Technology will be the cornerstone of the Western Cape provincial government modernisation strategy, and R150 million will be added to its annual R236 million IT budget, said Brent Gerber, acting director general of the province.
At a press briefing yesterday, senior public servants of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, led by premier Helen Zille, outlined their blueprint for modernising the way the provincial government is structured and the way it conducts business.
“My key phrase at the moment is 'fit for purpose' and this means we have to get the provincial government on par with best international practice, ensure that the departments and units are fit for their intended purposes and to ensure they serve the public in the most cost-effective and efficient way,” Zille said.
When assuming office after the national and provincial elections in May, she was shocked to find that documents were brought to her on a 'stiffy disk'.
“I asked what was this for and was then told that I could edit the documents. But I had to point out that my laptop doesn't even accommodate such disks,” Zille said.
“The IT systems have a 1920s feel to them. I know that there were no IT systems then, but that gives you an idea of how archaic the systems are.”
The IT systems have a 1920s feel to them. I know there were no IT systems then, but that gives you an idea of how archaic the systems are.
Helen Zille, Western Cape premier
The provincial government's modernisation process consists of a legislative framework, organisational and capacity building, physical resource management and e-governance.
Zille said e-governance was the use of IT, particularly software applications, to make government as open as possible and to improve efficiency and transparency.
“We need to upgrade our systems so that documents can be 'googlised', so they can be found quickly using keyword searches. At the moment, it takes three people four days to find a document in the registry,” she said.
Gerber said the increase in the IT budget was really just to begin the process of modernising the systems.
“Four years ago the IT budget was slashed and it currently just keeps the lights on,” he said. “There will be no big enterprise type projects like the City of Cape Town, because the provincial governments are beholden to national government-led projects. However, we will put in systems that are already currently in use in some departments into others.”
Gerber said one of the priorities was to ensure that a provincial government-wide e-filing system was put in place, and to extend the provincial government's self-developed project management 'dashboard' system.
My key phrase at the moment is 'fit for purpose' and this means we have to... ensure that the departments and units are fit for their intended purposes.
Helen Zille, Western Cape premier
Broadband services used by the provincial government will also see a budget increase and consideration is being given to upgrading the e-mail system from the old Groupwise system that is still in place.
“Bandwidth is so low that it will not transmit documents over a minimum size, and it will not accept photos or scans,” Zille said.
Another IT-related area under consideration is the Thusong or multipurpose community centres - a project originally championed by the national Department of Communications.
“We are looking at the best way of managing these centres,” said Louise Esterhuyse, acting director for strategy and development. “We are considering transferring them on a provincial management basis from social services, but we have to still negotiate with national government.”
Zille and her staff said the blueprints, including those for IT services, were developed in-house and that no external consultants were used.
“The response we had from our own staff was excellent and they contributed many late hours and made suggestions using our own internal Web site,” she said.
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