In a 1993 film with Bill Murray, a quaint traditional myth, Americanised as “Groundhog Day”, was cleverly developed into a day that the character relived again and again, until he broke the cycle of repetition by rejecting self-centredness and accepting his responsibilities to those around him.
South Africa should adopt such a day. Instead of celebrating a weather-forecasting animal, however much of an improvement that would be on popular meteorological prognostication, we could call it Gijima Day.
It's always Gijima Day at the Department of Home Affairs. Since last century, we've been promised smart identity cards, which would do away with the antiquated green ID book, and consolidate a range of home affairs related services onto a single chip-card. And every 18 months or so, we get the same old story.
And I don't mean that figuratively. It is literally the same old story.
To wit: “The WAIO [Who Am I Online] contract was set to replace the department's outdated and obsolete legacy systems, as well as improve security. However, the deal with Gijima was 'put on hold' last year after a 'dispute', says Treasury's Estimates of National Expenditure for the 2011 financial year. Home affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the matter was hampering the department's IT progress, since the delay in rolling out the smart ID card project is due to this ongoing dispute with Gijima.”
Thus read an article on ITWeb, announcing that a settlement had been reached after Gijima successfully sued to have the cancelled contract reinstated.
Since last century, we've been promised smart identity cards, which would do away with the antiquated green ID book.
Ivo Vegter, contributor, ITWeb
And here it is again: “The WAIO contract was set to replace the department's outdated and obsolete legacy systems, as well as improve security. However, in April 2010, the DHA declared the contract invalid, reportedly owing to Gijima's failure to deliver. However, Gijima's legal team held that the contract was valid and enforceable. Home affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the matter was hampering the department's IT progress, since the delay in rolling out projects like the smart ID card project was due to the ongoing dispute with Gijima.”
Thus read another article on ITWeb, announcing that “modernisation” remains a “challenge”.
The articles clearly share the same author, who didn't think enough had changed to even change the wording, even though the articles were written 18 months apart. The first was published on 7 March 2011. The second was published last Tuesday. The only thing that happened in between was that Gijima's legal challenge against the cancellation of its contract with home affairs for non-delivery was upheld, so now it can continue its non-delivery with the blessing of the courts.
And frankly, it is hard to be mean about the repetition. This column, too, might sound familiar, because I have also been writing the exact same story for years. Here's just one example: a feature article in Brainstorm magazine in 2009. It recounts in detail the announcements, the delays, the promises, the re-launches and the dissimulation about the project now known as Who Am I Online, which grew out of the home affairs National Identification System, or Hanis, launched in the mid-1990s. In fact, it is the contract upon which Gijima was built to become an IT industry giant - troubled though it is, financially.
It might seem tedious to keep complaining about this, since Gijima Day seems like just another example of cronies looting billions from government coffers without delivering anything more useful to society than sheaves of lawyer's letters. But tell that to Bongekile Mkhize, Skhumbuzo Mhlongo and Vanneaux Kongolo, all of whom committed suicide because they felt powerless and dehumanised by the perpetually dysfunctional Department of Home Affairs.
Gijima Day should honour them by recognising the despair brought about by this never-ending story.
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