Telecentre functionality in South Africa: Re-enabling the community ICT access environment

Abstract

The problems with telecentres are well documented.   Based on a participatory action research project that directly contributed to improved quality of life for 35% of participants and indirectly for another 41% of participants, this paper presents key factors affecting the use of telecentres by poorer people to empower themselves to improve their quality of life. Understanding the numerous interlinking problems surrounding the functionality and use of telecentres as factors of structure and agency as presented in Kleine’s Choice Framework (2011), provides a useful departure point to re-invent telecentres as active citizen development centres.