Position on Digital Governance Following the 2026 SONA, Budget Speech and ICASA Mandate Framework

Statement overview

The South African Digital Governance Forum welcomes the direction established by the 2026 State of the Nation Address and 2026 Budget Speech, which reaffirm government’s commitments to macroeconomic stability, structural reform, infrastructure development and strengthened state capacity.

Digital infrastructure is becoming as strategically important to South Africa’s development as electricity, ports and transport networks. It supports economic participation, public-service delivery and financial modernisation.

However, infrastructure expansion alone cannot guarantee an inclusive digital economy. The accessibility, affordability and fairness of digital services are shaped by the institutions responsible for regulation, enforcement and public accountability.

SADGF’s position is that South Africa must align its national development agenda with effective telecommunications regulation, consumer protection and meaningful universal access. Digital transformation should expand opportunity rather than reproduce existing inequality.

The national development agenda and digital infrastructure

The 2026 State of the Nation Address and Budget Speech provide a broader policy framework for South Africa’s development. Together, they emphasise economic reform, infrastructure expansion, improved state capacity and stronger institutional performance.

The Budget Speech describes structural reform and responsible public finances as foundations for a more prosperous and inclusive South Africa. Its approach to stabilising debt, investing in infrastructure and improving spending efficiency reflects the importance of governance in national development.

Within this framework, data and communications infrastructure can no longer be treated as peripheral. Reliable connectivity increasingly supports:

• Participation in the digital economy
• Access to public services
• Financial inclusion and modernisation
• Education and employment opportunities
• Business formation and growth
• Communication between citizens and institutions

Recognising digital infrastructure as strategic national infrastructure also creates a governance obligation. Public investment and technological expansion must be accompanied by clear accountability, effective implementation and equitable access.

The value of digital infrastructure should therefore be judged not only by the scale of investment or the number of networks deployed, but by whether people can access reliable and affordable services in practice.

Digital transformation requires alignment between:

• Fiscal reform
• Infrastructure investment
• Regulatory enforcement
• Consumer protection
• Universal-service and access obligations

Without this alignment, national policy commitments may fail to translate into meaningful outcomes for households, communities and businesses.

ICASA’s mandate, universal access and accountability

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa plays a central role in South Africa’s digital-governance environment.

ICASA regulates the telecommunications, broadcasting and postal sectors in the public interest. Its mandate includes promoting affordable, high-quality communication services, protecting consumers, enforcing compliance and advancing universal service and access.

Universal service and access require more than the theoretical availability of a network. They require people to have practical access to basic communication services at affordable prices.

ICASA advances these objectives through regulatory measures that include licence conditions, service obligations, consumer-protection mechanisms and requirements relating to underserved areas.

The regulator’s work directly affects participation in the digital economy through areas such as:

• Spectrum management
• Network coverage and quality of service
• Licensing requirements
• Consumer complaints and protection
• Affordability
• Universal-service obligations
• Compliance and enforcement

The 2026 Budget Speech emphasises fiscal anchors, performance-linked reform and stronger accountability. These governance principles should extend into the digital and communications regulatory environment.

If digital infrastructure is strategic national infrastructure, regulatory oversight must also be treated as strategic governance infrastructure.

Infrastructure investment without effective regulatory oversight may expand network capacity without adequately addressing affordability, service quality, consumer protection or exclusion.

SADGF therefore maintains that universal-access obligations must translate into practical public outcomes, particularly for digitally marginalised communities in rural areas, townships, informal settlements and other underserved areas.

From policy commitments to lived outcomes

South Africa’s digital future will depend not only on technological expansion but also on institutional coherence.

The SONA and Budget Speech provide the macro-policy direction. Public and private investment provide the infrastructure. ICASA’s mandate provides an essential regulatory foundation.

The challenge is ensuring that these components operate together.

A gap between policy and implementation can result in infrastructure being expanded without addressing affordability or exclusion. A gap between regulation and enforcement can leave consumer protections ineffective. A gap between universal-access obligations and lived experience can leave communities formally covered but practically disconnected.

Inclusive digital growth therefore requires coordination between public finance, infrastructure development, regulation, enforcement and public-interest oversight.

Digital transformation must expand opportunity

South Africa’s development agenda increasingly depends on effective digital infrastructure. However, infrastructure alone is not enough.

An inclusive digital future requires institutions capable of ensuring that networks are reliable, services are affordable, consumers are protected and universal-access commitments are implemented.

As an independent, non-partisan forum, SADGF remains committed to strengthening digital-governance discourse, institutional accountability and public-interest oversight across South Africa’s communications and digital sectors.

Digital transformation must expand opportunity—not reproduce inequality.