SA public enterprises urged to ditch dotcom
by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG – SOUTH Africa’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been urged to discontinue the .com for the .za addresses in the spirit of nation-building and national pride.
“There’s a sense of renewal in the air and it’s therefore the perfect time for SOEs to revert to .za domains like co.za to show their commitment to building South Africa,” said Lucky Masilela, Chief Executive Officer of ZA Central Registry (ZACR).
ZACR administers and manages a number of .za second level domain names, such as co.za, .net.za, web.za, and org.za.
In 2014, the organisation assumed responsibility for administering the three ZAdotCity domain names of .capetown, .durban and .joburg.
“SOEs cannot help build the nation if they’re sending domain name fees overseas,” said Masilela.
“A web presence ending in .za says to fellow South Africans we’re with you, and more than that, it communicates South African pride to the world,” he explained.
Masilela said SOEs should keep their .com web addresses for the purposes of protecting their intellectual property in cyberspace, but a .za domain “should be front and centre for South African SOEs.”
“It’s common sense, really. Imagine a United States firm with a .co.za.”
He urged SOEs to undertake urgent audits of their web-based properties.
“SOEs’ presence in cyberspace should look as proudly South African as their presence on the ground does with their South African flags displayed outside their offices,” Masilela concluded.
– CAJ News
