None of the R500 million earmarked by National Treasury has been spent on building connectivity for government's flagship maths and science schools, even though this project has been in the pipeline for more than two years.
This was revealed in a reply to a parliamentary question to communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda, from Democratic Alliance shadow science and technology minister Marian Shinn.
The answer shows that none of the money earmarked in 2007 by National Treasury for the Dinaledi schools broadband and network project has yet been spent.
The Dinaledi schools are high schools specifically earmarked to focus on teaching mathematics and science to learners in order to propel the country into a knowledge-based economy. These schools are supposed to be connected through a national broadband network that signal distributor Sentech was supposed to have built.
According to Shinn, Sentech and the Department of Communications (DOC) plan to decide the fate of the Dinaledi schools broadband network project within the next few months.
“It was overly ambitious of the government to announce the National Wholesale Broadband Network (NWBN) before the funding model was secured. Thousands of young maths and science learners, eager to be part of a nationwide learning network, have had their hopes dashed. They have learned at an early age that the ANC government is big on grandiose plans that create expectations and then disappoint on delivery,” Shinn says.
She explains the initial idea was to use WiMax technology to network 500 Dinaledi schools in rural and underserviced areas. The NWBN needed R3.8 billion over five years. Sentech was allocated R500 million. This was subject to the approval of a plan by both the DOC and National Treasury that included additional funding to be raised from the market.
At R500 million, the network for 500 Dinaledi schools is not financially sustainable. Various plans to raise additional funds for the NWBN were devised and submitted by Sentech to the DOC and National Treasury, but none was accepted.
Sentech submitted a VSAT alternative technology to WiMax as part of phase one to kick-start the project, with a view to connecting it to the NWBN at a later stage. The DOC rejected this in favour of WiMax.
According to replies that Shinn received, former communications minister the late Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri asked Sentech to explore further options for the R500 million network.
It came up with two: use the money towards capital expenditure and recover operating expenditure from the schools. With this model, 150 schools could be connected to the network. Secondly, use the money for both capital and operating expenditure to connect 120 schools throughout the country.
“In June 2009, the minister [Nyanda] asked Sentech to consider further options to roll out the project in only one or two provinces. Hopefully this will encourage a prompt expansion to further provinces within a private-public partnership between government and the private sector,” Shinn says.
Sentech had not responded to ITWeb's queries at the time of publication, and the DOC pointed to its parliamentary replies as its answer.
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