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History of the SA Acacia Advisory Committee Plans put on hold In its four years of existence the South African Acacia Advisory Committee (SAAAC) was able to make a difference, but not the kind of difference it could have made, said labour activist Charley Lewis in review. Lewis is former head of the Congress of South African Trade Unions IT division and now a lecturer at the LINK Centre, Wits University.
Recapping the history of the committee, Lewis said that in 1998 the National Technology Information Forum (NITF) played an active role in pulling together knowledge and policy, and as part of its mission the NITF assembled a group of advisors to help Acacia. The purpose was to make recommendations with regard to Acacia’s programmes, in the light of both Acacia’s own initiatives and evolving broader ICT developmental goals. “The NITF saw the South African information and communication technologies sector as a large and significant sector, quite different from the case in other developing countries where the IDRC is involved,” said Lewis. “But though it is a vibrant sector it is also fragmented. At that time I believe there were more than 100 separate ICT projects going on here. They involved a number of government departments, project bodies and a range of institutions. The people working in this area typically have severe time constraints. “With all this in mind, we tried to bring together people from the beneficiary communities themselves. We tried for a participatory process. What set us apart was that people were actively involved in looking at projects. A committee of nine people began to function in 1999, widely representing economic sectors with a stake in ICT. A number of projects that the committee looked at were quite successful—for example the Lubisi Dam and the Sonke tourism project. “Looking at all the projects helped us to focus our understanding and make more focused recommendations. We were able to make presentations to conferences, and outputs included a CD rom and website, a handbook, and a video that is currently in production. But the dissolution of SAAAC began during 2000 when Acacia was re-evaluated by the IDRC. “Plans were put on hold. We did workshop the lessons of Acacia though we don’t know if there was substantial input to the process because we did not get feedback. As Acacia reassessed itself that spilled over into the advisory committee. We were unable to make any effective input.” |
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He said the committee,
formed in 1998, had petered out although it was never formally dissolved. The
SAAAC was expected to support the IDRC’s Acacia Initiative in South Africa in
responding to the needs of the historically disadvantaged and marginalized
communities within the framework of national development policy on the one hand,
while balancing competing demands on resources on the other.