Speaking at ITWeb's e-government conference in Johannesburg this week, Mtimunye warned that initiatives around e-government are still “perched awkwardly between its patchy performance and its persistent promise”.
The draft framework was jointly developed by the Association for Progressive Communications, the Southern African NGO Network and the Shuttleworth Foundation.
The forum states its goal is to provide affordable broadband access to the Internet for all South Africans. This will only be achieved once fibre and wireless broadband infrastructure are maximised, it notes.
According to a report released this week at the Internet Governance Forum, South Africa has fallen a long way in the African rankings since 2000, when it had 2.4 million subscribers representing 53 percent of internet users across the continent.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) says the network has been vital in providing a platform for goods, music and produce to be sold online via an e-commerce Web site, while an e-government site provides the community members with access to services.
A group of organisations - including the APC, South Africa Connect, SANGONeT (Southern African NGO Network) and The Shuttleworth Foundation - are convening a one-day event as a first step towards drafting a framework for a national broadband strategy for South Africa.