South Africa's minister of communications Faith Muthambi has made a plea for private and public sector partnerships to place rural communities at the top of their priority list for investments in ICT.

Minister Muthambi made the call in an interview with ITWeb Africa, hours after handing over eleven multimedia centres to the value of R5.4 million donated by the MTN SA foundation to schools in the Mpumalanga province.

She said the funding of ICT projects in rural communities is an act of responsible citizenship that should be championed by both the private and public sectors.

"I am very happy to be part of this initiative by the MTN SA Foundation which aims to contribute to a bright future for our kids. We need to partner as civil society, the private and public sectors to nurture the young ones for a proper quality education. I am proud that this intervention is benefitting rural children and will enable them to have access to information. MTN contributed millions of rands to this project. It is a huge investment in knowledge and it will be useful not just for the kids, as the elderly will also find ways to use it."

The multimedia centres consist of 20 computer desks, chairs and educator stations. The computer laboratories are equipped with one server, a multi-functional printer, an interactive whiteboard, a data projector, a router and 24-month data connectivity courtesy of MTN.

"We are very pro-rural and we prefer to go to remote areas. We struggled to get road access to some of these areas today," the Minister added.

Muthambi said the unveiling of the multimedia centres is part of constituency work by public representatives like herself and as a result, she has visited rural parts of Richards Bay and is scheduled to visit Mpumalanga and Vuwani in Limpopo.

She also said that rural development is not the responsibility of government alone. Asked who will ensure upkeep of the multimedia facilities, Muthambi said her department will play a role - although this task will be one for all stakeholders including parents, school governing bodies and teachers.

"ICT access should not just be for the privileged. Access to a laptop or a cellphone can make a big difference in the life of rural people and that is why we encourage these types of sponsorship. The National Development plan aims for our people to have decent facilities by 2030. The communities in Mpumalanga have taken good care of these multimedia centres because some of them were made available to them a year ago. We have managed to secure commitment from them to protect the facilities."

In a statement issued by MTN, Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi, GM at MTN SA Foundation said, "Our partnership represents a meeting of minds between like-minded stakeholders who saw it befitting to work together to make a positive difference in disadvantaged communities. The multimedia centres will go a long way in enhancing the quality of learning and teaching, and will equip the learners and the educators with the necessary tools to meet the challenges of the digital age."