Durban Web site splurge deepens

Johannesburg, 14 Aug 2009

Following hot on the heels of the controversy surrounding Durban's outlay of R6.5 million on a 2010 Web site, it has emerged the city spent millions on a previous Web portal.

This brings the total the city has expended on the two Web sites to close to R15 million over three years.

This was revealed following an outcry by one of the city's councillors, who questioned the municipality's lavish spending.

It emerged R2.7 million has been spent a year by the city on its www.durban.gov.za Web site since 2006.

This revelation comes at a time when dust has barely settled in the wake of the city's much-criticised splurge on its 2010 Web site, www.durban2010.gov.za.

In June, ITWeb's report that the city had spent millions on the 2010 portal caused an outcry from the ICT community, with some industry experts claiming the project should have only cost the city 20% of the figure.

The city's Web site is based on the open source Plone system, has limited features and offers live traffic cameras. The 2010 Web site is based on Microsoft technology, and Adapt-IT was awarded the deal to develop the site.

Last month, ITWeb reported that the city's spending and technology choices had also come under fire from one of its own councillors. Warwick Chapman posed questions to the council requesting an explanation about some of the decisions which had been taken. He also requested more visibility on the project, saying decisions by the city should be interrogated.

The municipality continues to avoid questions posed to it by ITWeb on the specific details of the project.

In the only statement it has made on the issue since the matter was first reported, the municipality maintained the R6.5 million for the 2010 Web site is justified. It says the amount includes development costs, hosting costs, capital equipment and the materials needed for the various phases.

Adapt-IT also failed to respond to ITWeb's requests for a breakdown of the costs involved.

Cloudy answers

Chapman tabled his questions on 12 July and asked whether a tender process was conducted to award the contract to develop the new Web site. He also requested information about which budget the funding for the site was sourced from.

He also questioned whether the cost of R6.5 million was made known to the relevant council committees prior to the launch. He asked how much money has been invested in the existing www.durban.gov.za Web site and platform, since it was deployed on the open source Plone system. Finally, he asked why the city chose to develop the new Web site using Microsoft technology, instead of sticking with its existing open source standards compliant platform.

Councillor Fawzia Peer responded to the questions and said the budget was allocated from the “2010 IT budget”, but gave no further information. She also failed to directly respond to questions on whether the budget had been presented to the relevant committees.

”IT budgets for 2010 were confirmed very late, due to late clarification from the Local Organising Committee and Fifa companies as to what the municipality is expected to fund for 2010 IT projects and [in the] 2008/9 year this budget was R7.5 million,” read her response.

Peer defended the city's shift away from open source technology, saying the city needed a “dynamic and robust Web site”.

She said the portal would “allow citizens and visitors alike to have an exciting experience when visiting the Web site; stand out from the rest; cater for the volumes of people visiting the Web site; and ensure we don't end up with the difficulties experienced during the re-evaluation process”.

Lingering questions

While the city is not forthcoming with any information on the tender process and what procedures were followed, it seems unclear what process was followed.

In response to questions on this issue, Peer said there was a tender process. But added that, in “May 2008, the municipality advertised for the appointment of a panel of consultants to assist the information services section to deliver on its various projects. From this panel, a quote system was used to obtain services for various projects, including the preparation of a new Web site.”

Adapt-IT also makes no mention of any tender process on its Web site. The company states: “Adapt-IT put together a proof of concept (POC) and, due to the magnitude of this project, contacted Microsoft to form a technology partnership. A POC was delivered and that earned Adapt-IT the go-ahead to develop the 2010 Web site.”

The Democratic Alliance has indicated it will continue with its probe into the Web site. The party says it is calling for details of what budget vote the funds came from, when and where the tender for the project was advertised, how many tender bids were received and the cost of each of these applications, and how the final decision was made.