The auditor-general (AG) will investigate a questionable tender that was granted for the Gauteng Online project.
The Gauteng Online Schools Programme (GOSP) is a provincial government initiative to construct a province-wide schools' computer network by installing a computer facility in every public school.
The Gauteng Department of Finance (GDF), which heads the programme, in August said 1 557 schools have been equipped with standardised laboratories. This formed part of the phase one implementation of the project.
Much maligned
Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng finance spokesperson Mike Moriarty requested the AG to look into the matter of a R25 million contract being awarded to a company called Kunene Ramaphala Botha, for the GOSP.
“This is after questions I asked Gauteng finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe were not satisfactorily answered,” says Moriarty.
He adds that the DA believes Gauteng is not getting value for the R25 million paid to this company for the next five years.
“The company is supposed to provide legal and financial compliance monitoring for the much-maligned Gauteng Online project. This is work that is the core responsibility of staff at the Gauteng Department of Finance.”
Rejected silence
Moriarty wants the AG to investigate whether taxpayers are paying twice for the same service, once in the form of staff salaries and once again in the form of contractor payments.
He specifically wants answers to the questions of what resources the contractor will provide and what form of controls will be in place to monitor the contractor's work.
“This contract might indeed deliver value for money, but the MEC's unwillingness to provide a meaningful response does nothing to confirm this. In fact, such non-replies from some Gauteng MECs effectively hold the people of the province in contempt and promote the notion that government is hiding corruption. The only way to ensure honesty is for government to be open and transparent.”
The GDF did not respond to ITWeb's queries by the time of publication.
Expensive fortress
Moriarty says the GOSP has cost about R3 billion so far. “The intention was noble but the programme has been relatively less than successful.”
He adds that huge sums of money were spent on securing the labs. “It's like a fortress. But there have been no results. It has been an expensive way of providing a computer experience and there are poor results. There's no way they can claim there's been R3 billion of value derived from it.”
The GDF in August said the rollout of the GOSP is progressing as planned and it is confident the project will be completed by the set timelines.
It added that GOSP is one of its flagship ICT projects. “It was designed not only to provide computer literacy, but to support the implementation of one of the key strategic outcomes of the province, the delivery of 'quality basic education'.”
The project previously faced challenges and the DA in Gauteng in May called for the termination of the Gauteng Online contract with the SMMT Telematics Consortium that was appointed as the service provider in December 2007.
“This project has been characterised by poor management and non-adherence to the service level agreement,” says DA Gauteng education spokesperson Khume Ramulifho.
Ramulifho added that the GDF conducted an internal audit and concluded that the Gauteng Online primary objectives have not been achieved, schools are not able to effectively implement a technology-enabled learning environment, learners are deprived of opportunities to develop, the IT infrastructure in schools is under-utilised, and schools and the department are not getting value for money in respect of the project.
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