Chapter 6
The Faceless Mobile Youth of Africa
Drive Change
Darelle van Greunen and Alida Veldsman
6.1 Background
One of the major challenges facing most developing countries such as South Africa
today is how to take full and smart advantage of quite spectacular and far-reaching
advances in science and technology not only in promoting national economic development but particularly addressing the needs of poor and marginalised sections of
society. Whilst technology access in the pre-digital era has always been a major barrier to economic and social development in developing countries, this is no longer
an absolute barrier for at least three reasons: first, the proliferation of distributive
and open technologies, and limits to the power of proprietary frameworks; second,
the increasingly lower delivery cost of new technologies; and third, the emergence
of multiple sources of technology innovation and development in civil society.
Despite this, it is not altogether clear that South Africa is sufficiently exploiting
the multiplier effects of new technology opportunities across the traditional rural
and urban, and black and white social barriers, especially insofar as real empowerment of the poor and marginalised are concerned. There is still, in some respects a
growing, technological divide in our country, and the dividends of our technological age are rarely passed on equally to different social classes, ethnic groups and
geographic communities in South Africa. The problem of a continued technological gap may be partly to do with the economics of ‘access’ by poor communities.
However, there also seems to be major problems with the absence or weakness of
requisite conditions—social, institutional and political—necessary for its effective
social appropriation.
D. van Greunen (B) · A. Veldsman
The Centre for Community Technologies, Nelson Mandela University,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
e-mail: Darelle.vanGreunen@mandela.ac.za
A. Veldsman
e-mail: Alida.Veldsman@mandela.ac.za
© The Author(s) 2018
S. Hostettler et al. (eds.), Technologies for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91068-0_6
61
The Faceless Mobile Youth of Africa
Drive Change
Darelle van Greunen and Alida Veldsman
6.1 Background
One of the major challenges facing most developing countries such as South Africa
today is how to take full and smart advantage of quite spectacular and far-reaching
advances in science and technology not only in promoting national economic development but particularly addressing the needs of poor and marginalised sections of
society. Whilst technology access in the pre-digital era has always been a major barrier to economic and social development in developing countries, this is no longer
an absolute barrier for at least three reasons: first, the proliferation of distributive
and open technologies, and limits to the power of proprietary frameworks; second,
the increasingly lower delivery cost of new technologies; and third, the emergence
of multiple sources of technology innovation and development in civil society.
Despite this, it is not altogether clear that South Africa is sufficiently exploiting
the multiplier effects of new technology opportunities across the traditional rural
and urban, and black and white social barriers, especially insofar as real empowerment of the poor and marginalised are concerned. There is still, in some respects a
growing, technological divide in our country, and the dividends of our technological age are rarely passed on equally to different social classes, ethnic groups and
geographic communities in South Africa. The problem of a continued technological gap may be partly to do with the economics of ‘access’ by poor communities.
However, there also seems to be major problems with the absence or weakness of
requisite conditions—social, institutional and political—necessary for its effective
social appropriation.
D. van Greunen (B) · A. Veldsman
The Centre for Community Technologies, Nelson Mandela University,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
e-mail: Darelle.vanGreunen@mandela.ac.za
A. Veldsman
e-mail: Alida.Veldsman@mandela.ac.za
© The Author(s) 2018
S. Hostettler et al. (eds.), Technologies for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91068-0_6
61