The opposition party says the GSSC's annual report shows the provincial government is failing the unemployed. To address the situation, the centre was mandated to establish job centres in Fox Street, in Johannesburg, and at Maponya Mall.
“The one in Fox Street has been operating for some time; however, I was shocked to discover that the Maponya Mall one is still not yet up and running due to a lack of computer infrastructure. This is an appalling performance from a department that spends over R1 billion a year,” says DA spokesperson for Gauteng finance Mike Moriarty.
He adds that there was a deadline set for the establishment of the centre at Maponya Mall, for earlier this year, and it is now overdue.
Money well spent?
Moriarty also says the GSSC does not keep statistics of how many jobs are successfully obtained by applicants through its system.
“Unemployment levels are enormously high, and people are desperate for help. The government spends hundreds of millions of rands without determining whether anything is being achieved for that expenditure.”
People need jobs and the GSSC should make sure the money spent on these job centres actually delivers real jobs, adds Moriarty.
The GSSC had not responded to ITWeb's request for comment at the time of publication.
Troubled history
The centre has come under fire several times in the past, and Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane called it an “embarrassment”.
The agency has been slammed for its failure to deliver several key projects, since the provincial government migrated all technology-related projects to the GSSC to standardise processes and platforms.
The Gauteng Online Web portal, which is run and managed by the GSSC, has had constant technical issues and downtime.
The site forms part of the centre's drive to implement e-government services. Along with its contact centre, the Web portal is supposed to improve access to services and information in the province.
The GSSC has also struggled with the online schools initiative it inherited from the Gauteng Department of Education. Following several delays, the initiative to build province-wide 25-seat computer labs, with Internet and e-mail capabilities, was expected to connect 2 042 schools by May, but this did not materialise.
Parent department
The GSSC was this year reincorporated into the Gauteng finance department, following financial concerns.
It was placed under supervision, primarily because of its long list of financial troubles, including a payment backlog of R1.7 billion – money which it owed to hundreds of suppliers to public hospitals and schools.
Last year, Mokonyane lambasted the embattled agency, saying she would no longer tolerate any mismanagement. She said it was unacceptable that the GSSC continued to blame its systems for its troubles.
The GSSC was established as the 12th department of the Gauteng Provincial Government, in November 2001. Its core business is to provide a provincial government-wide internal support service in terms of audit services, human resource services, procurement services, finance services and technology support services.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Farzana Rasool
Quelle/Source: ITWeb, 23.11.2010
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