• Communications and Digital Tech Minister Solly Malatsi has seemingly confirmed the DA plan to scrap taxes on certain smartphones is underway.
• Malatsi said he is in talks with Treasury to remove the luxury tax from smartphones and other devices in South Africa.
• This is in line with the DA’s information and communication policy which states that reducing the price of smartphones is key to shorten the digital divide.

The Democratic Alliance (DA)’s information and communication policy has a section that details plans to remove ad valorem tax on certain models of smartphones in South Africa, essentially removing them from the luxury item list and making them “essential” items.

In the wake of the appointment of then-incoming Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, a member of the DA party, we argued that it would be possible for Malatsi to enforce this policy now that he was in government.

Malatsi has seemingly confirmed that he is looking into adopting this specific DA policy into law, according to an interview with GeekHub at the Africa Tech Festival 2024.

“I have been in conversations with treasury about Ad Valorem,” Malatsi told the publication, “Ad Valorem” is the luxury tax on smartphones and other items.

“The cost of smart devices, as it is, is a major barrier to affordability, and those conversations with treasury are ongoing.”

This echoes the DA’s policy on the matter, almost verbatim.

“Another factor that contributes to the cost of smartphones in the country, and Africa as a whole, are the high taxes that these devices incur. Therefore, measures which will cut taxes and reduce tariffs paid would make a considerable difference in addressing the problem of cost,” the political party writes in the plan.

It adds that “Smartphones below a certain value could also be excluded from any form of tax or duty. Taxes can also be removed or lowered from devices.”

“My obsession is about finding opportunities that can reduce the cost on the end consumer,” the minister added.

The DA hopes that reducing or removing tax from certain smartphones – devices with a price tag under R1 000 – will “increase the uptake of ICT usage” and close the digital divide even further.

According to the 2022 national census, around 92.1 percent of households have access to at least one smartphone, but getting more phones into more hands could increase the number of individuals connected to the internet, connecting to digital learning opportunities, work opportunities and more.

Smartphones are the key to getting more South Africans from less privileged backgrounds to gain access to the internet, as they are by far and away the most popular way South Africans access the world wide web – over 60 percent use phones as their only means to get online.

The DA is however not the only party with plans to shorten the digital divide. The African National Congress (ANC) has for many years rolled out initiatives to bring free internet to rural areas across the country.

And the now-Deputy Minister of Communications Mondli Gungubele was working on a policy to provide free data to all South Africans before his demotion.

While the ANC believes that establishing internet access points is crucial to this plan, the DA believes that before people can be connected, they first have to have access to a medium with which to connect.

Essentially two sides of the same coin.