United in diversity? Digital differences and inequalities within a South African rural community

ABSTRACT

Digital inequalities in Africa have been explored in terms of dimensions such as gender, age, education, socio-economic status, language, ability/disability etc. In the present study, we draw on qualitative research emphasising digital differences within Dwesa, a rural community on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. For the past decade and a half, this has been the site of extensive ethnographic and ICT-for-development research highlighting complex and nuanced social arrangements, social stratification and local power dynamics. Mobile communication and media appear to either entrench or challenge the status quo, e.g., by strengthening the bond with community members who migrated to urban areas, by disrupting cultural norms or by opening up work and education opportunities. Mobile digital access, use and benefits are unevenly distributed within the community. Teachers and local business people tend to be early adopters and use phones extensively for work-related purposes and to maintain contacts outside the community. The youth appear to be the most sophisticated and frequent users of social media to organise events and meet new people. Somewhat surprisingly, mature women provide some of the most innovative examples of collaboration and empowerment. People of all ages, genders and socio-economic backgrounds recognise the disruptive potential, costs and limitations of digital technology and some deliberately limit themselves to voice calls. Our findings problematise a view of rural African communities as digitally homogeneous and provide some examples of how actual experiences in the Global South challenge expectations based on research from the Global North.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital inequalities
• mobile media
• South Africa
• ICT-for-development

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support of the South African National Research Foundation. Special thanks to Bella for helping with translation and interpreting.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Mbalenhle Buthelezi is a Media and Communication Practitioner in the Sol Plaatje Institute at Rhodes University in Makhanda, South Africa. She has worked in the realm of advocacy for access to information and the realisation of socio-economic rights in the Eastern Cape’s NGO sector. Her research focus lies within the field of mobile media, particularly its dynamics in relation to social capital and development within rural communities. She co-authored a chapter in ‘Mapping digital divides in Africa’ published by Amsterdam University Press [email: [email protected]].

Tatenda Chatikobo is a PhD candidate and Research Assistant in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University in Makhanda, South Africa. His areas of academic interest are ICT-for-development and interrogating the relationship between technology and socio-economic development in marginalised communities. He presented at two international conferences: IST Africa in Durban (South Africa) and M4D in Maputo (Mozambique) [email: [email protected]].

Lorenzo Dalvit is an Associate Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at Rhodes University in Makhanda, South Africa. His areas of academic interest include critical and decolonial theory, digital inequalities and mobile communication in rural areas. He (co) authored over 150 publications including two recent book chapters in ‘Theorising digital divides’ published by Routledge and ‘Digital inclusion: an international comparative analysis’ published by Rowman and Littlefield [email: [email protected]].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Research Foundation: [Grant Number HSD180208311014].