By AGISANANG SCUFF
2 September 2026 – The North West Provincial Legislature Joint Portfolio Committees on Premier and Finance and Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs has urged the North West Provincial Government (NWPG) to cautiously implement the Provincial Digital Transformation Strategy (PDTS), which include implementation of the Broadband connectivity infrastructure and SMARTGOV projects in the North West.
The committee said this is pursuant to a follow-up oversight meeting with the department together with State Information Technology Agency (SITA), Provincial Treasury, National Treasury – Accountant General, Auditor General South Africa on the questions raised during the meeting of the 31 August 2026, on the implementation of the strategy in provincial and local government including budgets involved.
The acting Chairperson of North West Provincial Legislature Joint Portfolio Committees on Premier and Finance and Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affair, Nathan Oliphant said during the previous meeting of the Joint Committees, several questions were raised which include the intended participation in the City of Erkurheleni broadband roll out tender as per Section 217 of the Constitution; source of funds for the overall Digital Transformation Strategy, allocation of R15 million allocated during the 2025/26 adjustment budget for ICT Infrastructure.
“We had asked the provincial government and the National Treasury to prepare progress reports on the approvals for the procurement of the financial systems on the SmartGov project and prepayments of the ICT service providers including those mentioned at Madlanga Commission of Inquiry,” he said.
Oliphant further said committee cautioned the Office of the Premier about the reputational risk of entering into a broadband roll-out contract that had the City Of Ekurhuleni and was already mentioned in the Madlanga Commission. He added that the committee raised persistent concerns in respect of possible prepayments made to service providers made to the value of approximately R35 million as well as contracting to participate in the broadband rollout without an available budget.
“The committee awaits signed contracts and submissions made to Extech, EXCO and the Provincial Treasury. Both departments must be cautious when implementing this project.
“This committee raises no objection with SMARTGOV and the rollout of broadband, however, we are seriously concerned by what appear to be significant SCM breaches in respect of both SMARTGOV and the rollout of broadband and, equally there should be no duplication in financial systems as National treasury reserves the authority to approve such systems and they already have certain modules which now appear to be a duplication like invoice tracking,” said Oliphant.
He said the committee is considering options in respect of further investigations on issues identified.
The Director General in the Office of the Premier, Paul Mogotlhe said as part of the implementation of the digital transformation strategy and resolving broadband infrastructure challenges, the provincial government together with SITA has embarked on a benchmarking exercise across the country to establish best practices on rolling out broadband infrastructure.
“Our findings revealed that the City of Ekurhuleni had the best implementation systems that matched our standards as their infrastructure connects public spaces such as schools, clinics and municipalities but their contract with appointed service providers was ending, we never participated on it.
“The North West Provincial Digital Transformation Strategy that was approved by EXCO in October 2025 and serves as the province’s overarching framework for leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to modernize government, improve public service delivery and strengthen governance,” he said.
Mogotlhe said the strategy will be implemented in planned phases from the current financial year of 2026/27 at a cost of two-three percent of the ICT budget in the entire provincial government which involves roll-out of the broadband infrastructure. He said that the SMARTGOV Programme is the province’s flagship digital transformation initiative aimed at modernizing government administration through the automation of business processes and the implementation of integrated digital services.
“Phase 1 implementation focuses on high-impact business processes, including electronic submissions, e-leave, e-recruitment, invoice tracking, contract management and quotation management,” said Mogotlhe.
Head of Department at Provincial Treasury, Ndlela Kunene said the earmarked funds for ICT Transformation programme inclusive of SMARTGOV allocation for 2026, MTEF amount to R135 million for 2026/27, R140 million in 2027/28 and R92,7 million in 2028/29 financial years.
The Guardian 