A significant proportion of visitors to OPA member sites are from overseas (on average 63% of visitors), however the local audience for OPA sites has also expanded, by 42,5% to 2,48m in the last year. These figures show a clear pattern of expansion of online media usage amongst South Africans.
 
The growth of the online industry is welcomed by the OPA, but Internet penetration in SA has still to catch up with other overseas markets. Lower income groups still remain a largely untapped market because of the cost barriers to both hardware and Internet access.
 
Local Web users are predominantly from higher income groups based in the key urban areas of the country: Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. They typically are well-educated (82% have completed further education) and work in the office, where most Internet usage (66% of access) takes place. Gender split is almost completely equal, with 51% of site visits being from males and 49% being female.
 
The growing adoption by this higher income group has led to a boom in online advertising which is expected to exceed R183m by the end of 2006. However there is still much work to be done in making the online environment accessible to all South Africans. 
 
The latest Web usage figures show online media as a mature and increasingly important media platform in SA. This is reflected not only in increasing consumption of online media but also in the value advertisers are placing on online campaigns. However, the challenge the industry must now overcome is removing the digital divide that exists in SA. This can only be removed by further driving down the costs and increasing the accessibility of online media, says Russell Hanly, chairman of the OPA.
 
The OPA, which represents the key players in SA online publishing, has recently expanded its membership to include DStv, Junkmail, New Media Publishing, Webmail and Autotrader.