs, Zuma signalled that he expected the private sector to create most of the jobs the country needed.

“We cannot create these jobs alone. We have to work with business, labour and the community constituencies. Experience shows that we succeed when we work together. While looking at the private sector in particular to help us create most of the jobs, government will certainly play its part.”

Zuma said the small business sector was a critical component of the job creation drive. “We will continue to provide financial and non-financial support to small, medium and micro enterprises, small-scale agriculture as well as cooperatives. We need to cut administrative costs, avoid duplication and direct more resources to small business,” he said.

Zuma acknowledged that service delivery needed to be sped up and, in a first, cited angry complaints citizens had posted on government’s Facebook page. He thanked people who contributed to the state of the nation address through the use of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. — Staff reporters, TechCentral, with Sapa