Latest news with #MakhiFeni
IOL News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Concerns over R500 million spent on outsourcing matric exam paper printing
MPs are urging the Basic Education Department to centralise the printing of matric exam question papers after it was discovered that the North West Education Department will spend more than R500 million over the next five years hiring a private company to handle the task. Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers One provincial Education Department spending more than half a billion rand on printing matric exam question papers has shocked members of Parliament. They accused some of the provincial Education departments of collapsing their printing facilities to outsource this duty to private companies. The Select Committee on Education, Science and Creative Industries Chairperson, Makhi Feni, raised the concern after the committee heard this week that the Gauteng Education Department, which had a three-year contract to print exam papers for its North West counterpart, had since outsourced its exam paper printing. After the end of its Gauteng contract, the North West Education Department signed a more than R500 million five-year contract with a private company, which was not named. 'I am not supporting that when you are having the service, you collapse the service and you run to the private service provider,' Feni said. This would mean that the North West Education Department was now spending over R100 million a year on a private printing company. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Gauteng Education Department spokesperson, Steve Mabona, declined to respond to questions sent to him regarding his province outsourcing its exam printing service. The deputy director-general of the North West Education Department, responsible for exam papers, informed the committee that in 2009, the department secured printing machines from Bytes Solutions and Altron Solutions; however, their contracts were not renewed in 2019. The province spent more than R69 million printing with the Government Printing Works (GPW) between 2019 and 2022, and also signed for R27 million to print with the Gauteng Education Department between 2023 and 2024. The latest contract with a private company, which started at the beginning of the 2024/2025 financial year and would end in 2029, contained extra security, transport, and storage features for the papers, which were available in the previous contracts. The Gauteng and North West departments had since joined the Eastern Cape in outsourcing the printing of their exam papers, while the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, and Western Cape departments still print in-house. Only Limpopo used the GPW facility. Basic Education Chief Director, responsible for the National Assessment and Public Examinations, Rufus Poliah, told the committee in a virtual meeting held on Tuesday that the law allowed the provinces to handle the printing of their exams, but that should be transparent and cost-effective. The exam papers were printed for the May/June examination for candidates who want to improve their results and adult candidates, and also for the main matric exams in October and November. Poliah said departments have three options, which are for those who print in-house but do not have the facilities to hire printing machines, outsource, and use central government facilities. He said those who insource use their staff for the printing job, while those who outsource are dependent on a private company to carry out the whole process, including providing the safety and distribution of the papers, while being monitored by Education officials. He said the GPW was responsible for the printing of exam papers for the Department of Higher Education and Training's Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. Feni expressed concern about the department spending money on private companies when the state has its printing facilities. He said insourcing would bear no extra expenditure for the safety of the papers, as they would have to be protected by the police. Feni stated that there were instances where learners would be out of transport because there was no money for that, while the money is being given away to private companies. 'They are giving away their responsibilities under the excuse that the facilities were not giving them satisfactory results. Why are you not enhancing your existing capacity to achieve your desired outcome? 'Why don't you buy your equipment? Are you telling me that the department is no longer having any technicians who can operate these particular works that you have been running, rather than going for private providers?' asked Feni. 'We must always take into cognisance the serious infrastructure backlog that provinces like the North West are confronted with. 'How does one balance the two, the infrastructure backlogs and the expenditure on this private company for printing?' said Feni. He said there was nothing wrong with outsourcing the work if the government lacks the technical ability or skills, 'but outsourcing to private companies should be necessary and there ought to be plans for transfer of skills.' 'We will not tire of making the call to the enhancement of internal capacity within departments. 'If we continue along this line, are we doing away with the functions of the state?' he said.
Zawya
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Zawya
Committee Chairperson Calls on Eastern Cape (EC) Education Department to Attend to Infrastructure Damage
The Select Committee on Education, Sciences and the Creative Industries has called on the provincial Department of Education in the Eastern Cape to proactively determine infrastructure damage and the number of learners affected by the weekend floods. The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Makhi Feni, said the floods happened just when mid-year exams were in full swing and children should be allowed access once schools have been thoroughly cleaned. The committee sends its heartfelt condolences to families and friends of the deceased. 'It hurts to realise that no circuit or district decision was made with regards to closure of schools on Monday when warning of two cold fronts across the country had been issued by SA Weather Service. This calls for proper and proactive leadership from circuit level right up to the province.' The provincial government revised the number of the deceased due to floods to be around 49. A number of young learners were affected when their school transport was swept away by the floods. Mr Feni said the Department of Education must attend to school infrastructure and the cleaning of affected schools. 'Parents should be bold and refuse with their children when these kinds of warnings are issued. We want empowered parents who are aware of their surroundings and the debates around such matters as the climate change and its impact. But young children cannot make these decisions.' Mr Feni said if children writing exams were from the impacted schools they should be provided with all the support they need, including catching up of the lost day. 'But before children are allowed back in schools those should be allowed only once the schools had been thoroughly cleaned and are conducive to learning.' Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
Zawya
3 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa: Government Must Provide Printing Services for Department of Basic Education (DBE), Not Private Companies, Committee on Education Chair
The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Education, Sciences and the Creative Industries, Mr Makhi Feni, has called on the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to seriously review the work it outsources to private providers and ballooned costs. The committee was briefed by the DBE and the North West Education Department on printing examination papers and school-based assessment tasks. The North West Education Department briefed the committee on the R500 million five-year contract awarded to a private company for printing matric exam question papers. Mr Feni said outsourcing government work to private companies has a potential to send a negative message that government lacked confidence on the ability of its employees to do the work. 'There is nothing wrong with outsourcing those kinds of work that government lacks the technical ability nor skills, but outsourcing to private companies should be necessary and there ought to be plans for transfer of skills,' said Mr Feni. He continued: 'We must always take into cognisance the serious infrastructure backlog that provinces like the NW are confronted with. How does one balance the two; the infrastructure backlogs and the expenditure on this private company for printing?' Mr Feni said he was not sure if the Department even had the kind of money which was likely to increase as it approached the end of the contract. 'We will not tire in making the call to enhancement internal capacity within departments. If we continue along this line, are we doing away with the functions of the state,'' asked Mr Feni. He called for enhancement of the existing capacity and to outsource work that that really need specialties. Printing related costs in the North West province has been in the news for the contract which seemed to have ballooned. Mr Feni sought clarity on whether back up systems were in place in case the private company was unable to deliver. 'The country could not be run through private hands; we want government to deliver the kinds of services it has the capacity to deliver. Private hands will not match what government delivers to its citizens as their preoccupation is profit maximization.' Mr Feni called on the North West Education Department to do more in ensuring that government delivered efficient services to the people. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
