South Africa's government has just over five months left to fulfil a bold promise: providing every household with at least 50GB of data per month, a goal set under the National Infrastructure Plan 2050.
The plan, unveiled in March 2022 by former public works minister Patricia de Lille, outlined that by the 2025/26 financial year, which runs until 28 February 2026, homes across the country would receive a minimum of 50GB monthly.
This target followed an earlier milestone of 10GB per household by 2023/24, a deadline that has already passed unmet. The policy documents even suggested that free basic data could be considered a new utility, comparable to water and electricity.