NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 17
DATE OF PUBLICATION: Thursday, 13 February 2014
INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 1 of 2014
Mrs S V Kalyan (DA) to ask the Minister of Home Affairs:
With reference to reply to question 2392 on 28 October 2013, (a) at what
stage are each of the respective facilities in resolving the specified IT
problems and (b) by what date will these problems be resolved?
NW18E
REPLY:
(a) Out of the 111 health facilities identified by the provinces with
infrastructure or IT related problems, 23 health facilities with IT
issues have been resolved since September 2013. The Department is
considering the following options to address the IT problems at the 88
health facilities where IT challenges are still being experienced.
⢠First Option: Connect through satellite technology. The department
will run a pilot phase to test the use of satellite technology for
hospital connectivity and a few rural hospitals will be connected
using satellite to ensure that the issue of poor signals is
resolved.
⢠Second Option: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL): The mode
of connectivity will be done through the use of Telkom Lines. The
services provider has been engaged in terms of connecting the
hospitals using ADSL.
⢠Third Option: Connect through 3G cards by either utilising the MTN
or Vodacom mobile phone networks. At the moment, the Department is
utilising the option of 3G card connectivity to reconnect the
hospitals that were no longer functional.
(b) It is anticipated to complete most of the hospitals by 31 March 2014
through 3G card connectivity.