

This paper, which attempts to provide an alternative, rather skeptical view on the perceived benefits of IT assesses prospects for students at the University of Fort Hare to access and benefit from IT and other online facilities. The University of Fort Hare is a historically black university (HBU), sometimes referred to as a historically disadvantaged institution (HDI) located in the Province of the Eastern Cape. The Eastern Cape is known for a legacy of poor infrastructure, limited employment opportunities, large youthful populations and chronic poverty, and has been identified as the poorest of South Africa’s nine provinces