MLUNGISI Hlongwane, head of the Universal Service Agency, finds that being unable to communicate has a familiar ring to it.

After all, like many township households, his did not have a phone until the 90s, and some of his rural relatives are still without one.

This fact was pressed even closer to home when he was an employee of the then Department of Posts and Telecommunications in 1983.

It brought him into direct contact with racism in Wynberg and Alexander, where he was working.

"Alex was in a poor state, while Wynberg had the best. They were disparities you could not ignore. They were, of course, reflective of the abnormality of South Africa," says Hlongwane.

Accepting the position as head of the Universal Service Agency was, therefore, not a difficult choice for him. "Rendering this kind of service has a personal meaning and satisfaction," he says.

The Universal Service Agency was set up by the Communications Ministry under the Telecommunications Act of 1966 with the responsibility for providing access to phones and other information services everyone in South Africa.

Its objectives, as set out in the Act, are to: promote universal service; make recommendations to the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and the Communications Ministry regarding universal service and access; monitor and research these issues and manage the universal service fund.

Its functions include ensuring that MTN, Vodacom and Telkom adhere to their licence conditions of providing community services.

The agency will soon embark on pilot projects to develop "telecentres", particularly in rural areas.

These centres will offer phone shops, fax facilities, computers with access to the Internet and E-mail. "To make them sustainable, they will be used for many purposes, such as small business support, distance education and local government information points from the Internet," he says.

About R3-million has already been set aside for up to 150 of these pilot telecentres.

"These centres are experimental at this stage so we can learn from them how best these services can be efficiently provided," he says.

Hlongwane outlined the magnitude of the problem facing the government in its efforts at the agency's launch last week.

South Africa is the 14th-largest user of the Internet and shows the fastest growth in cellphones globally, but many parts of the country remain without these services.

In terms of teledensity, which measures the number of main telephones per 100 people, South Africa has 9.5 phones per 100 people, compared with an international average of 11.

But a closer regional and suburbs inspection reveals an "embarrassing" picture: while in formerly-white suburbs the figure is 50 telephones per 100 people (higher in some areas), the statistics for the Eastern Cape stand at 0.1 per 1 000.

"Clearly that is wrong. It is the agency's aim to transform access to phones throughout South Africa in line with transforming the political struggle into development, particular in rural areas," says Hlongwane.

He views his new role as a challenge, but also an extension of his involvement in "working with the poor".

He brings with him at least 12 years of civic, labour and local government involvement, experiences which, in retrospect, he relished.

"Through various formations I have been involved in community focused projects, especially with the poorest of the poor - that is a personal achievement," he says.

His political credentials stand out. "I never had an opportunity to enjoy my youth and was active in politics as early as 14 in 1976," he says.

After he had matriculated he was employed as a trainee technician by the Department of Posts and Telecommunications.

He went on to obtain a Diploma in Electrical Telecommunication in 1987.

That year he became chief shop steward with the Post and Telecommunications Workers Association.

He was then dismissed, together with over 2 800 other people, for his part in a strike aimed at eradicating racism at the workplace and seeking salary parity with white employees.

He then took up a post as national education secretary with Potwa and went on to become its general secretary, a position he held until 1985.

Hlongwane is also the national president of the South African National Civic Organisation and a board member of Sanco Investment Holdings, the civic body's investment company.

In addition, he serves in the Gauteng Association of Local Authorities as deputy chairman.

He is married with three children.

Thabo Kobokoane

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