R6990 per month to put Internet in a library

KwaZulu-Natal's Department of Arts and Culture awarded the contract to Emalangeni Technologies (Pty) Ltd and Pace Online JV for a period of 36 months.

It drew the DA's attention when it noticed a R15 million increase in the contract value compared to the current three-year contract, which will expire soon.

The department told Independent Media's Daily News that it followed all processes in awarding the bid.

It said the tender was advertised in newspapers and on its website on 28 September 2021.

MEC for Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation Hlengiwe Mavimbela said that the contract covers all 155 public libraries in the province, including those in rural areas.

With a contract value of R39,007,723.08, that comes to R6,990.63 per month per library in the province over 36 months.

"This is ridiculous when there are Internet service providers that charge R399 per month for uncapped data," said DA KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson on arts and culture, Bradley Singh.

"The amount paid to this company is probably enough to supply internet connectivity to every library in the country."

Singh said that the DA's concern also comes after the Auditor-General consistently red-flagged KwaZulu-Natal's arts and culture department for being unable to prove that all its libraries have Internet connectivity.

"This is just one of the many reasons why the department is yet to receive a clean audit," Singh stated.

While Singh is correct that there are uncapped fixed-line broadband packages available for R399 per month (and even cheaper), this is unfortunately not yet available in rural South Africa.

However, uncapped satellite Internet is available at a fraction of the R6,989 per month average price.

A 24-month contract on a Vox YahClick offering 20 Mbps download speeds and 6 Mbps upload speeds is available for R1,399 per month.

Even a Paratus Max Epic business satellite broadband package with 6 Mbps download speeds, and 1.2 Mbps upload speeds is R6,311 per month.

It is reasonable to expect some costs associated with installing broadband connections and erecting Wi-Fi hotspots at these libraries for the public to access.

To ask how much was budgeted for travel, additional equipment, and labour, and what kind of connectivity was being installed, MyBroadband contacted Emalangeni Technologies and asked to speak to its director Sifiso Magonyane.

We were told that he was not currently in the office. When we explained what we were calling about, the company declined to comment.

MyBroadband also tried to contact Pace Online director Simphiwe Zwane, but he did not respond to requests for comment.

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