Question NW82 to the Minister of Home Affairs
08 March 2024 - NW82
Roos, Mr AC to ask the Minister of Home Affairs
(1)What (a) progress has been made by the Council for Scientific and Industry Research (CSIR) on the development of an IT system for his department in five designated offices to address network challenges and (b) are the (i) main deliverables and (ii) due dates for each deliverable; (2) whether there are any sub-contractors involved in the project; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the full details of (a) the sub-contractors and (b) their contract value; (3) what are the reasons that the project did not go out on open tender?
Reply:
(1)(a) The progress made in the five designated offices is contained in the table in (b)(ii) below.
(1)(b)(i) The main deliverable of the Proof of Concept (PoC) is an overlay of the selected sites onto an alternative network.
(1)(b)(ii) The following activities were planned to achieve this deliverable: -
|
Activity |
Responsible party |
Due date |
|
PoC site selection |
CSIR + DHA |
31 May 2023 (completed) |
|
Physical PoC site surveys |
CSIR |
30 June 2023 (completed) |
|
Procurement guidelines |
CSIR + DHA |
30 June 2023 (completed) |
|
PoC site connection |
DHA |
30 June 2024 (in progress) – connections taking place in parallel, last site planned to be connected on 30 June 2024 |
|
Reporting |
CSIR |
30 September 2024 (in progress) |
(2) CSIR did not appoint any sub-contractors; nor are there sub-contractors involved in the project. However, three service providers were appointed through an RFQ procurement process by the Department of Home Affairs in support of the CSIR project. Please refer to the contracted values below: -
|
Service Provider |
Scope of Work |
Contract value |
|
Dark Fiber |
Provide Fibre link with no services or data line (Dark fiber), as the standard to the following offices: Menlyn, Soshanguve, Umgeni, Wynberg and Potchefstroom; which terminate on an Optical Distribution Frame on either end of the link (ODF-to-ODF). |
R2,896,918.00 |
|
Service Provider |
Scope of Work |
Contract value |
|
Liquid Tech |
Provide Fibre link with no services or data line (Dark fiber), with fibre class G652D as the standard to King Shaka International Airport which terminate on an Optical Distribution Frame on either end of the link (ODF-to-ODF). |
R3,078,829.00 |
|
CBX Tech |
Provide and install Nokia SAS-M 24F switch, with dual power supply (1 year Next business day onsite warranty) for the six sites. |
R696,658.00 |
(3) The decision to deviate from the normal SCM processes and the SITA Act in the appointment of the CSIR was based on the fact the Department had requested SITA to appoint CSIR through a deviation process as the service is within the non-mandatory services to SITA, but SITA was advised by the National Treasury to let the Department transact directly with CSIR as the budget is from the Department. The Department then followed the deviation process due to the following:
• CSIR has an understanding and is familiar with the DHA IT environment;
• The project will assist with stabilising the IT environment and enable the Department to achieve its service delivery objectives; and
• The item is not a SITA mandatory service as it is intended to identify bottlenecks within the IT environment. Should the CSIR recommend new developments, SITA will be approached as the IT procurement agency of the State.
The Department operates in the security cluster and security considerations dictate the use of another Government entity / institution to conduct the systems downtime diagnostics rather than any bidder in the open market.
END