There are probably only three stories that can remotely be regarded as hard news in the IT space currently, that being the state of IT at the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), the state or lack thereof of Governance at SITA, and the fact that there has been no GCIO since April.
Of course there are other glaring challenges in the IT space in Government but these seem to have been driven “under the radar” with little being reported in the media.There are rumours of investigations into contracts and tenders in the ICT space at the SAPS, however there is very little being given away there either.
It’s as if the “off button” has been hit.
I’m not sure what it all means but there are signs of a catastrophic battle brewing somewhere in Government, preceded by two defining indicators, namely the Hawks setting out rather publicly to raid the Department of Mineral Resources seizing computers and documents from department and Imperial Crown Trading in a probe relating to Kumba Iron Ore’s fraud allegations last week.
This was almost immediately followed on Sunday by the revelation that two Hawks investigators having been told to informally approach relevant authorities in Sweden (the Swedish National Anti-Corruption Unit) and the UK (Serious Fraud Office) to assess information to determine whether there’s a criminal case to be answered in South Africa in relation to the Arms Deal.
Now call me paranoid, neurotic, narcissistic or just a plain rightwing, left wing, blerrie agent or fool, but damn if the raid against ICT isn’t a full frontal assault on the son of the current President, the grandson of the ex-President and allegedly the companion of the current Deputy President?
Now, I’ve also been reading the armchair and mainstream Political commentary surrounding the move by the Hawks to send investigators to Sweden to “informally” approach relevant authorities.
There is a high level of cynicism, justly so, in regard to the spirit, intent or chance of something actually coming from this visit.
The statements are after all extremely wishy-washy and without much substance.
I’m also a victim of Verwoed, Brezhnev, Reagan, Castro, Njoma, Savimbi, Hani, Derby Lewis and the rest to the extent that I am probably more wide awake than any would wish to give me credit for.
So much so that the signals sent in these two seemingly disparate events ring in my ears a warning claxon as loud as any on a Bullet Train and just as meaningful.
The President has warned before he will expose all in the Arms Deal when he was attacked previously through the charges brought against Shaik and dropped against him.
The current move against ICT by the Scorpions may not be against the President in office but it is most certainly an attack against him in name?
I am left with the ominous sense that while the wishy-washy Hawks statement may seem, well, less than OMO, there is an underlying potent message, a deadly message, a declaration of intent that simply pulses with menace.
It is the manner in which these two matters clatter ahead in parallel that leaves me glued to the news in anticipation of what is to come as the ruling party once again aligns itself and prepares to battle itself for supremacy.
The massive sparkle and spend that has been a hallmark of the ANC administration in the late 1990’s and throughout the 2000’s in the IT space has almost reduced to a fizzle.
The inertia that has seemingly crept in is I deeply suspect a consequence of the massive upheaval within a Political Party on the precipice of an all out debilitating war with itself.
Any contract of any consequence with the remotest possibility of impropriety is immediately pounced on by a vigilant, opportunistic opposition and strident media, alerting the Ruling Party by proxy and consequently providing the factions at war in the Ruling Party with valuable intelligence on their internal foes and their activities.
The apparent quiet in most sectors creates an impression that this may very well be the consequence of a new found collective conscience, or the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Don’t let that fool you.
The Public Protector’s report is being studied; there are this investigation and that investigation, while the Ruling Party and its deployed Cadres in Government keep their heads down across the country to avoid the inevitable shrapnel.
It’s as if I am looking at a Government in suspended animation.
There is in this seeming calm, a quiet before the storm, a storm that is inevitable.
Having said this, it’s important to plan ahead.
Don’t expect improvement in investment spending, don’t expect great strides in service delivery, and don’t hope for improved infrastructure spending either. In fact don’t expect much of anything.
For the foreseeable future.
© IWeek Magazine
Of course there are other glaring challenges in the IT space in Government but these seem to have been driven “under the radar” with little being reported in the media.There are rumours of investigations into contracts and tenders in the ICT space at the SAPS, however there is very little being given away there either.
It’s as if the “off button” has been hit.
I’m not sure what it all means but there are signs of a catastrophic battle brewing somewhere in Government, preceded by two defining indicators, namely the Hawks setting out rather publicly to raid the Department of Mineral Resources seizing computers and documents from department and Imperial Crown Trading in a probe relating to Kumba Iron Ore’s fraud allegations last week.
This was almost immediately followed on Sunday by the revelation that two Hawks investigators having been told to informally approach relevant authorities in Sweden (the Swedish National Anti-Corruption Unit) and the UK (Serious Fraud Office) to assess information to determine whether there’s a criminal case to be answered in South Africa in relation to the Arms Deal.
Now call me paranoid, neurotic, narcissistic or just a plain rightwing, left wing, blerrie agent or fool, but damn if the raid against ICT isn’t a full frontal assault on the son of the current President, the grandson of the ex-President and allegedly the companion of the current Deputy President?
Now, I’ve also been reading the armchair and mainstream Political commentary surrounding the move by the Hawks to send investigators to Sweden to “informally” approach relevant authorities.
There is a high level of cynicism, justly so, in regard to the spirit, intent or chance of something actually coming from this visit.
The statements are after all extremely wishy-washy and without much substance.
I’m also a victim of Verwoed, Brezhnev, Reagan, Castro, Njoma, Savimbi, Hani, Derby Lewis and the rest to the extent that I am probably more wide awake than any would wish to give me credit for.
So much so that the signals sent in these two seemingly disparate events ring in my ears a warning claxon as loud as any on a Bullet Train and just as meaningful.
The President has warned before he will expose all in the Arms Deal when he was attacked previously through the charges brought against Shaik and dropped against him.
The current move against ICT by the Scorpions may not be against the President in office but it is most certainly an attack against him in name?
I am left with the ominous sense that while the wishy-washy Hawks statement may seem, well, less than OMO, there is an underlying potent message, a deadly message, a declaration of intent that simply pulses with menace.
It is the manner in which these two matters clatter ahead in parallel that leaves me glued to the news in anticipation of what is to come as the ruling party once again aligns itself and prepares to battle itself for supremacy.
The massive sparkle and spend that has been a hallmark of the ANC administration in the late 1990’s and throughout the 2000’s in the IT space has almost reduced to a fizzle.
The inertia that has seemingly crept in is I deeply suspect a consequence of the massive upheaval within a Political Party on the precipice of an all out debilitating war with itself.
Any contract of any consequence with the remotest possibility of impropriety is immediately pounced on by a vigilant, opportunistic opposition and strident media, alerting the Ruling Party by proxy and consequently providing the factions at war in the Ruling Party with valuable intelligence on their internal foes and their activities.
The apparent quiet in most sectors creates an impression that this may very well be the consequence of a new found collective conscience, or the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Don’t let that fool you.
The Public Protector’s report is being studied; there are this investigation and that investigation, while the Ruling Party and its deployed Cadres in Government keep their heads down across the country to avoid the inevitable shrapnel.
It’s as if I am looking at a Government in suspended animation.
There is in this seeming calm, a quiet before the storm, a storm that is inevitable.
Having said this, it’s important to plan ahead.
Don’t expect improvement in investment spending, don’t expect great strides in service delivery, and don’t hope for improved infrastructure spending either. In fact don’t expect much of anything.
For the foreseeable future.
© IWeek Magazine
