Quarter of SA uses the Internet

Added by Editor on 6 May 2011.
Saved under News, Top

In more than a quarter of SA homes, at least one person has access to the Internet. That’s a finding of Statistics SA’s latest annual general household survey.

According to StatsSA, 26,8% of homes had at least one person that accessed the Internet either from home, at work, university, school or an Internet café.

A provincial breakdown of the survey shows residents of the Western Cape have the highest access to Internet services, topping the list with 44,1%. Gauteng comes a close second with 40,9% access.

The figures in the other provinces are not as promising, with the Free State the next highest at only 27,5%.

According to the survey, 16,7% of household members use the Internet at work, with fewer using it at home and the least at school or university.

The survey also delves into landline and cellular telephony, with some homes still without access to either cellphones or fixed lines. The province with the highest rate of no access is the Northern Cape, where 22,8% of homes have no access to telephony.

The Eastern Cape, Free State and North West follow closely behind.

Residents of Mpumalanga and Limpopo have taken to cellular technology as their primary means of communication, with about 85,2% and 85,5% penetration respectively using only cellphones and not landlines.

The use of a combination of both cellphones and landlines in households is most prevalent in the more affluent provinces, such as the Western Cape, at 34,3%, and Gauteng, at 22,6%.  — Staff reporter, TechCentral

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  • M@rIo

    Yep i live in the Western Cape and it is awesome here. Why is it awesome here. Well the DA is leading the Western Cape and not the ANC. Thats why the Western Cape is better.

  • http://www.bblounge.co.za Prom

    Internet is not the problem, it’s that we don’t have affordable broadband.

  • http://www.innov8media.biz TSHEPO M

    At M@rio, this is not Politics Central its Techcentral. The truth is that inequality levels are much broader in the Western Cape than in any sector of society. If you made that statement inclusive of Khayelitsha, Langa, Gugulethu,Michells Plain and all the underserved area, then we will all agree that WC is great. Only 10% of the budget in Cape Town gets spend in these areas with high density of population, poverty, unemployment and if you were to visits these areas I strongly believe that you will change your views about Western Cape.

    At Prom, given the broadband challenges and developments with regards to Digital Migration, affordable broadband will soon be the order of the day. We also need to start looking at how best do we get the vast prepaid market on smartphones and this will increase internet access and usage.

  • MW

    What about KZN
    Does not even get a mention
    How much internet do they have at NKANDLA ?

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