Ahead of South Africa's 2016 municipal elections one would be hard pressed to find a political party manifesto that does not promise to introduce or make improvements to municipal public Wi-Fi networks.

The acknowledgement that Wi-Fi access is a basic service that local government must provide to all residents, especially those in low income or rural communities, is for the best according to industry players.

Bruce Pitso, Regional Manager for South Africa at wireless systems manufacturer Ruckus Wireless recounted some of the benefits of free Wi-Fi access where it is implemented.

"Wi-Fi gives citizens the opportunity to connect in an affordable manner or even for free. People in townships for instance are not only going to be spending less on data, but will also save money used for taxi fare when they need to drop off a job application or access other information. It allows people to spend on food instead of data which they view as expensive. Those are some of the returns for citizens."

Pitso, a member of the Ruckus Wireless team that built the Wi-Fi infrastructure at the recently launched Mall of Africa in partnership with Vast Networks, says the extent to which users can benefit from free municipal Wi-Fi depends on how a municipality chooses to roll out their network - although the benefits will most often be realised as the costs of data continue to decrease.

He also notes that while the cost of technical know-how required to maintain a Wi-Fi network may be considerable in some cases, it should count as necessary expenditure.

"I believe it is work in progress. If we are not going to start with these kinds of technologies and investments now and encourage private-public partnerships, then we are going to be in a difficult position because the challenge we have now is that we find many reasons why spending can't be done as opposed to why they can be done. Initially people started off by saying that cars were expensive but a lot of people can now afford them because we expanded the network and we brought in the necessary skills."

Young urban voters

Ralph Mathekga, Political Analyst and Managing Director at Clear Content Research & Consulting, says while the inclusion of free Wi-Fi in many of the political manifestos is targeting those who cannot afford access to the internet, young urban voters may also be the target of such commitments by political parties who are making the most of an opportunity to be seen as relevant to the needs of a modern society.

He says the trend of making connectivity an electoral issue, even if it is not the main one, has not caught on in other parts of Africa. "I don't think this is a dominant issue in Africa as much as it is in western societies like in New York where the introduction of Wi-Fi hotspots was important as far back as 2003. There is a growing global influence of the view of connectivity as a basic right which is as important as providing all other basic services."

South Africa's capital city, Tshwane is boasts the largest Wi-Fi network on the continent with 780 live sites around the city.

Tshwi-Fi records up to 70 000 unique users per day with download speeds of 15mbps according to the municipality. Tshwi-fi, however, was launched in 2013 after Stellenbosch became the first Public Free Wi-Fi Town in 2012.

The wave has since caught on with Johannesburg, Cape Town, Mangaung and Ekurhuleni launching their versions in 2015. Nelson Mandela Bay, Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality and Knysna launched theirs earlier on this year.