The community of Greater Taung now has free WI-FI access thanks to development agency Zenzele Itereleng’s R2m investment to provide connectivity to this rural community in South Africa’s North West Province.
The infrastructure project includes a community portal and free WI-FI which enables residents to access a wide range of development resources on the portal including health information, educational support and available employment opportunities. It also makes it possible for entrepreneurs to communicate with their customers.
“The importance of WI-FI access in driving economic development and social inclusion is critical in this digital age. We cannot afford to leave any communities behind,”
“In considering the content we took careful consideration to incorporate practical steps towards empowering our communities to counter multidimensional poverty, be relevant in moving towards the 4th industrial revolution (4IR) and allow communities to self-organize according to their unique needs.”
The Taung WI-FI portal is user friendly and includes a step by step video tutorial on how to register, access and navigate the portal and development resources. The content caters for all ages from young children to the elderly.
The jobs portal page shows jobs available locally in Taung as well as in the province, region and nationally. Under education, locals are able to access reading books, curriculum support and free ‘future-ready’ 4IR relevant courses supported by IBM and Microsoft. For SMMEs, the site offers financial and legal literacy guidance, information on funding opportunities and available tenders.
