Eastern Cape MEC vows to press on with controversial e-learning tablet project

Eastern Cape education MEC Fundile Gade has confirmed  plans to revive the controversial e-learning tablet project for 2025’s matriculants despite an ongoing investigation into its R580m “irregular” contract with Sizwe Africa IT Group and MTN.

Gade made the statement on his social media account. He said he was tired of dragged out court cases and was forging ahead with the project for this school year.

The department is set to roll out 52,000 e-learning devices to grade 12 pupils in quintiles 1, 2 and 3 schools as part of its ICT learning strategy.

Gade’s remarks come after Bhisho high court judge Buyiswa Majiki in 2020 interdicted the project after irregularities were found in the previous three-year lease contract between the department, Sizwe Africa IT Group and MTN.

The urgent court application was launched by the State Information Technology Agency (Sita).

Sita had argued that in terms of the Sita Act, it had the sole prerogative to procure the IT requirements of government departments.

Majiki questioned how, less than a month into the lease contract, R123m was processed for payment on a monthly scheme which, by then, could only have cost R11.2m.

While R404m was to be paid for loaning the tablets, their maintenance and related accessories and products such as data SIM cards, R133m was to be paid in three years for virtual classrooms or broadcasting studios in 12 education districts and in the provincial Zwelitsha headquarters.

Gade said: “You all remember we were giving our pupils tablets, but unfortunately some business interests came in to disturb our programme.

“I am tired of waiting for cases that drag [on] for too long, I will be giving our pupils ICT study material again. Anyone who has a problem can go to court.

“Mpumalanga is succeeding in their curriculum delivery because of the Eastern Cape’s ICT strategy.”

When contacted for comment, he referred all questions to his spokesperson, Vuyiseka Mboxela. Mboxela said the ICT rollout project was a national cause which would ensure pupils in the Eastern Cape were skilled for the fourth industrial revolution.

“Each province has to respond, and the Eastern Cape is responding to that call,” she said. “What the MEC is saying is that look at Mpumalanga. They had a good pass rate using what we had applied.

“We have acknowledged the issues we had at the time were not in the interests of pupils and the province. If we want to reshape and produce quality students we should not fall behind the 4IR and we are doing this project.

“With regards to court cases and litigation faced by the department regarding the previous rollout of the devices, the department is in talks with the parties cited in court papers as to how to best resolve the matter.”

Mboxela, however, could not say when and how the department would roll out the project.

EFF provincial secretary Simthembile Madikizela said e-learning was long overdue in the Eastern Cape, where schools were overwhelmed by a shortage of stationery.

“The MEC must refrain from behaving like he is running some club or tavern. He is running a public institution that is governed by law. He has a duty to comply with court orders and any legally binding process,” Madikizela said.

“We believe e-learning will reduce the burden of stationery on government. All he needs to do is to explore legal avenues. We call on the MEC to act in a responsible manner.”

Sita spokesperson Tlali Tlali could not respond by the time of publication. 

In a previous report, Gade said “the noise” around the contract was more like politics at play.

He said it was problematic for supply chain processes to be politicised, and people who were questioning the contract were peddling falsified statements in a bid to force the department to abort the project.

However, Majiki also effectively found that, on the evidence and arguments presented to her, there was merit in reviewing all the contracts to procure information technology implicated in the tablets saga.

These included an alleged piggybacking tender process for tablets from Sizwe, and an unsolicited bid by Sizwe and MTN which incorporated providing 72,000 SIM cards to matriculants at a cost of R289m over three years.

The two companies managed to impose a condition that the contract was subject to them being granted exclusive rights to broadcast content which, Sita has estimated, could cost R32bn over the project’s life cycle.

The matter is under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit.

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