Times Of Swaziland: CYBER LAW FIRST ON AGENDA - SIKHANYISO

CYBER LAW FIRST ON AGENDA - SIKHANYISO
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BY ZWELAKHE MOAHLOLI on 17/11/2018 08:36:00


MATSAPHA – The Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) is
ready to do business ‘unusual’, by setting goals as soon as possible.
The Minister, Princess Sikhanyiso, has already set goals that have to be met by
her ministry as soon as possible.
The first  one being that she wants three bills, the Cyber Crime Bill,
Electronics Communications Bill and Data Protection Bill to be passed into law.
Speaking during her first official public appearance as a minister at the ICT
Fair, that was held at the University of Eswatini (UNESWA), Princess Sikhanyiso
said these laws were needed to protect emaSwati.
Worth noting, the princess addressed the gathering which comprised students,
exhibitors, lecturers and businesspeople in vernacular.
She explained that the reason she made her remarks in siSwati was because she
wanted to cement the ministry’s objective of promoting the language. Her
statement was received with a rousing applause.
The minister then mandated the UNESWA Vice-Chancellor, Professor Justice Mandla
Thwala, to ensure that the history of emaSwati formed part of the
institution’s curriculum.
Pleaded
She then pleaded with the girlchild not to doubt herself, by saying information
and technology was meant for males only.
The princess emphasised that this perception was wrong.
She pointed out that her ministry was planning to educate emaSwati about the
importance of electing women into political positions. However, she said it was
also important for women to understand that they needed to support each other.
On another note, Princess Sikhanyiso stated that there was a need to establish a
database in the country on skills possessed by the youth.
She said the reason being that about 60 per cent of the country’s population
was made up of the youth.
According to the recent census, the minister said the country’s population
stood at 1 093 238.
“I was shocked to learn that a majority of this figure was made up of infants
and toddlers, whose ages range from zero to four years old.
‘‘This is the dependent population. There are 130 208 of them. Then you
compare that figure with those of the elderly, which stands at 9 019,” she
said.
She also encouraged financial institutions, such as the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and others to assist the country.
Encouraging
The minister also stated that they were encouraging people to utilise technology
profitably with no malice intended.
She noted that some people used their skills to hack into other people’s
accounts, especially on social media.
With a smile, Princess Sikhanyiso revealed that someone had created a fake
Facebook page using her details.