FMF NEWSLETTER 15 MARCH 2017
Dear friend of the FMF
Telecoms policy videos FMF is very concerned about government’s plans to effectively nationalise mobile network infrastructure, which will be a disaster for technological advancement. Below are links to three brief videos dealing with telecoms policy. Did you know there are more cell phones in SA than people? In this video Xola Ntshinga notes how cell phone technology has changed in the past 20 years, the impact it has had on all South Africans and the costs involved in maintaining our mobile networks Did you know data prices in SA are not as high as #datamustfall asserts? In this video Xola Ntshinga details just some of the issues impacting the price of data: load shedding, vandalism, licensing fees, constraints on spectrum allocation, state-mandated discounts to schools, hospitals, clinics, universities and FET’s - a cost that must be carried by paying consumers Did you know telecoms policy is nationalisation and expropriation in disguise? In this video Xola Ntshinga interviews Adrian Schofield who outlines major concerns with ICT policy which proposes changing structures to increase government control rather than facilitate access, and introduces a Wireless Open Access Network (WOAN) never successfully implemented anywhere else in the world
This week’s feature article focuses on the recent strike by metered taxi drivers against the ride-hailing app, Uber. Taxi drivers took to the streets last week, demanding that Uber cease its business activities and leave the country. They argue that Uber drivers are stealing their jobs and that government has done nothing to stop them. Chris Hattingh explains why the taxi drivers are focused on the wrong target; they should be fighting against government-imposed price controls which force them to run unprofitable ventures. Uber drivers are there to serve the consumer and should not be vilified for making a living in a voluntary manner.
Taxi drivers call for higher consumer prices – CHRIS HATTINGH
On 10 March, the metered taxi drivers took to the streets of Johannesburg and severely impacted traffic to and from O R Tambo International Airport. They were protesting the ride-hailing app Uber which they say is ‘stealing their jobs’. They state they had exhausted all avenues in government as their appeals for government to use force, failed; it was, therefore, time for them to take matters into their own hands and use their own force instead to prevent voluntary trade between Uber and its customers.
March 16 & 17 The Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation will be exhibiting the results of a study of Eveline Street, a high street in Katutura, Windhoek. The research provides important lessons for urban policy makers in South Africa on how land management reforms, private ownership, enterprise formalisation and entrepreneurial investment have resulted in a dynamic high street economy. For more info and to RSVP: http://livelihoods.org.za/ (NOTE – SCROLL DOWN TO END OF PAGE)
Wednesday, March 29 MEDIA BRIEFING – Leon Louw, FMF Executive Director; Terry Markman, FMF Exco Member and Perry Feldman, Khaya Lam (My Home) Land Reform Project Manager – Land reform without expropriation – @ 17h45 @ FMF – RSVP http://www.freemarketfoundation.com/View-Event?i=140
May 24 & 25 2017 Africa Liberty Forum – Sandton – more info to follow
June 6 Global Intellectual Property Centre roundtable – Johannesburg – more info to follow
FMF LIVE STREAMING WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR ALL OF OUR EVENTS You will be able to watch every event LIVE via the FMF’s Facebook page by clicking this link: https://www.facebook.com/FMFSA/
Doubts raised about proposed insurance regulations Land reform: what is the real agenda? Jonathan Jansen: Why stereotyping persists If food writing makes you feel victimized, you need to get some perspective
Business Day column ICT policy matters because the internet will be everything – Leon Louw, 15 March 2017 Media release Impact Assessments keep politicians honest – perhaps why ministers avoid them? Media digest FEBRUARY 2017 for all media coverage
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* NEW Gareth Cliff – Internet access and free speech * NEW Xola Ntshinga – Did you know telecoms policy is nationalisation and expropriation in disguise? * NEW Xola Ntshinga – Did you know data prices in SA are not as high as #datamustfall asserts? * NEW Xola Ntshinga – Did you know there are more cell phones in SA than people? Rex van Schalkwyk – From ridicule to prison: Nowhere to hide from the Hate Speech Bill Leon Louw & Dobek Pater – Telecoms policy will set back SA’s development by decades Mark Oppenheimer – Free speech: A vanishing right
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Publish date: 15 March 2017 Views: 786
The views expressed in the article are the author’s and are not necessarily shared by the members of the Foundation. This article may be republished without prior consent but with acknowledgement to the author.