While the Department of Communications (DOC) battles to get some projects, such as ICT enterprise hubs, off the ground, because of a lack of funding, it has once again failed to invest in 112 call centres.
Some R58 million that was meant to be spent on the emergency 112 call centre has been moved to other projects within the department, due to "delays" in getting the project going. Of that amount, the bulk - R38 million - will go to the South African Broadcasting Corporation so it can cover next year's elections.
This information is contained in National Treasury's revised estimates of national expenditure, handed out this morning to coincide with finance minister Pravin Gordhan's medium-term budget update.
Another R15 million will go to projects linked to e-skills training at the National Electronic Media Institute of SA, and R5 million goes to ICT policy review projects. Some R46 million in unspent funds has been shifted to salary bills across government, because of delays in implementing the 112 emergency call centre project.
Missed targets
The department has also failed to create any ICT enterprise hubs, and develop e-cooperatives as a catalyst for youth.
The lack of small, medium and micro ICT enterprise hubs, which was meant to reach 60 units across the country by the end of the year, has been blamed on "budgetary constraints" as money has shifted to other priorities, it says.
According to treasury's document, 500 young people were meant to take part in the National Youth Information Society and Development programme, yet this figure is at zero. This is because this programme has been "removed" from the department's strategic plan, also because of budget constraints.
Its target of procuring more than two million set-top boxes, in anticipation of digital television switch-on, was also not met. SA was meant to turn on the new signal commercially last year, but this process has again been beset by delays.
As a result, none of the R2.4 billion set aside for subsidised decoders has been spent, as the tender has yet to be awarded because of an ongoing wrangle over whether the boxes should have conditional access.
Treasury's documents note this ring-fenced amount also does not take into account the cost of installing the boxes, and antennas, which the department has said it will fund. Around 11 million homes will need the boxes to convert the new signal for viewing on older sets, and many will need new aerials.
The state will cover 70% of the costs of the boxes, for about five million homes, as well as the full cost of the antenna and installation. The department has been planning to switch on digital television - the biggest step forward in television technology since launch in the 1970s - this year.
The department did make some inroads, meeting its target of dropping the mobile interconnect rate by 40c a minute, while the cost of public access fixed-lines dropped 12c, treasury's adjusted expenditure document shows.
Last year, the department spent 99.8% of its budget, and has so far spent 42.5% this year, an increase year-on-year. This is due to more money going to Sentech, as it ramps up for digital television, and an earlier transfer to the Universal Service Access Fund for set-top box subsidies.
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