Articles
3 November 2025
The most basic purpose of government, and the reason society gives up its unbridled liberty to grant the state a monopoly on coercive force, is to secure common protection against violent threats to lives and property.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Technology, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, remains convinced that a state-owned network infrastructure company can trump the private sector. She is mistaken.
Insufficient and fragmented spectrum holdings will continue to hobble South Africa’s mobile operators, resulting in services that are more delayed, slower and costlier than they need to be.
From electricity to spectrum to water pipes, managers or ministers appointed to fix government services keep running into walls created by decades of neglect.
The Free Market Foundation has long advocated making spectrum tradeable, either as private property, or as tradeable long-term leases, in order to bring market forces to bear on the efficient allocation and use of this scarce resources.
A look at our telecommunications policy history explains why
President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered his communications minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, to bring down mobile data prices by 50% by instituting direct controls on retail prices. This is a grave mistake.
South Africa does not need a national flag carrier to carry jet-setters and politicians.
Since 1 October 2015, the Cabinet of South Africa has required socio-economic impact assessments (SEIAs) to be conducted whenever Cabinet approval is required for draft policies, bills or regulations.