The Gauteng Department of Finance has denied reports that a new closed tender for the Gauteng Online project was issued last week, saying the tender might be issued today, depending on finalisation of the paperwork.
Spokesperson Sithembiso Ndlovu confirmed the department will opt for a closed tender, but was unable to provide more details regarding the specifications of the tender, saying he cannot reveal particulars until the process has concluded.
A report by The Star newspaper suggests the tender is for the supply of 50 tablets to 1 600 schools - 80 000 in total. This was, however, not confirmed by the department.
The Gauteng Online project has come under fire several times since its inception for costing billions, but allegedly being ineffective. The project was initiated in 2002 through the provincial Department of Education and implemented by various service providers. In April 2007, the programme was transferred to the Gauteng Department of Finance, and the contract awarded to SMMT (now Cloudseed).
After Cloudseed's original contract expired on 31 March, it was extended for a further three months at a cost of R126 million. During this time, Gauteng finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe said the department is looking to redesign the project, so that all learners would have their own devices, such as tablets, smartphones and netbooks.
Ndlovu says the conversion from computers to tablets will allow learners to attend to school work at home and not be confined to a computer lab.
Cutting it fine
Mike Moriarty, Democratic Alliance MPL Gauteng spokesperson on finance, has expressed his concern regarding the time frame in which the department aims to secure a new service provider. "They want to try and meet a deadline which coincides with the expiry of the extension [of the current supplier's contract], which is end of June, so they do not have long to go," says Moriarty.
He notes that a number of aspects surrounding the tender are still unclear. "There are more questions than answers at this stage. It is unclear how these tablets will connect and what software will be put on them."
According to Moriarty, the original plan for providing tablets to all the schools envisaged that the tablets will connect to the Gauteng Broadband Network that was set to be rolled out this year. However, the rollout of the network has since hit a snag.
"A tender for the network was put out at the beginning of the year and they got some bids in. But they haven't been able to go further with it, because they've been queried by national government... and now need to discuss where the Gauteng Broadband Network fits into national government's broadband strategy. Now we have to ask if those tenders [that were received at the beginning of the year] are still valid."
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