The Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC) denies it will shut its doors, refuting this morning's media reports that it may face imminent closure.
The embattled Gauteng department is currently being scrutinised by a task team sent in to review its mandate. GSSC spokesman Emmanuel Mdawu says neither the Gauteng government, nor the task team, have given any indication that the plan will be to shut down the GSSC.
He also denied media speculation that the newly-appointed head of the department, Molaodi Khutsoane, had been stripped of his delegation duties. “The withdrawal of delegations applies to all Gauteng government departments, as part of stricter financial controls,” he adds.
According to Mdawu, the review process is being held across all departments and not just the GSSC. “[Gauteng] premier [Nomvula] Mokonyane is on record as having said there will be a review of the institution to ensure that, like all other entities, it is better positioned to contribute to the imperatives of the mandate of the new administration.”
Boiling point?
However, speaking to ITWeb this morning, Gauteng government deputy director of communications Thabo Masebe indicated the troubled department is not yet out of hot water.
He confirmed that the review process, currently under way at the GSSC, could come back with the recommendation of shutting down the department.
“Some functions could go back to departments, or it could be resolved and the functions handed back to departments,” he says.
The GSSC's core business is to provide a provincial government-wide internal support service in terms of audit services, human resource services, procurement services, finance services and technology support services.
Outsourcing debate
The review of the department was instigated last year after it was revealed the GSSC had a payment backlog of R1.7 billion. Hundreds of suppliers to public hospitals and schools had not been paid and threatened to halt supply to these institutions if the centre didn't produce the finances.
However, the GCCS reported in September that it had cleared the payment backlog, but not before its mandate was questioned.
The review will consider whether the GSSC is working according to its mandate, or whether circumstances have changed and outsourcing other departments' non-core functions is no longer necessary, Masebe says.
He adds that the initial review report is expected to be handed in this month; however, it is likely the team will also then conclude a final report.
The shutting down of the department could have a major impact on Gauteng's service delivery.
Masebe acknowledges that “centralising certain functions did impact service delivery”. He cites the example of the Department of Health, which could order medication faster if it did not go through the GSSC. The review is expected to address these kinds of issues.
In August last year, Gauteng MEC for finance, Mandla Nkomfe, said the department would receive a budget of R1.2 billion. The GSSC was also set to save R100 million during the year.
Related story:
GSSC clears R1.5bn backlog
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