South Africa’s government has just over five months left to fulfil a bold promise: providing every household with at least 50GB of data per month, a goal set under the National Infrastructure Plan 2050. This target followed an earlier milestone of 10GB per household by 2023/24, a deadline that has already passed unmet. The policy documents even suggested that free basic data could be considered a new utility, comparable to water and electricity. ‘Data has become a new utility like water and electricity that our home needs,’ she said. The National Infrastructure Plan also envisioned private partnerships through blended finance arrangements and procurement rules to drive long-term digital expansion.