Marion Edmunds
THE government is considering “outsourcing” all its departmental computer divisions, in a bid to get the public sector online and providing a better service.
The contract, to be awarded to a single company, could be worth between R1,5-billion and R1,8- billion.
State Expenditure Director General Hannes Smit has confirmed that discussions are under way, but said the decision to “outsource” would be taken on the basis of what was best for the taxpayer. Smit denied such a project would be “privatisation”, rather it is “outsourcing” as the government would be sole owner of the operation.
According to Public Service Director General Dr Paseko Ncholo, Cabinet has already taken a decision to remove information technology (IT) divisions out of the government departments and lump them into a single operation called the Joint Service Organisation (JSO), which could then be outsourced. The JSO will act as an IT agency to serve all public sector needs and ensure more effective administration.
Ncholo is passionate about the need to upgrade the technology and skills in the public service and dreams of something called the one-stop service where most interactions between members of the public and the public sector would be conducted through a mega-computer.
“There would be machines where you could go and pay your rates, electricity and water and get your pension money or a copy of your birth certificate, and you – would be able to go to any machine you want in any part of town,” he said. Ncholo feels the frustration of people – who suffer at the hands of sluggish and inept clerks. Unfortunately, employing a vast number of computer boffins to replace these clerks with machines is out – of the question as the public service is to shed employees, not gain them. But Ncholo believes revamping the service’s technology is the only way to pull South – Africa’s vast bureaucracy into the next century.
It seems that private sector investment or management would be essential if Ncholo and the Cabinet’s dreams are to be realised, because the public sector does not have the right skills and resources to pioneer such a project.
A senior manager of computer personnel firm CPL, Ivor Rimmer, said a programmer with 10 years’ experience could ask for between R100 and a R150 an hour.
“If a person from a project house went in and managed that person on site, then it would be even more expensive and the really top guys would cost about R300 an hour,” he said.
The senior manager of Communicate Personnel, Charlie Hayward, said the public service would have to look outside its ranks to find the people with the right skills for the JSO.
“In order to attract the skills they need for this sort of operation, they would have to attract the type of people whose profile has not fitted the public service traditionally and they will have to draw them out of the private sector where they are used to fast-moving top-level projects. This will take a lot of money,” she said.