Broadcasting Digital Migration progress; Public Protector Report on SITA; with Minister

Meeting report

Minister’s introductory remarks
Ms Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, said that the meeting followed a successful budget vote debate of the Department. She expressed her gratitude to the Committee for its work.

On Friday 20 May, the appeal of E-tv on the Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) was heard in the Constitutional Court (CC), and the Department had been requested to update the numbers in terms of the connections and progress achieved and what was outstanding. This submission would be done in the CC today. Thus, they did not want to include the old numbers in the slides, but the same as the numbers that would be submitted to the Constitutional Court tomorrow. The numbers would be reconciled, and there were quality assurance officers that would go around corroborating what the installers were claiming before payments were made. The presentation submitted to the Committee did not include the numbers. Members would still receive a briefing on these numbers once the reconciliation was completed.

Previously, there was an issue around the Post Office. The Department had confirmed the approval from the Post Office to be assisted with the advance payment. There had been a significant improvement in the implementation of the new strategic plan – “The Post Office of Tomorrow” -- and submissions were made on the rollout of the first sites for digital hubs, as previously presented to the Committee.

The problem of the rains in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the Eastern Cape had an impact on houses that had applied for the 30 June and 30 September deadlines, but those houses had been completely washed away and reconciliation involved the Department of Human Settlements (DHS). Those houses that were National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC)-recognised in terms of structures amounted to 12 000. As for the shacks that were completed washed away, these were not recognised by the NHBRC, but the DHS was recognising those which had been registered and sheltered elsewhere. Some areas were inaccessible in KZN because of the bridges that had been washed away, and the number involved was 18 000. Therefore, in KZN, they were going to be affected by 30 000.

In the Eastern Cape, 3 000 houses had been affected, but the road infrastructure had been washed away and some areas were not accessible. This had slowed down progress, but it would be completed by the end of the month.

The Gauteng province had been completed, and the Department had started the implementation for September. The Northern Cape had also been completed and by end of this week, they would complete Limpopo (about 3 000 remaining), and next week Mpumalanga (about 8 000 remaining).

The Department remained with 259 249 installations still to be completed. This number was going to be tackled in the period leading up to the deadline. The Department could complete these numbers. The plan was not going to be delayed. The Free State and Western Cape would be completed by the first of June. North West would be completed by the second week of June. The Eastern Cape and KZN should be finished by the third week of June. These numbers would be submitted to the Constitutional Court.

One of the challenges encountered was that of the households that registered in 2012/13, 13 528 had not been found in the registered addresses. The phone numbers had not been active or not reachable. In these instances, the Department publishes the names of the persons and their date of birth to inform them that it had approached their registered addresses at the post offices, and would be verified at the post offices.

The second issue they were dealing with was the Public Protector's report. It was directed to the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) board, but the report was very old, and the people mentioned in the report had since left the Agency. Some of the concerns that were raised by the PP had been addressed completely and training had been done where required. Some of the issues had also come in through the Auditor-General’s (AG's) report.

DCDT on the progress of Broadcasting Digital Migration
Ms Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani, Acting Director-General, Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), gave Members a progress update on the Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM).

Since the last Portfolio Committee meeting, three key developments had shaped the focus and influenced the timelines for the BDM project as follows:

The Minister had gazetted 31 March 2022 as the analogue switch-off (ASO) date;
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) had pronounced a transitional period for the remaining analogue switch-offs; and
The Gauteng High Court ruled that the ASO should be concluded by 30 June 2022.

In terms of installations, on 28 March 2022, the Gauteng High Court delivered the following judgment: 507 251 households to be migrated by 30 June 2022 and 260 868 households by 30 September 2022. Installations were currently underway in all nine provinces to reach the target. The Department was making progress with installations to meet the March court ruling that supported the Minister to migrate those who registered by 31 October 2021, and for the ASO to be concluded by 30 June 2022. Gauteng had reached the target for installations, and Northern Cape had also been completed. The remaining installations to reach the target would be completed in May and June.

On the analogue switch-off, SABC sites were switched-off during the period, bringing a total of 163 SABC analogue transmitters sites that had been switched off to date. E-tv had switched off five more transmitters, bringing the total of analogue transmitters that had been switched off to nine. 39 SABC transmitters were ready to be switched off, as installations had reached the threshold.

The Minister said that the numbers to be installed in terms of the plans must be concluded as per the High Court by September, but at the rate at which they were moving they would conclude by the end of July 2022. All the calibrations that had been done were to ensure that the deadline was met. When they started, they had started with fewer than 200 installers, but now they were sitting with over 900 installers. It looked like the numbers continued to pick up.

Discussion
Mr T Gumbu (ANC) encouraged the Department to continue striving for success in the analogue switch-off matter. He welcomed the changes in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal which had had to be undertaken due to the floods.

Ms T Bodlani (DA) noted that the Minister was optimistic. The floods in KZN and the Eastern Cape would impact the rollout. The figures of houses indicated those that had been approved by the HBRC in terms of their being proper structures, but equally the presentation received had not touched on that. Hopefully, the Department would not come back to the Committee at a later stage to talk about the impact of the floods. There was a need to be realistic. The Minister had mentioned an earlier date and that there were people who would be covered by the end of July -- could they get more clarity on this?

Regarding the rollout of the set-top boxes (STBs), there was a call for the Committee to be on the ground and conduct oversight to ascertain information for itself, because now it was dependent on the information provided by the Department.

DCDT's response
 The Minister said that 33 000 households were impacted by the floods in April this year, either because they had been washed away or they were not accessible. The Department had also worked with the Department of Human Settlements and corroborated the names and numbers of the affected households. They had not yet done an assessment, but that assessment was also dependent on the work done by the disaster management teams and the DHS, as well as the municipalities affected. The province of Limpopo was also affected, but the extent was unknown at this point -- the number of affected households so far sits at less than 3 000. The impact may not be significant. This was not about optimism, but factual information that had been submitted to the Department. When these numbers were supported by the Constitutional Court tomorrow, the extent of the detail would be laid bare. The Court had said that the Department needed to complete the ones who had applied after 31 October 2021 to 10 March 2022, and this should be concluded by September 2022.

The number that the DCDT needed to conclude by the end of September was 260 000, and with the current pace at which installations were being done, they were confident that they would complete those numbers by the end of July. They would use August as a clean-up month for any other issues that may come up.

Mr S Malatsi (DA) said that in light of what had transpired in terms of the affected areas by the floods, could the Department furnish the Committee with a contingency plan in response to the floods that had occurred in KZN and Eastern Cape?

The Minister said where the areas were accessible by foot, the installers could still connect the households. Where structures had been washed away or partially damaged, they were working with the DHS to send installers with them when they replaced the structures. They did that with households that had applied. When it did the new settlements and re-settlements, the plan was to go with them and install the STBs for the affected households. Once the necessary repairs had been completed on the ones that were partially damaged, they would also do the installation -- they could not do installations without the repairs being done.

The Department had not closed the applications for support for the qualifying beneficiaries, but they were working to ensure that those households affected by the floods did re-apply or were assisted to apply.

The Chairperson said the Committee hoped that the decisions of the court were honoured, and the commitments made by the Minister were achieved. They also welcomed the decision to still accept applications for those who had been affected by the floods. On the part about the SABC, when the switch-off was done, it was usually confirmed by the SABC assuring viewers that they would not be left stranded. They would also appreciate that as a Committee.

Appreciating the contingency plans for the households affected by the floods, it may be important to give comfort to the Committee as to how those feed into the court process.

Lastly, the emphasis remained on those who were subsidised, but they had to ensure that those who were not subsidised were also given the same attention in terms of the message, to highlight the matters that the Minister had addressed.

Public Protector's letter from the Speaker of the National Assembly
Mr Mbombo Maleka, Committee Content Advisor informed the Members that the Committee had received a letter from the Public Protector via the Speaker of the National Assembly. A complaint was lodged by an anonymous complainant on 31 August 2018. In the main, the complainant had made allegations against Dr Setumo Mohapi, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the former State Information Technology Agency (SITA) Board. The report directed that the Speaker institute appropriate remedial action that the Public Protector was making, as contemplated in section 182(1)(c) of the Constitution, including the Minister, the Accounting Authority, the Auditor-General, the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation and the Speaker of the National Assembly. It further directed the following actions to be undertaken to ensure that the report was tabled before the Communications Portfolio Committee for deliberation regarding investigations conducted into allegations of financial misconduct committed by members of the Accounting Authority in terms of Treasury Regulation 33.1.3; instances of irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure that had been investigated to determine if disciplinary steps needed to be taken against liable officials; and whether disciplinary steps had been taken against any officials who made or permitted irregular expenditure based on the outcome of the investigation in terms of Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) section 51(1)(e)(iii).

On analysis of the complaint, the following issues had been considered and investigated:

Whether the relationship of Dr Mohapi, the former CEO, with Mr Thami Msimango, the Managing Director of CIPAL Telecommunications, had influenced the appointment of CIPAL through a deviation process without the approval of the National Treasury, including the expansion of the scope of work to CIPAL despite National Treasury not supporting such expansions, and if so, whether such conduct was improper and amounted to maladministration, as contemplated by section 6(4) of the Public Protector Act, 1994; and Whether the SITA board had failed to hold Dr Mohapi accountable for the irregular expenditure incurred relating to the various contracts, and if so, whether such conduct was improper and amounted to maladministration as contemplated by section 6(4) of the Public Protector Act, 1994.

Section six covered the determination of the issues about the evidence obtained and conclusions made regarding the applicable law and prescripts. Section seven covered all the findings in the main against Dr Mohapi, as well as the SITA board.

In terms of remedial action, the Speaker was also requested to table the report before the Committee for deliberations regarding investigations conducted into allegations of financial misconduct committed by members of the Accounting Authority in terms of Treasury Regulation 33.1.3; instances of irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure that had been investigated to determine if disciplinary steps needed to be taken against liable officials; and whether disciplinary steps had been taken against any officials who made or permitted irregular expenditure based on the outcome of the investigation in terms of PFMA section 51(1)(e)(iii). The Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation must consider this report and establish if any acts of impropriety identified herein amount to acts of criminal conduct in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004, and if so, pursue criminal investigations against the perpetrators.

Lastly, the Accounting Authority of SITA was to submit an action plan to the Public Protector within 30 working days from the date of this report on the implementation of the remedial action referred to in paragraph 8.2.

The Chairperson referred to the previous matter and said there had been a suggestion made that the Committee needed to look at the physical oversight on some of the projects that were underway by the Department. At the next meeting, they should deliberate a proposal that would be submitted for consideration for the oversight visit. This would also assist the Committee with the socio-economic impact of these projects on the ground.

Deliberations on letter from the Speaker

Ms Bodlani said that she welcomed the suggestion that the Public Protector letter be passed on to the legal services for legal advice. There should be an appreciation for whistle-blowers and as a country, they needed to be deliberate in how they protected those whistle-blowers. It was easy to dismiss the report, given the accolades that had been accorded to the former CEO of SITA. Legal services should also indicate what the 30-day requirement was, because the PP had said there must be remedial action implemented within the 30-days, but the report was dated 3 March. This report must be used as a lesson to be more proactive because what was highlighted in the letter was not something new -- it was something that they had all seen occur in various departments of government.

People were paid salaries from the taxpayers’ money to sit on these boards. The report had shown how the dereliction of duty by the SITA board had occurred. There must be a deliberate attempt to get to the root of this matter.

Mr Gumbu supported the proposal to send the report to legal services.

The Chairperson said that certain aspects needed to be clarified by legal services, such as the timeframes, as indicated in the letter. The Committee would also communicate that it was attending to the letter. In dealing with the report comprehensively, they needed to get the side of the entity and the Department on the action plans that would have been put in place, as well as the preventative measures. It could be demonstrated that the Committee had reflected on where SITA was and the measures that it had introduced to ensure transparency in the procurement processes. The issue of procurement should be transparent across the board.

The report should be considered in context, because the Committee had been doing oversight to turn the situation around at SITA, and the Executive Authority had also intervened by placing SITA under administration.

Adoption of minutes

Members considered and adopted draft Committee minute. .

The meeting was adjourned