By Toby Shapshak
President Cyril Ramaphosa had a rare chance to smile when he opened Huawei’s new innovation centre in Johannesburg on Thursday morning.
As Ramaphosa and Huawei executives cut the ribbon, streamers exploded, showering them with colourful tinsel.
It seemed an appropriate start to his official function, after the Constitutional Court ruled that his suspension of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkwabane was not irrational. This overturned a Western Cape High Court judgment in September 2022 that found the president had been “tainted by bias”.
Ramaphosa spent two hours at the innovation centre, where he said “digital innovation is inextricably linked to a nation’s development” and is “key to the competitiveness of our economy”.
“Not only can new digital technologies such as AI, Big Data and machine learning provide a platform for economic growth, job creation and self-employment; they can also vastly improve government service delivery,” he said.
He praised Huawei’s launch of the first 5G coal mine in the country last year and the innovation centre as a “signal of Huawei’s confidence in the South African economy and its potential”.
He said the country “has a robust and sophisticated ICT sector” with expertise in data centres, cloud computing and storage, and wireless and fibre infrastructure.
The sector’s revenue increased by R25.5bn over a five-year period, he said, making “the ICT sector one of our most attractive industries for investment, with substantial growth potential.”
Of the centre he said: “By adopting the range of cutting-edge technologies being pioneered by companies such as Huawei, South Africa and the continent will be able to leapfrog into the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.
Photo: Scrolla.Africa
