JZ hotline costs surge to R11m

Teething problems were experienced, but the service is now running smoothly, says minister in the presidency Trevor Manuel.

The presidency has made additional allocations of R7.6 million for its troubled hotline, bringing the total allocation for the project to over R11 million.

The department's Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement states that an additional R7.6 million has been allocated for the presidential hotline project. The funding forms part of the department's “unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure” – but no explanation for the sharp increase in budget allocation has been given.

When the hotline was opened in September, the presidency reported the entire project would cost R4 million. This included the IT components of the project, SITA support staff and wages for approximately 70 staff members.

The hotline, which opened as a pilot on 14 September, was aimed at enabling disgruntled citizens to communicate directly with the presidency about service delivery issues. The idea was first mooted by president Jacob Zuma, during his state of the nation address earlier this year.

However, following problems experienced in the first three weeks of operation, the budget for the hotline almost tripled to the current R11 million in total allocations.

"There were teething problems in the early period, but now it's entirely transparent, there's a flow of information and the response is out there," says minister in the presidency Trevor Manuel.

Don't blame us

While the presidency failed to respond to further ITWeb queries on time, SITA referred all questions to the presidency.

The agency stated any expansion of the hotline is driven by the presidency and, if there are any technology enhancements to augment any business processes to be done in the future, the presidency would engage with SITA on the requirements.

“The hotline is driven by the presidency, with SITA acting as a service provider on their service management centre. Therefore, the presidency is the institution best placed to answer all information related to their requirements, plans, budgets and future projections,” says Anthea Summers, GM of communications at SITA.

The agency previously reported that R1.7 million of the initial R4 million would be spent on IT requirements. The fixed technology infrastructure mostly leverages off SITA's existing infrastructure.

The technology platform for the telephony and service management cost R800 000, and has been built around SITA's existing platform. The agency's expansion of its existing call centre to accommodate the new service will cost R600 000, while licensing and maintenance costs are R300 000.

The presidency previously revealed R1.5 million would be spent each year on salaries for 70 call centre staff and added that additional running costs were also expected – but failed to elaborate.

Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary leader Athol Trollip has questioned the increase in the hotline budget. The DA says the hotline is wasteful and has proved inefficient since its inception. However, SITA says it is meeting all requirements for the service.

“In terms of the service level agreement, entered into with the presidency and SITA, the technology supports the business processes agreed upon,” says Summers.

Trollip says more questions will be posed to the presidency to explain the budget increases.

Related stories:

• SITA clarifies hotline costs
• Zuma skims over hotline issues

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