Military Veterans call centre & database upgrade

Meeting report

Chairperson’s opening remarks
The Chairperson indicated that the National Student Financial Assistance Scheme (NSFAS) was supposed to be present in the meeting to brief the Committee on the matters related to educational support provided to military veterans but they did not respond to the invitation. The Committee had been trying to interact with the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) but it was difficult to reach out to the entity. The Committee was concerned about the slow pace of the upgrading of data and migration of call centre for military veterans. The Committee should be briefed on any legislative gap to be addressed by Members.

Briefing by State Information Technology Agency (SITA)
Dr Setumo Mohapi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO): SITA; stated upfront that there was no existing legislative gap in place that was making it difficult for SITA to achieve on two key issues. The management of the Military Veterans Database has been highlighted as a key concern by both the Committee and the Department. The lack of a credible database is considered a stumbling block to the effective distribution of benefits to deserving military veterans. The Department of Military Veterans (DMV) has entered into a business agreement with the SITA and as a result a Service Level Agreement (SLA) was confirmed and signed. The DMV and SITA has entered into agreement for the development and implementation of the integrated management system. Similar concerns have been raised on relation to the management of the DMV Call Centre, which serves the first point of contact for Veterans when engaging the department.

Dr Mohapi mentioned that there were key challengers that had been identified and these included
Lack of credible, secure and reliable national military veterans system.
Manual and paper based processing of database and benefits applications.
Lack of integrated benefits management system
Fragmented approach resulting in little consistency in the type of information that is captured across the different databases.
Military Veterans travel to DMV Head Quarters or Provincial Offices to apply for services and benefits.
Slow Service delivery – the number of days taken to register and update personal records of Military Veterans on the National Database is 61 days.
AGSA noted this target was not measurable due to lack of verifiable processes to measure actual performance.

Dr Mohapi indicated that in terms of the overall progress, SITA and ARMSCOR played a crucial cooperative role. AMSCOR was contracted by DMV to compile the as-is and to-be business processes in the form of a User Requirement Specification (URS). AMSCOR is also responsible for the design of a database structure, optimizing the current database which forms the baseline for system. SITA will use the User Requirement Specification as the input for the development, testing and implementation of the system. The Tracking mechanisms are to limit potential fraudulent entries on the new Integrated Database Management System. The new system has log files and audit trails for critical events and actions executed on the system. The audit log will answer the question “Who did what, when, and how?” Furthermore the workflow that will be implemented will ensure segregation of duties between the verification, recommendation and approval responsibilities.

The database security is a cause for concern and Members urged the Department to develop a tracking system of all database activities to limit and discourage any fraudulent and corrupt activities. The verification and security of information fed into the system was highlighted as a key component of efforts to maintain a secure and reliable military veterans’ database. The new system forms part of the e-Government initiative which will ensure that all the necessary verification processes and security features are implemented on system and database level. The final military veterans’ database should be an integrated system, linked to relevant departments and agencies such as the Departments of Home Affairs, Social Development and the South African Revenue Services (SARS). In addition, it should also be linked to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and especially the Department of Defence (DoD) to accommodate those members who exit the SANDF.

Dr Mohapi highlighted that the Department must ensure that all relevant agreements and memoranda are developed and signed by all parties concerned, and should establish systems to monitor the implementation of such agreements. According to the latest planning the integration to the PERSAL system will form part of the project to be implemented at end Feb 2018 and the integration to all other external entities are planned to be implemented after Feb 2018. In relation to the call centre, SITA submitted the initial proposal to DMV September 2016 and resubmission to the department 20 February 2017 after engagements with SITA Executives and ADG. The SLA for the Call Centre service was extended for a period of 6 months (01 April to 31 March2017) as an interim proposal to assist with the transition of the call centre to the Department. On the 07 August the Department requested SITA to amend the SLA. The Department and SITA have engaged extensively on finalizing the implementation costs on the adopted proposal. The revised SITA proposal was sent to CFO on 16 Nov 2017. The proposal was signed on 20 November 2017.

Discussion
The Chairperson expressed concern that the progress that had been made was only on paper and not on deliverables. The Committee was happy that there was no legislative gap that SITA identified in the provision of IT for military veterans.

Mr G Skhosana (ANC) said that he was confused by the presentation that had been provided by SITA as the precise question by the Committee was on the challenges experienced by the entity in the failure to deliver on upgrading of the military veterans call centre and database. What are the exact challenges? The proposals and planning are not responding to the exact issue on where there are main challenges. Was it possible to come to the end of fifth Parliament without making any progress on IT? The Committee would not “bash” the Department for the failure of SITA to deliver on IT. The Committee wanted the military veterans to benefit.

Mr S Esau (DA) reiterated the concerns that had been flagged by Mr Skhosana especially on the specification of challenges in place. The high impact communication and marketing strategy should be in place as this was crucially important and it was evident that this was one of the concerns of the Committee. It was indicated that the consultancy that would be playing a role as advisors are to begin working in December. The important question is whether there would be a willingness to work during the holidays in order to meet the timeframes. Was there any meetings taking place? The expectation was that the meetings should be taking place daily to achieve on the timeframes. The online registration can be made available for military veterans at municipal level. There should be schools and laboratories that are able to assist military veterans with internet connection so as to do the online registration. Why was the process being made difficult and complex for military veterans especially those located in rural areas? It was indicated that the verification of database was only taking place next year.

Mr Esau wanted to know if SITA was had developed SLAs with various government departments like Human Settlement and Home Affairs as this is to ensure that there are existing parallels and cooperation in place. Was there any record of the meetings taking place? How long were the meetings? In terms of the timelines in place, are they realistic? The Committee should be briefed on whether there would be capacity in place and transfer of skills to the Department if the call centre was to be migrated to the Department. What was the future cost of option 4?

Mr S Marais (DA) asked about the new system specifically the security features to be in place to prevent anyone fraudulently accessing the information and benefits of military veterans. There should be a consideration of the security features by SITA. How easy was the system to be amended by someone and change the information of military veterans? What is the security that is in place?

An ANC Member said that in all the timelines that had been cited there was no specific timeline on the migration of the call centre from SITA to DMV. What are the cost implications from SITA on the migration of the call centre? What was the total operational cost of the migration of the call centre? These questions were in relation to the fact that the main issue of dispute between the Department and SITA was on cost implications.

Mr D Gamede (ANC) commented that it was problematic for SITA to take 61 days to register and update personal records of Military Veterans on the National Database. The main issues that the Committee wanted to be addressed were the call centre and IT. Was SITA really failing to achieve these two issues? What was the progress that had been made by SITA between the last engagement and now? It was a concern that SITA was taking this long to just solve two issues.
Ms N Mnisi asked about the procedure to be followed in updating of the database for military veterans. The Committee should be provided with the timeframe for the migration of the call centre from SITA to the Department.

The Chairperson wanted to know if the issue of lack of credibility would affect the 57 000 military veterans. The focus was on SITA to have capacity in place to deliver on the key issues required by the military veterans.

Mr Max Ozinsky, Director-General (DG): DMV; corrected that AMSCOR was contracted by the Ministry of Defence to provide role as advisors. It must be highlighted that the URS was owned completely by the Department and not the responsibility of any outsider. The agreement on the call centre was signed on 20 November 2017.

Dr Mohapi responded that there is always a question as to why SITA was failing to deliver on the two key issues identified by the Committee. The reality is that the URS was only completed on 20 November and therefore there are dependencies that should be taken into consideration and this is not to point fingers at anyone. Page 9 of the presentation provided information on the URS that needed to be changed and this is a new methodology in place that was implemented in June 2017. SITA completely understood exactly what needed to be done. In relation to the question on consultancy, it must be clarified that this was not referring to the external consultancy but rather the SITA employees and there will be employees that will advise on what needed to be done to fast track the implementation of the two issues. There is a need to get commitment in place on the work that needed to be done especially since approaching holidays.

Dr Mohapi explained that SITA was working with a bunch of young people every Fridays and these young people are working as volunteers. These are young people that will provide assistance to SITA on the issue of migration of call centre and database. SITA was allowed to integrate data from national, provincial and local level. The access to the internet can be in schools, labs or any place with the internet for military veterans to do the online registration. On data and verification, this involved the cleaning-up of the existing data and this is usually the most difficult part of the process. The integration was the easy process but not the cleaning-up process as it was complicated and time-consuming. There are templates in place when there is a request for data exchange but SITA still needed to have the SLAs in place and upfront. There are records of meetings as all the meetings undertaken are on record. There is cognisance that the timelines are very tight but can be reached. The cost of the call centre in the three year period was R1 million  annually and then this is to be R70 000 a month after the three year period. In terms of the security system place, the ownership of the data sits within the Department. There is a need be concise on data ownership to prevent any security breach as this was indeed important. The timeline on the procurement process will be provided to the Committee and the information was available but not at the moment. It was indeed a problematic issue to take up to 61 days for the registration progress but the cleansing process was important to be able to start on clean slate.

Dr Vuyo Mahlathi, Representing the Chairperson of the Board: SITA; replied that there was a process to ensure that there was collaboration in place with management to ensure the success of the project. The oversight process was dealing with timelines, integrative nature of the system and the implementation of the system. The utilisation of consultancy is usually regarded as problematic but the new business model is focused on internal capacity. There is recognition of the frustration of Members on the slow pace that had been taken on those two key issues.

Mr Ozinsky responded that in terms of the URS, the development of the URS was done internally. SITA ensured that there will be parallel between SITA and DMV although this was taking up much time. However, the time that has been taken by SITA was a productive one and worth it considering all the effort that had been put in place. It was a big complicated task for the Department to develop URS as this required enough capacity in place. The database system was able to link the individual with benefits entitle to. The DMV team is expected to be available during the festive season and there is hope that there is no one that will be taking a leave. The URS system will create an online registration for military veterans to do the registration and changing of data and this can be done at any place where there access to the internet. There are existing relationship with DHS and Department of Home Affairs. It was the responsibility of DHS to have relationship with municipalities. PESCOL is the system of DHS and there is a security system place for the access to data.

Mr Ozinsky responded that the finalisation of the migration of the call centre is three months period. In terms of the verification process, the first part of verification is to check the data that can be verified from the desktop and this is usually just the verification of small details. The real verification process is to ascertain whether people on the data are real military veterans. There is a team to be established to be responsible for the verification of real military veterans. The main issue was on those military veterans that had been added to the database. The 16 000 members are coming from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and there was no need for verification for those members.

The Chairperson wanted to know if there will be no verification process undertaken on the SANDF members.

Mr Ozinsky replied that the SANDF members are required produce certificates that prove that they were part of SANDF and this will be considered as verification process. The Department will certainly welcome more capacity in place but this is to be determined in the organogram to be introduced. The Department will also welcome the assistance of the Committee in requesting additional funding from the Treasury to increase staff complement.

Mr Mbulelo Musi, Head: Social Economic Support, DMV; said that 61 days for the registration process was a problem but it should be appreciated that SITA is the one that was able to identify this as problematic and it was removed as part of the Annual Performance Plan (APP). The main issue was on the manual system that was in place and shortage of personnel. The issue is to be addressed as it cannot be the status quo that is right and acceptable. The team of the Department and SITA are meeting to finalise the issue of migration of the call centre.

Mr Sibongiseni Ndlovu, Chief Financial Officer (CFO): DMV; responded that there was engagement with SITA on cost optimization in order to come up with ways of reducing the costs to be involved in the migration of the call centre and other areas. SITA will not be providing consultancy as this was in reference to the internal staff as already clarified. SITA looked after the “front side” of the project while the Department was looking after the “back side” of the project and this was done to prevent duplications.

Mr Ozinsky said that the Department was not yet ready to make the presentation on the provision of transport subsidy for the military veterans.

The Chairperson indicated that there was a need for SITA to get to identify areas to be addressed including challenges in place.

Mr Esau said there should be a look into the indigent policy in place and people who qualify for those indigent polices in various municipalities. There should be an identification of people who qualify for rate rebates and also free water and electricity. There is already a means test in place for people who qualify for the indigent policy and DHS can have access to this information from municipal level. The issue of providing transport subsidy for military veterans was critical important as some of the veterans are in far-flung areas with no access to transport to be able to be mobile and do the online registration.

The meeting was adjourned.