Gauteng gets R30m in IT security

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 28 Nov 2007

Gauteng will spend R30 million in the next four months to beef up information security within the provincial government, and finance and economic affairs MEC Paul Mashatile is making millions more available to various provincial departments to fund ICT acquisitions.

Addressing the provincial legislature yesterday, he said the Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC) needed the R30 million to correct deficiencies identified "subsequent to an unexpected virus attack that hit the GPG [Gauteng Provincial Government] IT environment during August this year".

Speaking in support of a Provincial Adjustment Appropriation Bill that revises the Appropriation Act passed by the legislature earlier this year, Mashatile said the GSSC`s 2007/8 budget was now R1.07 billion - up from the R 1.04 billion allocated earlier this year. The increase includes a consolidated amount of R15.3 million from other GPG departments for IT services and contact centre support.

The GSSC, in turn, will lose R9.4 million to the Project Management Unit, in the Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works. "Furthermore, this department receives roll-overs totalling R18.1 million to pay for machinery and equipment related to the Gautrain project," Mashatile said.

Other projects benefiting include the Gauteng online e-schools project, which benefits in part from a R102 million roll-over, while the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment received an undisclosed amount to pay for IT equipment purchased by the department.

The Department of Community Safety was docked R15 million for an Integrated Information Management System (IIMS) and received a R1.8 million bill from the GSSC for contact centre services. The IIMS is part of the Gauteng Information on Police Performance System announced by community safety MEC Firoz Cachalia, in August.

The Legislature, meanwhile, will receive an additional R50.7 million "for the payment and improvement of compensation of employees and the acquisition of ICT-related equipment".