Implementation of Broadcast Digital Migration policy; with Minister and Deputy Minister

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Communications and Digital Technologies

16 February 2021
Chairperson: Mr B Maneli (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

04 Feb 2020: Implementation of Broadcast Digital Migration policy; Draft Performance Management System for ICASA; with Deputy Minister

The Committee convened on a virtual platform to receive a briefing from the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, along with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies and its entities, on the implementation of the Broadcast Digital Migration Policy. The Deputy Minister was also in attendance.

The Minister briefed the Committee on current progress in implementing the Broadcast Digital Migration plan. She indicated that there have been delays in the rollout of the Digital Migration as the Ministry continued to engage with key industry players in the project – the players being manufacturers of the devices – to understand their capability and capacity.

Members asked about distribution of Digital TV sets (IDTVs) to matriculation students as a Covid-19 intervention, how beneficiaries were identified and whether there was a tender procurement process of the manufacturers of the IDTVs.

Members appreciated the consequence management that the Minister mentioned, knowing that the matter of IDTVs has been in the Committee for some time. The Committee has been putting emphasis on consequence management. People who are not doing their job cannot be kept in the Department or other government entities. Unfortunately, the leader of the team fails if the team fails.

The Department presented to the Committee the current progress since the previous meeting. It reported that there has been appointment of installers with SENTECH leading the installation management. Installation of decoders commenced in Free State, with 6 300 installations done so far, proceeding with installations in Northern Cape and North West in February 2021. There is also an aggressive delivery plan and timelines being continually revised to realise early Analogue Switch Off and Spectrum release. There has been full cooperation of implementing State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).

The Department and its entities, SENTECH as well as the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa, also addressed the Committee with comprehensive responses to questions that were not pertinent amongst Members.

Members were concerned about the problems in the South African Post Offices where some rentals have not been paid.

Members also asked about timelines in rolling out the Broadcast Digital Migration. They were not convinced that the Department would be able to meet the set deadline of March given the challenges presented. They asked the Department to come up with a more realistic timeline. Another area of concern was the risk of overreliance on provincial and local government spheres in the implementation of the Broadcast Digital Migration plan. They were also concerned about the inclusion of matriculants from indigent households, in the rollout of the new digital TV sets.

Meeting report

Opening Remarks  

The Committee Secretary communicated that the Chairperson was having connection challenges and would log into the meeting later, and asked Ms N Kubheka (ANC) to open the virtual meeting and facilitate the procession of the presentations.

Ms N Kubheka (ANC), the Acting Chairperson, welcomed Members to the virtual meeting with complements of the new season. She asked for God to lead the Committee in the new term with the aim of achieving service delivery, especially during the pandemic. She conveyed condolences on the passing of Minister Jackson Mthembu. She hoped that in the New Year 2021, the Committee would work as the strongest team as it was in 2020.

The Secretary announced that apologies were received from Mr W Madisha (COPE). Ms P Van Damme (DA) remains an alternate Member. The Minister gave a request to leave at 11 o’clock, as she would be attending another meeting.

The Acting Chairperson welcomed the new Committee Member, Mr Z Mbhele (DA). She hoped Mr Mbhele would work with the rest of the Committee as a family with the aim of service delivery and would bring new ideas to the team. She asked the Minister to give remarks on new developments of the Department.

Minister’s Remarks

Ms Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, thanked the Acting Chairperson and welcomed the new Committee Member. She thanked the Committee for the opportunity to present progress on Digital Migration.

The Minister said that she would focus on the policy issues and political matters of importance to the Committee. There have been delays in the rollout of the Digital Migration as the Ministry continued to engage with key industry players in the project – the players being manufacturers of the devices – to understand their capability and capacity. Otherwise, the Ministry will be misleading the nation and Parliament in putting a deadline on the project. The Ministry presented to Cabinet a Broadcast Digital Migration (BDM) Model revised from the one that was approved in 2018. Therefore, they needed to go to Cabinet. From the lessons that were learned and challenges in the project, a hybrid model was introduced. Firstly, the lack of capacity at Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) was noted. As the white paper has given guidance to change USAASA to a Digital Development Fund Agency and to drive this critical project, a decision was taken that in the interim of 24 months, as approved by Cabinet, to appoint an Executive Caretaker. Mr Basil Ford was appointed, and Cabinet also approved the new, revised model. This referred to the hybrid model in rolling out the programme on rollout of the set-top box and the Digital TVs (IDTVs). Having learned from the past when registration was done many years back, people did not have television sets (TVs). So, in coming to give them the set-top boxes it was discovered that some of them do not even have TVs. There was thus a need to address this because at the centre of it is to ensure that people have access to information.

The shortfall of funding was also raised with Cabinet for both set-top boxes and IDTVs, which Treasury had then allocated R1.6 billion. The rest was to be given to over a three-year period. A request was made to Cabinet for Treasury to reconsider giving the money in full. However, this could not be done because of fiscal challenges, but Cabinet gave a go-ahead to seek alternative funding from other platforms. The Ministry engaged with manufacturers to ensure that the devices are available, because the migration is not only for households that are going to subsidise. Migration is for everyone, which means that manufacturers, in their capacity, must produce based on the number of TV-owning households in South Africa. The capacity of the manufacturer should be to provide for the unsubsidised and the subsidised. This is one of the reasons that it was not possible to go radically on awareness, because when people are given information about migrating, there must be full information that helps people to know who qualifies, what they need to do and where to access; it is crucial.

In engaging with the industry, the manufacturers requested that some standards be reviewed in terms of the IDTV. Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) did its part as an authority, followed by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) who issued the final standards in October 2020. However, manufacturing could not happen because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the engagement with manufacturers they raised issues of dependencies that are beyond their control. South Africa does not have most of the components and relies on external suppliers. It is more than 70%, although initially it was said that at least 30% of the components must be manufactured local. But it was discovered that the components go beyond 70%. What is available locally and timeframes had to be considered to take into account delivery periods after ordering. Even if money is available, the availability of the devices is what drives the project. The Department was to meet the manufacturers on Thursday, 18 February 2021, and now that standards have been finalised, with the lockdown regulations have been dropped as well as lines for export markets being open, manufacturers must plan on producing massively for everyone. The Department will not wait.

The reason why the hybrid model was introduced was that those who already had the analogue TVs can then get the decoder, while those that do not can add some money towards buying the IDTV. But there is need for certainty when going to the public. Mr Basil was appointed with Cabinet approving a 24-month contract. The Ministry felt it important after learning that at times people are appointed and do not deliver accordingly. Therefore, everybody being brought on board should be assessed on performance and clear timeframes. The contract was subject to annual renewal, and after the deadlines that were given by USAASA it was decided that there was no reason to believe that this year USAASA would to be able to meet the targets. While appreciating that it was not only Mr Basil Ford who was tasked with running the work of USAASA, but since he was the head, the decision was that consequences must be faced by all those failing to deliver on the work committed on. When the things that Cabinet and Parliament say are not done, people begin to lose trust in the things that government says. Intervention should involve all the components of the ecosystem. As the President has announced that by March 2022, the switch off will be finalised. Responsible people have been hired to do this, including SENTECH – led by the CEO and the Board on the project management office (PMO) side, the executives and actors at USAASA, South African Post Office (SAPO) and the entire value chain.

The country needs to respond to the unemployment rate. The commitment is that for every rand spent, there should be a definite number of jobs created. In this context, an opportunity was identified at installation level, and agencies were directed to appoint local installers. The challenge in the past was that local people were given set-top boxes but there was no one to fix in case of problems. The people were given a number to call, but this would take too long for them to be attended to. There were also problems since the people at the call centre spoke a different language. Most of hired installers were from Gauteng and had to be driven. The contract also had nothing stipulated on who takes responsibility if an installer installs a box and it is not functional. The contract needed to take that into consideration whether it would be the responsibility of the manufacturer for the faulty box or if it was because of poor workmanship at installation level. As such, the Acting Director-General (ADG or Acting DG) was engaged to check contracts and identify gaps. While the Ministry cannot do contracts with people, they have a responsibility to advise the agencies and hold them accountable on any failures. Ellis, the Training Institute, was engaged and asked to send a list in order for the Department to get a sense how many installers are in South Africa. It was previously said 10 000 installers would be deployed in Free State yet there are not even 10 000 in the entire country, according to the accrediting body. Ellis was engaged to make space available for local people that might be trained. Costs were also considered, and Ellis are committed to this since they agree that this project has taken too long, and they are committed in ensuring that South Africa does not continue to lag behind. They are prepared to give discounts but they just need the numbers, which the Project Managers from SENTECH and the team from the Department are responsible for.

A rapid deployment team is being appointed, composed of all industry players, so that there is monthly reporting to the Minister by the Department that is leading the rapid deployment team with agencies. They will sit weekly to make sure that they identify any bottlenecks that may be there. This is ideal as compared to the previous quarterly reporting, where problems could not be address early enough. All stakeholders in the industrial are involved, because if the manufacturer hit a snag it will affect everyone else. It is important to talk to the Department of Trade and Industry and Competition (DTIC) to assist. The delays have been there especially because of procurement processes where targets were not met or there were wrong specifications. This is due to lack of capacity within the agency. The Acting DG communicated to the Minister that they have agreed that in the second phase, the voucher should be issued directly to the beneficiary. Data protection of the people is also crucial. The Department has an interest in this. With SENTECH and the South African Broadcasting Commission (SABC), as a policymaker for owned by the Department, government has established these for particular purposes. It is the Department’s responsibility to create an enabling environment for agencies to be able to compete with the private sector. This project and timeframe are part of the Minister’s performance agreement with the President and she will be assessed on this. The Minister has taken a decision that this performance agreement signed with the President becomes the annual performance plan (APP) of the Department, and therefore the performance agreement of the Director-General, which spills over to the implementing agencies, the Board and Executives at agency level. Everyone is held accountable since in most cases the people tasked by the law to do the work are sitting back without working, until people start to say that there is interference. They need to be held accountable because it is not the Minister’s responsibility to issue vouchers, but the people paid to do that must be work. Therefore, there will be consequences to make sure that targets are met, and the Committee can do oversight.

The Department will present on the details, while SENTECH will talk on the actual implementation on the work to meet the deadlines. The entity must account just like everybody else.

Discussion

The Acting Chairperson asked Members to ask questions to the Minister before she leaves the meeting.

Mr C Mackenzie (DA) expressed his condolences on the passing of Minister Jackson Mthembu. He said that Parliament usually has a condolences book where Members write messages to the bereaved families. Given the number of colleagues in Parliament who have passed on due to Covid-19, can the Department initiate a digital condolence book where Members can log in and leave messages for the families? He said that when one suffers any kind of trauma or happiness the body releases a certain amount of specific chemicals. When the trauma is relived, the body releases the same chemicals, such that when one thinks about a happy time they become happy and also thinking about sadness makes one sad. As such, the digital condolence book is needed sooner rather than later.

He noted that the Minister had been keeping very busy and congratulated her on signing of the Performance Agreement as it sets a new standard for government and the rest of Cabinet. It is in interest of the Committee to help the Department in achieving its targets. The Committee will do all it can to ensure that targets are reached, because the Minster’s success is also the Committee’s success and the success of the country.

He recounted that the Minister mentioned Ellies as part of the process. He said he noticed that Ellies shut down their Components Division and the Broadcasting Digital Migration Project, probably because they are in financial trouble. Will this closing of parts of Ellies have an impact on the BDM project rollout? Was the procurement process of the manufacturers of the IDTVs done under emergency regulations or was there a request for proposal (RFP), request for quotation (RFQ) and a RFP tender issued?

He apologised for subtly ambushing the Minister, by asking about the conspicuous absence of South Africa Post Office (SAPO) in any of the reports that the Committee has received so far. The annual report has been delayed and is not on the programme. Currently, there is a flooding of inquiries regarding closed Post Offices because rents have not been paid. There is a landlord in Free State who has not been paid for six months. She relied on a bed and breakfast income but was not getting paid by the Post Office. She reportedly noticed that medicines come through the Post Office and she was asking herself how she could possibly lock the Post Office in good conscience for the non-payment of rent, yet medicines and essential services come through to the community that has no other lifeline than the Post Office. She is not alone. There is a long list of Post Offices where rentals have not been paid. In the adjusted budget, there is very little allocated to the Post Office. What is going on with the Post Offices? In his constituency in Lone Hill, there is no electricity and staffs work in the dark. ‘Track and Trace’ is not possible because the systems are down. If some urgent action is not taken in this entity it will fall over. Can the Minister provide some hope?

Ms P Faku (ANC) appreciated the remarks by the Minister since she touched on some issues that were not clearly defined in the presentation document, especially concerning timeframes, SABS and the manufacturers who were going to make set-top boxes. She said that she was concerned with the resources and timeframes. The Committee made a commitment that this project must not fail. Members want to see rapid responses.

She appreciated the consequence management that the Minister mentioned, knowing that the matter of IDTVs has been in the Committee for some time. The Committee has been putting emphasis on consequence management. People who are not doing their job cannot be kept in the Department or other government entities. Unfortunately, the leader of the team fails if the team fails.

The Committee will listen to SENTECH’s presentation and take it from there. In the 2021 State of the Nation Address (SONA), the President had mentioned the issue of the digital migration. It is important that this project is done and finished as soon as possible. Moving forward, there is a need to visit the areas where the set-top boxes have been installed. The Committee needs to visit those areas, as it is important in its oversight role. Sometimes the Committee can be told that a bridge was built yet it is not there. The Committee should not look at things on face value.

She appreciated the work done so far by the Department. The Committee believes that SENTECH understands the responsibility that is on their shoulders to ensure that the project is fast-tracked to try and reduce costs and that people receive those services. It is important for the Department to strengthen its communication so that people understand what the Department is trying to achieve, and the process involved for one to migrate. The work has been done, but the Committee would like to see more. On Post Offices, clearly the Post Office has been faced with a lot of challenges. She appreciated the CEO of the Post Office because when she reported that issues that were there in her constituency, the Post Office were quick to assist. She hoped that this could be replicated in all provinces. Since the grant process has been extended for another three months, the Post Office must not lose focus on its core function as services they are currently offering. When the Post Office comes before the Committee, they should be able to explain how they are going to mitigate the challenges.

The Acting Chairperson said although the Post Office is one of the entities under the Committee, their report is expected in the next Portfolio Committee meeting, including the APPs.  The Minister would still respond to the issues raised by Members, but the Post Office concerns will be dealt with thoroughly in the next meeting.

Responses

The Minister thanked Members for the questions and comments. She said she was equally concerned about the reports that were raised on the possibility of Ellies shutting down. This will have a huge impact on the rollout of the BDM. But as mentioned, the team from the Ministry will meet the manufacturers on Thursdays, and Ellies will be part of the meeting where they will be able to explain what they can do. The Minister is aware that Ellies is not shutting down immediately. While there are concerns, the Thursday meeting will give more details of how long it will be and what it is based on. As it stands, government will not spend anything more than R2 billion on the project, and the rest will depend on the company’s marketing strategy. However, at the centre is this information that goes out to South Africans that every TV-owning household that does not have an IDTV or a satellite needs to migrate. This is the work required of them at that level. But if Ellies were to close tomorrow, indeed there would have negative impact.

The Minister said that she would allow USAASA to respond on the question of IDTV tenders since she does not get involved in the administrative process. However, because it was a commitment and political directive for this provision, the IDTV being talked about is the Covid-19 intervention on education. The Covid-19 intervention was based on the same hybrid model that was approved by Cabinet, of availing TVs and set-top boxes based on the needs of the people. A decision was taken that out of the R220 million, which was an interest fee from the money that USAASA had not spent, should be used to prioritise education and assisting SABC in the process. USAASA will respond to this, but in the quarterly report that the Minster received, the Department communicated that it would be re-advertising the tender in January or February 2021. They will give specific details on this, including the DTPM from the Department, as they are the ones that deal with this on a day-to-day basis.

SAPO will be coming to the Portfolio Committee on 24 February to give detail of what its Board had said when it previously came to the Committee, including the progress made and challenges encountered. Clearly SAPO is struggling financially. As was presented previously in Parliament, in the past seven to eight years, government pumped about R8 billion to SAPO on different stages. The last trench was given during Mr Mark Barnes’ time as a bailout of R3.2 billion that came with conditions of things that needed to be done. These have not been done yet. Therefore, there are some challenges like networks, because when government gives bailouts, it comes with specific conditions for the entity to meet in order to get the money. As such, it is now difficult to get money from Treasury because it is a challenge if the agencies continue not spending according to what was committed to. However, the Board presented its turnaround strategy to the Committee, and as the Minister announced in the last meeting that a team of experts would be appointed, the Department is now finalising the terms of reference. It was found that with most of the agencies in government, the problem does not only sit at board or executive level. In organisations like USAASA, SABC or SAPO there is a lot of rot at the bottom. There have been changes, including the chopping of Ministers, Boards and Executives, but when these people come to the organisation they rely on the staff that are there to give them information. If the information that is given is not detailed or thorough, plans will be made based on the handover reports. At times, the staff in the agencies may have their own agendas. Therefore, a team of experts is needed to check everything. SAPO has about 17,000 staff members as per the report submitted, but there are always complaints about shortage of staff in the different post offices.

While the core business of SAPO has been left behind and overtaken by the grant, which is not a core business post office but is being done because SAPO is closer to the people, the entity understands why governments said it must be done. There are other challenges that need government, communities and private sector to come on board to jointly address. Even those in the private sector offering the same services still use Post Office at the last mile. The private sector can only service the people in the suburbia and towns, but when they must go to where matters, they still use the Post Office. As such, there is a need and for assistance of the Post Office, but also a clear and thorough plan. There are financial constraints because SAPO have sold buildings and are now leasing. They owe network companies, and IT infrastructure is stale because money was given, but things were not done. A CEO’s forum was established with the portfolio organisations that report to the Ministry to make sure that they collaborate. These include State Information Technology Agency (SITA) as government’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) agent, and SABC who meet and engage on a plan to help SAPO deliver. They will explain details of the intervention when they come to the Committee on 24 February 2021.  

The Minister applauded the proposed visit to the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) sites since certain things are discovered during a physical visit. Members or the Minister do not do the installation, but there are people appointed to do the work, and others monitor and submit reports. For example, in Free State, the Deputy Minister has been active since she goes to check and she has identified challenges herself. When the Minister went there, she realised that there were certain things that she thought had been done when directives were given but were not addressed. As such, visits help in strengthening oversight and changing strategies. Now the teams will be reporting monthly and not quarterly, but in the Department weekly engagement and reporting is done.

On the question raised by Ms Faku about the work of the Post Office in the project, she said that USAASA discovered that there are over 200 000 set-top boxes that are unaccounted for. She could not recall the monetary value of these, but it led to some people being suspended, according to the report. SAPO is being engaged since the service providers that delivered the set-top boxes delivered to Post Office and the staff at Post Office confirmed the figures. As such, they must take responsibility if there is anything missing. Others set-top boxes were taken from Post Office but were not installed as they remained with installers. The team is now busy with the audit of the set-top boxes that have already been procured. The installers are now trying to tighten the work.

The Acting Chairperson asked about capacity of the Post Offices in the rollout with the grant of R350. Does the Post Office have enough capacity to handle all this? What will happen? She said the Minister could reserve this question for when SAPO comes to the Committee so that Members can have clarity.

The Acting Chairperson said that the Minister was now released from the meeting, and the Department would handle the rest of the engagement with Members. She welcomed the Chairperson back and handed over the chairing of the meeting back to him.

The Chairperson indicated that he had earlier reported his connection challenges to the Secretariat, hence joining the meeting late. As the Minister said that some of the questions would be handled by USAASA, especially regarding tender process of IDTVs since it is important for oversight of Members, particularly the tender of IDTVs and the specific timelines. USAASA can respond after the presentation. He asked the Minister to respond to two matters before leaving for her next meeting.  

While appreciating the response team that needs to be set up to ensure that the project finally takes off at speed, but as the Minister said, these people will be responding to the BDM, and they may have to work with USAASA. What about the capacity of the USSASA to deliver on this project since that team will also need cooperation from USAASA? He said that he was raising this from an appropriations point of view, since appropriations were made towards USAASA but there is now no administrator. What about the timelines for an interim measure to ensure that governance structures in USAASA are in order? When decisions are to be made, there should not be a point where the Department wants to move under the leadership of the Minister, but having frustration of governance matters in the entities. This has been the experience of the Committee in dealing with annual reports, where some of the reports would not come because they needed to be processed by relevant governance structures in the entities to avoid having problem. Can the Minister indicate whether Mr Basil Ford may not be there as an Executive Administrator, whether there are timelines in place, and when this will be dealt with, so that the project does not suffer because of the matters in the entity?

On the 70% of equipment that may be from outside given capacity issues over time, the Chairperson asked concerning the political economy. Is there discussion with Department of Trade Industry and Competitions (DTIC), as has been previously raised by the Committee to ensure that whilst moving forward there should not be dumping from outside the country, where manufacturers would have probably had more production of TVs but may not be met given the DTT programme? The Committee wants to be sure that whatever is imported is in line with the programme of government. Is there a plan in that regard? Otherwise, it can distort the programme in a big way, since if people want to buy TVs they may go for the cheaper option, which is dumped in the economy from outside. This would not be assisting them in any way.

The Minister thanked the Chairperson for the questions. As mentioned earlier, USAASA does not currently have the capacity. When Mr Ford was appointed, he was appointed as PMO to complement the work being done at USAASA. This has not been done yet and it is being looked at. This is one the reasons why timelines and targets were being considered to set plans to ensure that the work continues. However, the organisation has not managed to deliver on these, they cannot continue. They decided to work with an executive caretaker and not executive administrator. They are expecting consequences because in as much as there are many actors are USAASA, people are paid to do that work. When people are paid, they should deliver or account for why they have not delivered. Although USAASA has been mentioned, this cuts across the work being done. The entity is in the process of appointing District Coordinators as liaisons. Part of the challenges has been that while USAASA has some footprints in provinces, it may just be one person in each province. This does not help as the entity relies on service providers giving them information and only visits once. Therefore, SENTECH was brought on board to ensure that it leads in the quality assurance of the work done. When management of the installations is done, USAASA will be left with a responsibility of procuring services. These are government priorities and digital migration is not only a government priority but also the country's priority. As such, interventions are being made and tender processes are done in collaboration with Treasury to avoid all the delays. For example, in the issuing of vouchers like Social Development does, it removes the burden from the Department. The work that is left is for standards to be clear on the specifics of the voucher, and people can take the voucher to the retailers or manufacturer that they have been directed to in order get the device they can afford. They are free to add to the amount that has been given on the voucher. The Department is finalising this through engagement with all stakeholders on the exact amount of the voucher. Once this process is finalised, USAASA is just there for contracting, since it has been very weak on contract documentation or management – which is why there will be a team assisting USAASA. This is a project of more than ten years. There have been Boards, Executives, full time, but these are the problems that have been encountered starting with 1.5 million that was procured at USAASA. As Members may recall, the matter went to the public protector, reports were issued and decisions needed to be taken. This is what the Department is taking into consideration, including lessons from the past. It is important not to leave it at one agency but to bring everybody on board. For example, on delays of the COVID-19 intervention IDTVs, the report that the Minister got was that there was something wrong with the specification; this reflects on the technical know-how of the team at USAASA. That is what led to the delay and that is why the Department is working with the private sector because they also have expertise. As such, without looking at the specifications of the company that must supply, but the standards that have been approved, the experts would recommend the best approach.  

On getting proper governance structures at USAASA, she indicated that this matter is before Cabinet. By end of the following week, there would be proper governance structure based on the decisions that would be taken on USAASA.

On the political economic discussion with the DTIC, she explained that DTIC are also responsible to make sure that the industry players qualify and do everything that is expected in relation to the work of DTIC. This is how the list of approved manufacturers who meet the standards was received, and the Department would then engage with them. The Department is looking into the issue of localisation. The Digital Economy Master Plan, which is going to the Cabinet and will be taken to Parliament, discusses the need to industrialise the electronics industry. The country cannot remain a dumping site. DTIC should tighten things. The Ministry will be issuing a policy direction and will inform the Committee. This policy direction discusses the technologies that are being used.

In moving from analogue, South Africa will soon be allowing analogue-based technologies to be used, whether phones, TVs or any other analogue device brought to South Africa. How is it assisting the country? This is to avoid being a dumping site. People just sell these items cheaper because they know that they are valueless. Others produce smart TVs and sell them at a cheaper cost, knowing that they are looking at the data they gain access to through these devices. Therefore, there is fast tracking of the Data and Cloud Policy to protect citizens. The regulator and all stakeholders will come on board later. Much as the regime of the old legislation is still operational; the digital things have both positive and negative impact that policymakers and legislators need to consider. In this industry, one cannot stifle innovation; things change every day. This requires agility from the legislators and regulators to have an appreciation that if a policy or bill takes too long to pass, things will change by the time it gets passed. The country needs to take its rightful place in the digital economy and not just be a dumping site. The Minister said that she saw a video of some men who visited a site in Grabouw where the country used to produce satellites and under the Department, but now functions were split between science and technology as well as DTIC. This is a critical entity and building space that government would have used. Without a full appreciation for economies around this, South Africa will continue to be talked about as just a consumer. The country has the capacity. Partnership with private sector should not be something to shy away from. It is not about state capture but about recognising the capacity within South Africa, even within private sector, to complement the implementation of the work. An enabling environment should be created by proper policies and regulations. The entire ecosystem should be brought together, since the current era requires collaboration from everyone, not just government or private sector alone. Government, Parliament, private sector and the committees need each other for things move.

The Minister said she hinted on the abandoned site in Grabouw where the Committee can consider visiting. The Committee can engage with other portfolio committees to jointly find ways to utilise such agencies that can take South Africa far and are critical for the country to take its space in the tech industry. This can be done through the right laws, regulations and policies, as well as strengthening the relationship with the private sector.

Presentation by Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT)

The Department presented to the Committee the current progress since the previous meeting. There has been appointment of installers with SENTECH leading the installation management. Installation of decoders commenced in Free State, with 6 300 installations done so far, proceeding with installations in Northern Cape and North West in February 2021. There is a Voucher Subsidy System where SITA was engaged regarding the development of the voucher distribution system to ensure citizen data protection. Digital TVs (IDTVs) for digital terrestrial reception are already available in major retailers. There is an aggressive delivery plan and timelines being continually revised to realise early Analogue Switch Off and Spectrum release. There is full cooperation of implementing State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Consultations with provinces are on-going with the Northern Cape, North West, Limpopo and Free State consulted in January 2021. There are on-going consultations in the district and local municipalities while decoder rollout is underway. High priority is placed to local installers at municipal level as part of local empowerment. A phased provincial hard switch off plan has been agreed to with broadcasters and SENTECH, to get close to the December 2021 target and to further mitigate the timeline slippage.

The plan is to have the revised delivery plan carried through a period of just over one calendar year, between March 2021 and March 2022. The revised delivery plan will be continuously optimised in consideration of potential risks and other external variables. On challenges in implementation of phase one, there is inadequate budget provided for installations, inadequate installer capacity at district and local municipalities, and socio-economic challenges inhibiting participation by the communities. To mitigate this, USAASA and SENTECH have agreed on an approach to work against the installation fee challenge, and Sentech published another tender in January 2021 for direct appointment of local installers. Project Steering Committees at provincial level are monitoring and resolving challenges as they arise.

Discussion

Mr Z Mbhele (DA) thanked the Chairperson and Members for welcoming him to the Committee. He asked about the intention stated to work through partnerships with the different spheres of government. He said he was concerned that there might be risk of overreliance on provincial and local government spheres in the implementation of the plan. This is given that this work is not their core business and it is easy for it to fall off their agenda since there are many other things that they are doing; this is also given that the capacity at local government level is very thin on the ground, based on previous reports of underperformance and failure to deliver even on their core governance and service delivery mandates over the years. Considering this, what is the risk mitigation plan over and above what has already been given at high level to minimise those risks? Otherwise, it will just be a countdown to a scenario of what could be called “signal load shedding” where households fall through gaps as the phased switch-offs are happening if they are not ready to make the seamless transition. This dimension of the partnership with local and provincial spheres appears blurry and is a big risk area.

Ms Faku said that the Minister, in her remarks, had responded to most of the concerns she had. Although the Department has presented, what are the challenges they have been faced with? The presentation indicated that local people benefited from the project in terms of employment. Can the Department explain more on collecting data from households?

The Acting DG mentioned budget constraints; this is a concern. How will the Department make sure that the project does not fail? What about the set-top boxes that are in the Post Office, are they still there? Are monthly fees that were being paid previously still being paid? Although work has been done, the Committee wants to see more.

The Committee is happy with the news that there will be a monthly report to the Committee, so that Members can keep check. On capacity, there was previously an agreement that was signed off. Can USAASA and SENTECH explain their working relations to Committee? The Committee needs to know if there are challenges. She appreciated the appointment of the DG in the Department; this was long overdue. This will help so that there are not too many people in acting roles.

Mr Mackenzie thanked the Acting DG for the presentation. He asked about the Covid-19 intervention for matriculants given IDTVs to enable them to participate in digital classrooms. The initiative was rolled out in 2020 as a mitigation effort to assist poor matric students who were stuck without the ability to participate in lessons, which placed them at a disadvantage in writing their exams. The rollout was rather late for 2020 matriculants who lost a year. This was a tragedy for the students and the nation. How many IDTVs were given out last year in time for the matric exams? How were the matriculants identified through the Department of Basic Education (DBE)? How many TVs have been distributed this year so far? What is the grand total? By when will the matriculants get the TV sets? School has started this week and it is critical that as much assistance be given, especially to students from indigent households.

On BDM, he noted that the presentation mentioned that the rollout programme will begin on 08 March 2021, and the Department gave an indication that it would be completed by year 2022 since broadcasters on analogue 700 megahertz (MHz) bands need to move off those bands before ICASA can assign them to mobile operators. He mentioned “ABS- Absolutely Bloody Final”. What is the ABF switch off for analogue that the Committee would hold the Department to? Can this switch off date be guaranteed without leaving one South African unable to access the public broadcaster?  For many people in rural communities it is the only thing they have for entertainment, infotainment and education. “We cannot afford to have one South African without it due to no fault of their own.”

On local production, he noted that there is 70% local content. While this is a noble idea, he said he was getting an impression that there appeared to be some hesitancy around the standard. For how long is the Department prepared to delay the process to ensure that local components or local manufactures adhered to standard? Is it not a priority to get this project completed regardless? There are noble intentions behind empowering local manufacturers, but the priority must be to move people off the 700 MHz band. How are these two competing interests weighed up? Is there any foreseen conflict in the future? What difference has SENTECH made to the installation progress as seen in the implementation management programme?

Ms P Van Damme (DA) referred to the Minister’s remarks and what seems to be her deep commitment to focusing on the digital technologies aspect of the Portfolio Committee, which is commendable. She said she was rather sensing a frustration regarding certain aspects related to digital technologies in line with other departments. In talking about the digital transformation of the country, it is important to talk about the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) as a transversal approach, where each government department understands that digital technologies fall under this Portfolio Committee and the specific issues that need to be dealt with by the specific department. For example, in talking of social grants, how can digital solutions be found so that the grants are delivered without people having to stand in long queues?

On finance, how can the economy be grown to bring in companies that can grow the economy? She suggested creating a council that specifically focuses on digital technologies and innovation; this has also been done in the United Kingdom (UK). For example, the Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR Commission) that was with the Presidency, comprising mostly members from the private sector, could perhaps be enhanced with DGs from the different departments that could be effected in order to properly start rolling out. The lead must be for the Department in making sure that the approach and the relevant parties are in place. It is important to agree with the Minister that the private sector is brought on board. It cannot be that the government is the one at the centre of rolling out digital transformation. While policy must be created, government must bring on board start-ups and private sector. If there is unnecessary red tape that hinders a company to set up a business in South Africa, the Council must be able to identify where the problems are and make it easier with companies to set up business.

On BDM, she said that there is deep scepticism because every year it is said that it is the year that it will happen, but nothing happens. She said she was deeply sceptical and needed to be convinced that the March deadline will be met. It is important for the public to be given the right information. While Cabinet made a commitment in December 2020 to have this done by March, the realities must be taken into consideration. Looking at the challenges that the Acting DG spoke about, there are serious challenges, including burden of costs, human resources and procurement distribution of decoders and kits. While waiting for local distributors is something that must be put out to tender, are there companies that can do it? How long will the tender process take? How long does the manufacturing take place? What about finalisation of vouchers management? What about shortfall and funding? Responding to the awareness campaigns? These are major, major problems. This Committee has been talking about this endlessly and Members also did so last year. She said she did not believe that this could happen by March, which is in two- or three-weeks’ time, with these major challenges. Can the Department assure the Committee very clearly that these deadlines will be met? She agreed with Ms Faku’s suggestion of having weekly reports so that Members can closely monitor the process and if those deadlines are not met, accountability must take place.

For the decoders sitting at the Post Office, there was a R3 million figure that was mentioned. This is money that is being wasted. How long will those decoders keep staying there? On a very conceptual level, will the Minister have proper discussion with other departments and consider the idea of a council that takes into consideration all the transformations that can happen across government departments and public-private partnerships?

Ms Kubheka thanked the Department for the presentation and said that the Committee’s dream is to see the analogue-to-digital switch being done. She was happy because the Department did explain the challenges, and things are starting to shape up regarding collaboration among departments involved in this programme. But did the DCDT finally sign any Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with USAASA and SENTECH? The Committee will continue doing oversight to see that the programme is being monitored. This project should not fail in this year of 2021/22. The Minister has tried to explain clearly on accountability, where the Department and relevant stakeholders have signed the contracts on how best this project can be pushed.

She referred to Post Office storage, which was R5 million. Is there any movement there? While plans are there, funding is key. Funding will be sorted if the DCDT can start while they are struggling to get the shortage that was being raised. The Department should try to progress so that at least when reporting within six months, there can be positive reports about the project.

Responses

 

USAASA

Mr Frik Nieman, Acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO), USAASA, responded to the question on tender of IDTVs. He said that tenders began in 2020 and closed on 02 July 2020. There was a process of evaluation and adjudication. It transpired that the tender was nonresponsive, where there was a capacity issue as was already alluded to by the Minister. The capacity challenges were around the technical aspects of the tender. There was an administrative evaluation, and the mandatory and technical evaluation, where they got stuck. This was directly on capacity issues.

On the number of TVs distributed in 2020, he said that there were no TVs distributed over the last year and none have been distributed this year. The entity will go out on a fresh tender, which is yet to be advertised, because USAASA does not have an executive caretaker right now, who can sign off the delegation of authority. There is a slight challenge on funding. There was approval from Treasury to retain R242 million, which was the accumulated interest in USAASA’s bank account. That money was retained in financial year 2020/21, which will end on 31 March 2021. There is an overlap with the academic year since the academic year is from January to December, while the financial year ends in March. If the tender begins now, there is little to no chance that the entity will be able to commit the funds by 31st March 2021. USAASA wrote a letter to Treasury through the Department to request that should the process overlap in the financial year, the money can also be retained into FY2021/22. This was sent to Treasury two weeks ago. Treasury has since requested a meeting on 17 February 2021 to discuss the letter. Once Treasury gives this approval to retain the money in FY21/22, USAASA will go on tender, because the entity still feels that with the second wave of the Covid-19 virus, there is still a need for matriculants students to receive the TVs.

Ms Chwayita Madikizela, Executive Operations Manager, USAASA, responded to the question of the process that was followed in coming up with a beneficiary list of matriculants. She indicated that USAASA worked with DBE. They went directly to the schools where meetings were held with all the various provincial structures. The forms were disseminated in schools to be completed and sent back to USAASA via courier service. USAASA did the entire capturing and sent to SAPO for verification and approval. Approximately 400 000 forms were sent to various schools across provinces, and about 9 000 of those where received. There was not much buy in from the schools, as many of the schools were closing due to Covid-19. As such, a different mechanism needed to be employed. Unfortunately, USAASA were still using the process of manual forms. Of the 9 000 forms that were received, about 4 500 were approved, many of those that were not approved were either those who currently have a television set, which means that they will form part of the voucher system. USAASA is still thinking of how to do things differently this year as they are putting together a panel of suppliers through a tender process.

On the MoU between USAASA and SENTECH, USAASA received approval from National Treasury on 18 September 2021 to on the appointment of SENTECH, and work started on 12 October. The only outstanding issue in the MoU was the escalated costs being proposed by SENTECH because of moving the date from March 2022 to March 2021. This is currently under discussions, as USAASA were not satisfied with the cost breakdowns. However, this will likely fall away because right now, it is approaching the fifth month of the signed service-level agreement (SLA), which means that the accelerated six months programme then falls away. USAASA is still looking at how it can bring back the dates proposed by SENTECH and deliver the project before those proposed dates. There is a Steering Committee that meets weekly between the USAASA, SENTECH, SAPO and the Department, whose aim is to unlock all issues on the ground. The Department is also spearheading the process of stakeholder engagement for the project and together they are all represented in those stakeholder engagements. The process is that once a district has been engaged, they will then start to work. However, a problem that was identified as delaying the progress of the programme, as the plan was to run a parallel process in progression. That parallel process would then enable and unlock the volumes that are needed to roll out the programme by March. The stakeholder engagement component at the provincial level has now started and the Department has ploughed through all the right people that needed to be engaged.

SENTECH

Mr Mlamli Booi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), SENTECH, responded to the question on the progress that has been made and the challenges. He said that the agreement was signed in October 2020 and installation of the set-top boxes began in October and November. They are targeting to complete the installation of the 860 boxes. This is a 12-month project, which was signed off as an SLA with USAASA. However, SENTECH appreciated the challenges faced because of the timeline, and they worked together with USAASA to try to collaborate in finding a solution to streamline the project. But it became clear that there are several obstacles that would face as anticipated. In installation of a fast-tracked project such as this, there is need for a lot of stakeholder consultation. SENTECH started with Free State in October and 18 towns are currently being serviced with installation. The DG already mentioned the numbers of what was achieved since last year. The target for completing 6 000 installations for set-top boxes is end of September 2021. In this quarter, the North West will be launched. There have been challenges in local engagements, but the Department has been very helpful to help SENTECH manage the local stakeholders. At the beginning, SENTECH were told that they could not begin until they had consulted with the locals. This problem is being dealt with by DCDT. They are targeting to begin as planned. But the work will need active cooperation of all the stakeholders than ever before. There were challenges faced with installation, for instance on uncompetitive installation fees, since installer prices range between R350 and R450, but SENTECH was offering them R250. Another challenge was the legacy programmes of the previously installed set-top box, where in some areas the local people refused new installations until faults on previous installations were solved. The project team of USAASA and the Department have dealt with those matters to pave way for SENTECH installers to continue with the installation. Engagement is at the critical part of the success of the project. There is need for every stakeholder to be involved.

Another critical part is the completion of registration of beneficiaries, which USAASA is doing. USAASA is making good progress, which SENTECH appreciates. On whether the switch off will be made by 2021, he said it is a huge collaborative project that needs collaboration between SENTECH and stakeholders like broadcasters, because it is their viewers that are being dealt with. SENTECH has been servicing the broadcasters to deliver the content to viewers. There is great commitment to collaborate between SENTECH and the broadcasters, led by the PMO and the Acting DG at the Department. There is also collaboration with SAPO on distribution of the set-top boxes and costs of having to bring installers from elsewhere, since SENTECH does not have sufficient installers in all locations. This area is being sorted out by USAASA. However, SENTECH is still within the 12-month contracted period. This is the target to finish the 860 boxes by the end of September.

DCDT

Ms Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani, Acting DG, DCDT, responded to the question of definite timeframes. The Department is most certainly permitted to the end of March, with the last major cities to be switched off by 26th March. The process after the switch off is called the restacking, where there is preparation of towers or sites to be restacked to be able to use for INT services. That takes about three weeks, hence probably from March 26. On the readiness of the sites to be used for INT services, she said that it would take three weeks afterwards for them to be fully operational and ready. What the broadcasters and SENTECH have looked at is starting the switch off, which will be a learning experience, with smaller towns to then see the appetite and the experience. Even though the work is being done province by province, whilst the rest of Free State would have been completed by the end of March, Bloemfontein will come back because they have many numbers. Bloemfontein Metro will be switched off at a later stage. It will be the same for other major cities across the country. Eastern Cape will be complete by the end of July, but Port Elizabeth will be switched off early next year. KZN will switch off by end of September, but Durban Metro will be done in March. Durban, Pretoria, and Johannesburg will be the last cities. Western Cape will switch of by the end of November but Cape Town who would switch later. The Department will have to create that awareness and ensure that there is uptake and stimulate even those households that are not subsidised to go and purchase devices. The Department is very sensitive to this, being mindful that this year and the following are very important because of local government elections. The medium is used to communicate important messages.

For education, currently with the Covid-19 crisis the medium is important for communicating health and other government messages. On supplements, she indicated the Department is working with the local municipalities in identifying entities. There is a form that the municipalities need to complete to indicate their capabilities on the number of households a particular installer can possibly install per day and per week. After each installation, there is deployment of district coordinators and the call centre. The Department will have a full turnaround platform to contact the recipients to confirm if the installer has come, whether the device is working and if they are receiving signal. The payment would then be issued. This will also assist because the Department will have a map and plan on a weekly basis. Where installers are falling short in the rapid pace of installation, the engagement with the private sector would be to supplement capacity in those communities so that the tight time frame is met.

The Department is working with the local and provincial governments. However, for the project the Department has a mitigation action contingency plan in place. For example, municipalities will give the Department a list of indigent households, but the verification will be done through the database that the Department has with the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), to verify the information of the residents within that household. The set-top boxes or the voucher systems will be given after the verification. This is key because the municipalities know the environment in each of the areas much better than the Department, since the Department does not have provincial or local government presence. Therefore, collaboration with various stakeholders is important in this project. As indicated in the presentation on budget constraints, it is a matter that the Department is continuously engaging National Treasury on. Even before the announcement, the Department has been engaging Treasury daily, together with the Presidency. There is an appreciation from all parties on the need for government to try to find means of catering for this shortfall. The Department will provide an update to the Portfolio Committee once it resolves this. However, the roll out will not to be inhibited because the Department will be commencing with these priority projects in the depletion of the current stock. When the Department start from May, it will spend the commitment and surety on the availability of the shortfall of the budget for the rest of the country. The Department is committed to deliver this project this year since there are other projects that are entirely dependent on the migration. This is not just for the spectrum of the high demand and the options, but the critical government services, even those that the Department is rolling out that could serve on this platform on the availability of spectrum that could be released from this in order to reach the citizens of the country.

The Chairperson asked the Deputy Minister to respond to the question on public employment.

The Deputy Minister, Ms Pinky Kekana, said that the DG would have a proper answer on this. She said that she would only (in the overall) speak on the commitment based on what the Minster said and what USAASA said.

Follow-up discussion

Ms Van Damme said she asked for a confirmation that the deadline will be met after ten years, but none of the people that spoke gave an indication that on absolute certainty this will happen. All that were listed were further problems. USAASA said it would not be able to procure by the end of the year. She felt that this was a situation where the nation is being misled on a matter that cannot be delivered upon. Last year, the Committee said that the whole digital migration process needed to be re-considered. “Technology has moved on, and by rolling this out we will again be left behind.” From what has been said, there is no certainty that the deadline will be met. While the Minister made a commitment in Cabinet, maybe she was put under pressure to give a date, which was then included in the SONA. The Committee deserves to be given a clear overview. The idea of starting with provinces, then seeing whether there are problems before going to the next province, is wasteful expenditure. The Department is trying to meet a rush deadline that cannot be met and saying if it does not work the problems will be fixed. This is not satisfactory ten years later. The Committee should have been presented with a clear plan, with the Department having identified problems of implementation, and then saying clearly that they are confident that implementation can happen without any problems. The Committee has just been given numerous problems. There is no way the March deadline will be met. Can the Department convince Members that the deadline will be met? If not, can a more feasible deadline be given? Otherwise, the reports that will be given to the Committee will be about the same problems and money would have been wasted. The Committee cannot sit as an oversight body and say that it is happy going ahead to spend money to do this when it clearly cannot be done. Can the Committee be given the truth? The Acting DG, USAASA and everyone that spoke have just given problems. There is no confidence that the installers can do their job 100%. If the Committee cannot be convinced, then the public will also not be convinced. 

Mr Mackenzie asked about the remarks on the tender. He said that if he were the Minister, somebody would be in a lot of trouble because when the Minister spoke in her opening remarks, she was very positive about IDTVs being rolled out to matriculants, and highlighted this as a successful part of the programme. It is either that the Minister is misleading the Committee or someone is misleading the Minister, since she does not seem to have an accurate picture. The lack of technical capacity based on the specifications of the tender of IDTVs the process will have to be restarted. Meanwhile, matriculants are waiting to benefit, and the third wave of Covid-19 is a reality. If the third wave comes, schools will be shut down again and there will be another set of matriculants disadvantaged, as if the inequality in the country is not enough as it is. This digital divide and the lack of IDTVs will just enhance that digital divide. If he were the minister, he would have looked internationally to find a supplier for two million IDTVs because the matriculants’ future is the priority. Get a tender out and request for proposals on that basis because the priority must be to get IDTVs to matriculants. “Otherwise, we are failing them and the country, as far as the future is concerned. He requested that the Minister starts looking very seriously into this. The Department is trying to balance priorities of local procurement verses the future of the children, when it is being shown through the tender process that the country is incapable of meeting those technical specifications. He said he would be extremely angry if he were the Minister, and extremely disappointed if he were a matriculant in an indigent household.

He agreed with the statement of Ms Van Damme on the switch-off date. Whenever Mr Booi from SENTECH appears before the Committee, he leaves Members with a very warm feeling.  His entity is competent; the SENTECH Board, Executive and staff stand head and shoulders above many entities in terms of competence and excellence. It is reassuring to know that they are involved in this process. When SENTECH says they will meet this deadline it is believable because the entity has shown itself to be trustworthy, competent and efficient. Perhaps more responsibility should be heaped on their shoulders. No good deed goes unpunished.

Mr Mbhele followed up on the response that was given to his question, which he said gave some comfort as there was clarification on the nature of the partnership implementation with provincial and local governments as a matrix-driven plan, because input would first be received from the local governments on their estimated capacity to contribute to the rollout. So, there would be a clear set of figures of the number of households, where they are, and the nature of the help that needs to be given to them.

In relation with Ms Van Damme’s comment that there is huge scepticism about the capacity and realities of the intention stated, when should the Committee expect to receive a time-bound framework of that matrix-driven plan? This will help the Committee to monitor and interrogate on a regular basis whether the targets in the matrix of the number of households is being reached, that the process is completed within deadline, and whether the figures that are given as the baseline or benchmarks for the plans then indicates a shortfall. It is better to know upfront if there is going to be a shortfall in ensuring comprehensive coverage, rather than to only stumble over that and realise it afterwards. When can the Committee receive a time-bound, matrix-driven plan based on the inputs received from the local government partners and provinces, which will then aid the Committee’s monitoring and oversight to be concrete and to be detailed?

Ms Faku agreed with Mr Mackenzie’s comment about SENTECH that Mr Mlamli Booi must understand that SENTECH has a huge responsibility in ensuring that the project moves forward. It is important to appreciate the honesty that he has come to tell the Committee of the challenges SENTECH faced. Mr Booi said that sometimes it is difficult to work with a lot of stakeholders in a project. There is a project plan that needs to be reviewed every time. If some people must be cut off, this must happen. Chances are that the deadline will not be met. Can SENTECH and USAASA prove the Committee wrong?

When Mr Nieman was in the Department as the Acting CFO and he was doing wonders. What is the stumbling block for USAASA not to be able to deliver the IDTVs?  Mr Mackenzie has suggested solutions. These need to be taken that into account. If there is not enough capacity, USAASA needs to be honest with the political heads since they are saying one thing and USAASA is saying something different. When USAASA comes to the Committee again, they should be honest with the Committee. Members have emphasised the importance of consequence management. If people cannot perform their tasks, the Committee cannot tolerate such anymore. A lot of money has been spent in this project and it must not fail. It is understandable that USAASA is trying their best, but they have not yet done their best. Moving forward, it is important for the team at USAASA to sit and ensure that the next set of matriculants who started on Monday should have access to the IDTVs at least by 01 April 2021 – even if it is 10%. What is the stumbling block? It is important that local people benefit from this project. Failure will not be good. A detailed report should be brought to the Committee so that Members are updated monthly. Even if there should be an extra Committee meeting, Members need to focus on SENTECH and USAASA so that this project can kick-start. It cannot fail because a lot of money and time have been spent in this project.

Ms Kubheka said that she was covered by the comments made by other Members. She appreciated the responses from Mr Booi in raising the critical frustrations on their end and being clear and open to the Committee. The problems that were reported about IDTVs last year should not be repeated. Matriculants should be assisted. The issue of IDTVs was not only for matriculants but also other beneficiaries. Let USAASA push harder so that the project does not fail in this financial year. The timeframe is key. The Committee will support the project. Let USAASA try to push to finally achieve the success of this project. If there are challenges the Department must not hide them, so that the Committee can assist how best to move forward. The Minister raised the issue of the rapid response team; this team should not just sit and relax but do its job to assist the Department on this programme.  

The Chairperson said that some questions had not been clearly responded to. He talked about the IDTVs and concern of Members about timelines. The point raised by USAASA about failure has not been about Treasury not releasing money, since Treasury would have already made the money available when they went through the procurement process. The collapse was on the mandatory and technical side of USAASA in the procurement process. This point is important, so that when USAASA goes back to Treasury, it is not just about getting time extension because matriculants would have started yesterday and there are 12 months to do it within. The point is that there was time to do this, but it collapsed on mandatory and technical side. This is a major aspect of the evaluation. What will USAASA do differently in addressing that aspect in a way that would convince Treasury to give it another try? This is being raised because of other capacity problems within USAASA. The Committee needs straight answers. It is not just about the suppliers being local or from outside; it is an internal matter of capacity to do that evaluation, especially on mandatory and technical, which are a major area of work.

On the project side, there is sense that SENTECH would have submitted and said that the work would take 12 months. Therefore, the six months fast tracking may not be possible given the challenges within what they can deliver, while on the other side USAASA feels that the six months fast-tracking falls off given the other interventions that will be done. This is usually the problem between entities, with the main issue being forgotten. The main issue is to deliver on the BDM programme. Have the matters been resolved? The Committee should not be told about another engagement that will happen between SENTECH and USAASA to try and realign what was previously discussed and what is being discussed. The Committee needs certainty so Members can do oversight. The governance structure is needed at USAASA and on people at an operational level who make this happen. Will the timelines given be met?

For advance planning, learning from the experiences in the Free State and understanding the constituencies in the country, as it relates to localisation economic empowerment, the trend would be the same because people want to participate in their own development. There will likely be a repeat of what was experienced in Free State. Since the next provinces are already known, is there a plan to continue engaging the stumbling blocks that were experienced? This way, it will just be about implementation when they get to the provinces rather than beginning discussions with stakeholders on how they need to be involved. This would give confidence that the focus is not just on the subsidised, which is dependent on a tender of government but also addressing the unsubsidised, which gives natural subsidisation amongst people themselves and speeds up the spectrum because people would switch over themselves. There needed to be clear examples of how the two have been managed where the switching off has happened, given the current discussion with manufacturers. Where the switch off has happened already, how have other users who are not in the subsidised market been treated given the challenge of manufacturers? What is being done to ensure that in the switching off process no South African would be left out of access to the national broadcaster? The responses to these questions will help the Committee to draft a way forward on the discussion.

The Chairperson said that while there are two other main items in the agenda they would be fast-tracked because they are in the main matters processed. But the current discussion on BDM will define the break of the ten years that Ms Van Damme referred to. Whether in this Administration, the executive at the entities and Parliament can break from the past, where previously Members were just part of the statistics that oversight was done, but the programme has not yet been delivered.

Ms Jordan-Dyani apologised for not being clear in her previous response. As indicated earlier, the biggest challenge is the technical switch element and SENTECH is managing that and is fully capable in terms of management. There is a plan for the distribution of the set-top boxes that are currently there, including issuing of the voucher system to the rest of the provinces. The main challenge is whether the Department can confirm that no single household in South Africa will be left behind. It is a bigger challenge even beyond the Department. As earlier indicated, the Department will extensively roll out awareness campaign and programmes, but they cannot force households to go and purchase a device. There are about six million households that need to have some form of a device. The Department is exploring means of encouraging this beyond the awareness campaign. The Department does not have a plan beyond the awareness and the communication strategy.  This will be explored with the engagement of the broadcasters and a plan will be devised. The confirmation of the technical and set-top box rollout from the government to the indigent households can be done. The switching is fully within the capable hands of SENTECH, the challenge being the purchasing of device and uptake by the public. The Department is trying to come up with a stronger strategy to address this.

Mr Nieman said that USAASA is committed and passionate about delivering the TVs to the most vulnerable people of South Africa. On the Act, USAASA cannot commit funds to what they do not have. Unfortunately, it is six weeks away from the end of the financial year, and in order for funds to be committed for the 2021 matriculants there needs to be the blessing of Treasury to make sure that the funds will be available beyond 31 March. As the Committee is aware, the approval for retention of funds was for FY2020/21, ending in about six weeks. For USAASA to commit funds will be against the law if there is no approval. If USAASA want to commit the funds it must be before 31 March, and another request must be made to retain the funds even further. To avoid this, USAASA engaged the National Treasury and as indicated, there would be a meeting on 18 February 2021, at two o'clock, where the Department, the entity and Treasury would meet to discuss the matter of the funding on matriculants.

The Chairperson said that the question on what USAASA will do differently from a capacity point of view on the mandatory and technical evaluation to convince Treasury that there is a reason for them to consider giving the approval was not addressed.

Mr Nieman said that USAASA has learnt a lot of lessons in the process. In the submission to Treasury, the entity has indicated that they will be appointing a specialist to make sure that when the tender is re-advertised the terms of reference comply with everything so that USAASA does not go through the same process again.

Dr Fhatuwani Mutuvhi, Chief Director: Digital Migration Programme, DCDT, responded to the question on how the Department managed to switch off Senekal and SKA. There are ten towns that are served by one transmitter. A team was deployed, supported by media engagement, radio and TV, and it communicated that the analogue platform would be switched off by a specific date. The Department mobilised all broadcasters, ETV, Multichoice and other players in industry. As indicated there will be a meeting with broadcasters on the timeline for the switching off of particular transmitters. For the ten transmitters, in a period of five to six days the Department is connecting those who have registered, while getting the team ready to take care of those who might be late adopters of technologies or late adopters of the system to be connected after they have switched off. The broadcasters will be there to market their decoders, so that those who rely on retail markets are able to purchase them and migrate accordingly. The Department has a deadline of 08 March for the first three transmitters switch-offs. The same process of awareness campaigns on the ground will be employed, including using other media platforms, while making decoders available for those who rely on retail to purchase of decoders. These include DSTV and Multichoice decoders, while rolling out the government subsidised ones. Once the switch off was done in Senekal the Department learnt that there was a small number of about 110 households that did not register. SAPO was ready and registered them in one day, and they were connected after two or three days. This is the approach that the Department will take are in getting all entities ready, including SENTECH, USAASA, SAPO and retailers to provide decoders.

On dealing with the legacy issues, the lesson learnt from the Free State is that there was poor installation of decoders and some decoders that were not installed. Resolving these issues has been the resumption of rollout in Free State. The Department is engaging municipalities individually to understand their problems and to come up with a plan running in parallel. While SENTECH is rolling out decoders, they are also resolving legacy issues. These are the interventions put in place to ensure that demands and expectations of stakeholders are satisfied. It is an enormous amount of work that needs to be done given all the provinces. In the past, the decoder rollout was happening across seven provinces, excluding Western Cape and Gauteng, as they were targeted to be the last provinces. Work started with the borderline provinces. The Department has started the engagement and in the coming weeks, there will be meetings with three provincial governments – Northern Cape, North West and Limpopo. The pertinent issues will be identified and addressed individually with the affected municipalities, while getting the team, like SENTECH, ready to address the problems in line with what the Minister and the DG have indicated. The Department is using local installers and this exercise has already started. A database of local installers is being received to address post installation support. If a decoder is broken, a local person who installed in that household can provide education and check whether the decoder is broken or not in order for it to be exchanged with SAPO.

The Deputy Minister said she had been listening to the comments from Members following the presentation. The commitment by the President is being taken very seriously to meet the 22 March deadline. As Members said, timelines have been presented to the Committee before but they have not been met.  From the systems that have been put together and what the CEO of SENTECH said about mobilising critical stakeholders, the timeline would be met. The process of migration does not only apply to the indigent, but it also creates an opportunity for the highest demand spectrum, something that the President is committed to. Once the migration happens, SABC will have an opportunity to be competitive and be able to have multiple channels to also move out of the quagmire in which it finds itself. This process opens an opportunity to industrialise and localise so that the tech industry can expand from South African based businesses. There will be liaising with the Department of Economic Development, especially to avoid issues of damping of redundant technology. The DCDT will ensure that it meets the timelines, also considering the timelines of the China-USA tensions. The Department would not want to come back to the Committee to say some of the chips have not arrived because of the tension.

After her engagement with the Minister, she will be able to share with the Committee on progress between the manufacturers and USAASA in this area. It will be very important for the Committee to play its oversight role and see that nobody is left behind when the switch happens. The Committee should do the monitoring and evaluation. The governance structure of USAASA is very important. USAASA needs to be stabilised because it will become illegal for the Department to use money when there is no governance and accountability from the Board and Executive side. What Members have said has been taken seriously.

The Chairperson said that much time has been spent on this item because of its importance as it also defines the break from the ten years in this sixth administration. The Committee will be dependent on decisions to be made in the coming two weeks. As the Minister indicated on timelines, two major items will be before Cabinet next week – first on the governance structures and secondly the rapid response team that will drive the programme. There will be discussion with National Treasury, which has a bearing on the intervention on IDTVs that was made last year, to be able to continue with them. While there are budget cuts on saving and interest, this will close the gap, not only for matriculants but also households that are targeted and those that needed to be subsidised in BDM. These needed to be cleared because they have a bearing on the timeframe, since the Committee needs clear timeframes for every activity to ensure realisation of BDM and what the President has communicated to the nation. The Committee must approach Parliament to amend programme, even if it means setting a day outside the normal slots, to discuss those details based on the information of pending decisions that are important in getting on track. The Committee should find a suitable date, which will be immediately after the timelines that have been put for Cabinet and meeting with Treasury. The Committee’s oversight visits to some of the sites will have to be changed by considering which areas are priority in line with the discussions. Regular reports should be received from the project team.

The Chairperson proposed to move to the next two items on adoption of the revised report on annual performance of the Department and its entities, and adoption of the programme. Members can go through the minutes for any grammatical issues and send them to Committee administration. In the next meeting the minutes can then be adopted, including today’s minutes.

Ms Kubheka said that in considering the programme changes, since there was discussion on BDM and areas where the Department has already started with their programme, an oversight visit could be set.

The Chairperson said that the proposal was indeed to change the item on oversight visit in the draft programme so that it will be specific to province that has been switched off, since that would give a practical experience.

Adoption of the Committee Report on Revised Annual Performance Plans and Strategic Plans of the DCDT and its entities

 

The Chairperson said that in the adoption of the report, the Committee would go through page-by-page, but spend more time on the observations and recommendations from Members.

Mr Mackenzie commented on point 6.4 under NEMISA; point (6) said: “NEMISA wants its platforms to be zero-rated to allow accessibility to all rural areas that do not have connectivity.” This is not correct. It should be that “NEMISA wants its platforms to be zero-rated to allow accessibility to all people who cannot afford.” It is not only to rural areas but includes those in an urban area who have absolutely no money for data, who still want to access and NEMISA platform. Zero-rating websites is about people not paying to access those sites.

The Chairperson agreed that the focus should be on people and not specific locations, given the challenges.

Mr Mackenzie commented on point 6.5 point (6), saying that the word ‘appreciation’ implies a sense of gratitude. The Committee should use words like these very carefully, because one does not praise a fish for swimming or a bird for flying since it is something they do automatically. The appointment of a Chief Financial Officer is like swimming. The statement should rather say: “the Committee noted that the Chief Financial Officer would be appointed…” and not ‘appreciation’.

Mr Mackenzie commented on the point that said: “that spectrum will be released in March 2021, and the process was on track…” He said that this would be the auction process. Would the spectrum itself be released in March? After the auction is completed, it would need to be adjudicated and decided upon, and spectrum bands would then be assigned. There is a process of work that needs to be done by ICASA. The sentence is not strictly accurate; can it be changed to “the spectrum auction process will be finalised in March 2021, subject to litigation, the auction process was on track”? This is because there is litigation happening now.

The Chairperson said that he agreed on the auction process being on track but adding the new reality now would then change the fact that this was out of a meeting where this was discussed.

Mr Mackenzie pointed out a grammatical correction on 6.7 under ZODNA, on points (2) and (4); it should read: “that ZADNA have…”

Ms Kubheka commented on point (5) where there is grammatical error, it should rather read: “is prioritised…”

Ms Van Damme said that the Committee started discussing last year on how to focus more on 4IR. Could a recommendation be included that the Department table as a plan to detail proposals regarding the Digital Transformation that the country needs to go through in line with 4IR?

The Chairperson said this is still in line with what was discussed before. If Members recall, there was a response on this that there would be a presentation by the 4IR Commission to Parliament, not just to the Committee. This was when Members wanted the 4IR Commission to come and brief the Committee. There is no disagreement on this.

Mr Mackenzie said that the powers afforded to the Committee on making resolutions are exceptional, and it is really one of the big noises that Committee can make together. His concern, which other Members have previously raised, is that there is no tracking of resolutions made. There were some exceptionally powerful resolutions presented to the Committee and the Department. Can the Secretariat, through the Chairperson’s office, give a list of resolutions that the Committee has made over the last six months? This will help Members to track and progress these resolutions as a Committee.

The Chairperson said that Members would recall that there was once an item on how the resolutions would have been implemented. This suggestion may be important as part of the Committee’s programmes. At the start a quarter, there should be a reflection on the implementation of recommendations that have been made and adopted by the House in the previous quarter, so that the same resolutions are not made throughout. This will ensure implementation and give a clear indication of when certain things are expected of the Committee. Recommendations should not just be made but there should be monitoring to see that they are implemented. In looking at the report being adopted, some of the issues done are what the Committee resolved, including USAASA, IDTVs as matters that were dealt with in the BDM.

Mr Mackenzie commented on point (5) under SITA: “IT systems of transversally in nature, such as the e-learning solution provided to the Eastern Cape.” He said that IT systems are indeed transpersonal in nature, but the e-learning solution provided to the Eastern Cape was a specific reference made to the tender for tablets, where each tablet was costing some ridiculously inflated amount R13 000 or R30 000 per tablet. That was the e-learning solution that Committee interrogated. How does that fit in with this sentence? Perhaps it should be removed entirely or rephrased to say that more information is provided on the e-learning solution in the Eastern Cape.

The Chairperson said for records sake, it can be rephrased rather than eliminating it completely. SITA will also come to the Committee with its turnaround strategy, so Members can follow up.

Mr Mackenzie commented on 7.8, on SABC point (2) that: “the Board refrains from being inhumane in addressing HR issues...” This sounds like a damning indictment and he did not recall anybody in the Committee accusing the Board of displaying any inhumaneness towards employees. There was a process that was being followed. But to accuse people of being inhuman is extreme. Could this be rephrased positive to say: “that the Board approaches HR issues humanely.” It is less accusatory, but the point is getting across that they need to be compassionate when dealing with people and HR issues. On page 12, he asked for the statement “The Committee applauded the manner…” to be replaced with “The board noted...”

Ms van Damme said, on SABC, that a matter that the Committee highlighted in 2020 was about the SABC moving towards self-sustaining because normal bailouts would be given. Part of self-sustainment was that the SABC creates something like “Netflix service”. Could the Committee be updated on that? A briefing that could possibly include National Treasury and the Department regarding the unfunded mandates is needed; the Committee has been speaking about this as a matter that needs resolution given how it affects the SABC bottom-line. Could this be added that the process of digitisation be fast-tracked to be competitive with Netflix and Showmax and all the other digital services? The matter of the unfunded mandates should be dealt with, including the matter on the “must carry” regulations where DSTV does not have to pay for SABC content. This also relates to ICASA and must be finalised. Can this be emphasised that the SABC should start moving towards a self-sustaining, digitisation, and focus on the unfunded mandates and the ICASA process on “must carry”?

Ms Kubheka commented on paying of licences that it was no appearing on the recommendations. The Committee discussed that there is need to motivate the payment of the licence.  

The Chairperson said the addition would be included.

He also noted that Mr Mackenzie raised a point on rephrasing. The change being proposed does not take away what the Committee would have raised; it is likely just how it is capture. This could have been related to a specific incident of a person, but he said he would not go into the names of the people involved. The feeling in the Committee was that the way these matters are handled should show the humane element while executing certain tasks. Mr Mackenzie’s proposal does not take away the fact that the Committee was looking at a specific incident where the humane element was not considered.

On the points raised by Ms Van Damme on Treasury, the Chairperson said that point (3) talks about the funding model in totality to position the SABC. This engagement with National Treasury can be looked at. SABC will come to update the Committee. But without mentioning National Treasury separately, funding model should be looked at in totality, including the commercial side and the public mandate. The additions of the digitisation can be considered. While the report is adopted formally, some of the recommendations made have already started.

Mr Mackenzie moved to adopt the report and Mr Kubheka seconded. The report was therefore adopted.

Consideration and adoption of 2021 First-term Draft Committee Programme

On the programme, the Chairperson said that Members would consider adding new issues based on the discussions. As is the approach of the Committee, the programme is adopted with an understanding that when relevant matters arise, they are scheduled as such.

Ms Van Damme said that this was one of Parliament's hardest working Committees. There were 58 meetings held last year, which is indicative of how hard working the Committee is and always willing to make time to meet beyond the Tuesday allocated days. The emphasis should not only be on oversight, but on the Committee proactively tackling issues that may fall out of the usual processes regarding annual plans, annual reports and others. For example, Members decided that the Committee would meet with a document detailing the steps that need to happen in the SABC.

She said she had briefly discussed with the Chairperson to have the Committee increase its focus on digital technologies. In January and early February, there was a public outcry related to the new privacy policy by WhatsApp, a company owned by Facebook. Can the Committee invite Facebook to come and talk to about this and the problem of fake news? What Facebook usually does for each country ahead of an election is to devise a country-specific plan related to the election so that there is no misinformation. The Committee can approach this in a non-partisan manner because a situation where this information is curbed is desirable for all political parties. Parties should be able to communicate with the electorate on the varied offers, and the electorate should be able to consider that without the influence of misleading information, fake news and their privacy data have being manipulated. In making sure that the new policy protects South Africans, the Committee should be sure that Facebook, which has an office in Johannesburg, prepares a plan for the election. This will ensure that there is free and fair election, and to begin focusing on digital technologies, which includes dealing directly with companies like Google, which also have offices in South Africa. A zoom meeting can be arranged with Twitter since they do not have an office in South Africa. That will be of crucial importance and it is something that can be added in the second term. The Committee could also conduct an oversight visit to meet with Facebook. The Committee should be proactive in scheduling such interventions and not wait for departments. The work of the Committee not only focuses on oversight but also being public representatives.

Ms Kubheka asked if the Committee could earmark one of the provinces where the Department has already started installation. There was piloting that was taking place in the Eastern Cape, including Gauteng, as Members raised. The visit should be done. The Department started work already in the Free State; can an oversight visit be arranged?

Ms Faku agreed with the suggestion by Ms Kubheka. It is important for the Committee to visit the sites, especially in Free State where work has begun. The Committee should understand what is going on rather than just taking things as reported. It is important to look at issues on the ground. It has been reported in the media that some people have taken ICASA to court, and there is an expectation of the spectrum to be auctioned within a set timeframe. Can there be an urgent Committee meeting with ICASA on what needs to be done so that the Committee does not fail?

Mr Mackenzie agreed with Ms Faku on ICASA and the spectrum auction process. It is important for ICASA to brief the Committee on the progress so that the Members can have a better understanding of the views of both ICASA and the stakeholders. It is critical that this process is concluded in March.

He agreed with the points raised by Ms Van Damme around social media platforms and their relationship with the country and the government. Facebook may look harmless as a place to just share photos with friends, but what the platform does is to monetise the people and their information. It uses people as the product and commodity. Many people that use Facebook did not realise this until recently. This also applies to Twitter and other social media platforms that use people as their advertising audience, generating revenue from them and their countries. These companies are making a big impact in the communication space, but who are they responsible to? Under what regulatory environment are they operating? Which regulator are they reporting to? Some companies like Google and Microsoft have offices in South Africa, but many other companies do not have an office in South Africa. Where are they paying tax on the revenue that is generated from the operations in this country? These are critical issues that the Committee should engage with the companies.

The Chairperson said suggestion made by Members would be considered for incorporation into the programme. There is also acceptance that other matters must be looked at in the next term, but others are more urgent. There will be changes on the oversight visits to have an experience of what is happening.

On engaging Facebook, there are issues of the privacy policy and matters involving how people would see conversations of a top executive Western Cape that people had access to, including journalists. The Committee agrees and it should be part of the schedule. The format of this should be considered. In the past, the Committee was able to hold round table discussions so that experts in the field also join to give other perspectives on the matter, which would help Committee Members to have a fair sense of what is happening. This included regulators. If protection of personal information is raised, there is the public regulator with a mandate to deal with matters relating to such protection. The Committee can benefit in a round table discussion where all are available. This will be considered because people ask the Committee when these issues come up in the media. One of the round tables that were very helpful was on broadcasting. Sometimes it is looked at as just responding to challenges of SABC, but in hearing others speak, there was a broader understanding of what is happening. This helps decision making to be rational. The revised programme will be circulated to Members so that other scheduled meetings can continue.

Mr Mackenzie said that he agreed with the comments made by the Chairperson. On oversight, he attended several oversight visits in 2020 and the officials of the entities would guide in the oversight to areas that have been switched on. However, the sites where the problems are were not visited. Can the Committee choose which sites and areas to go to, rather than being directed by the Department officials?

The Chairperson said that the Committee should be able to know the problem areas and visit them. It is the same in other government spheres, and in the experience of Mr Mackenzie. The Department will also offer support to the Committee.

Closing Remarks by the Chairperson

The Chairperson said that the Committee’s minutes would be handled in the next meeting and said that this meeting was a good start to the Committee’s programme. It was a good way to welcome Mr Mbhele to the Committee because while Members are from different parties, the aim is to work together in finding solutions that help the country.

He thanked the Members and support staff for attending the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned.

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