TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      SA coal giant Seriti Resources in pivot to renewables

      15 August 2022

      Tencent, TikTok share details of prized algorithms with Beijing

      15 August 2022

      Institutions eye crypto but retail investors remain nervous

      15 August 2022

      Fixing SA’s power crisis is not complex: it simply takes the will to do better

      12 August 2022

      Consortium makes unsolicited bid for state’s 40% stake in Telkom

      12 August 2022
    • World

      Tencent woes mount, even after $560-billion selloff

      12 August 2022

      Huawei just booked its first sales rise since US blacklisting

      12 August 2022

      Apple remains upbeat about iPhone sales even as Android world suffers

      12 August 2022

      Ether at two-month high as upgrade to blockchain passes major test

      12 August 2022

      Gaming industry’s fortunes fade as pandemic ends

      11 August 2022
    • In-depth

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»In-depth»Usaasa may lose set-top box project

    Usaasa may lose set-top box project

    In-depth By Sunil Gopal20 March 2015
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    television-640

    The man tasked with running South Africa’s digital migration project at the department of communications, Solly Mokoetle, says the Universal Service & Access Agency of South Africa (Usaasa) has jumped the gun by launching a multibillion-rand tender before a final policy on migration was gazetted.

    The communications department now wants the tender process for the supply of more than 5m digital television set-top boxes for poorer households — a project kick-started by Usaasa — halted and brought under the watch of the department, led by minister Faith Muthambi.

    Mokoetle, a former CEO of the SABC who resigned from the public broadcaster in 2011, tells TechCentral that industry players have expressed concern to the communications department over the role of Usaasa as funder and procurement officer in the process.

    He says the Usaasa tender will now be investigated for “any violation of the procurement process”.

    The agency’s tender “will need to be reviewed” in light of the changes to the broadcasting digital migration policy, published this week, Mokoetele says. In the latest — and probably final — policy amendment, government has controversially scrapped its support of encryption in the set-top boxes, handing a decisive victory to MultiChoice. Critics say the decision entrenches the pay-TV operator’s dominance in South Africa, to the detriment of free-to-air broadcasters.

    Mokoetle’s comments come as a grouping led by Keith Thabo accuse Usaasa of “questionable tender processes”.

    In a statement, the grouping, using the disputed name Namec, has accused Usaasa of “outsourcing their jobs to white auditing firms, as if we don’t have black auditors” in South Africa.

    “Hundreds of millions of rands which should be destined for the poor are consumed by white auditing firms who don’t qualify to audit electronic manufacturing entities,” the grouping says in the statement.

    “The current set-top box tender issued by Usaasa is worrying. Our concern stems from the fact that Ernst & Young was given a mandate to audit the manufacturing ability of bidders in the [set-top box] tender.”

    The grouping claims that financial accountants are not best placed to audit manufacturing processes and that the audit was rushed.

    “No questions were asked about the box, chipset availability, chipset suppliers, components, guarantees, logistics, tag times, heating of components and all the technical stuff that demonstrates your capability, competence and capacity,” Mtsali says.

    However, Rob Bruggeman, chief operating officer of CZ Electronics, a large electronics manufacturing business in Johannesburg, has praised Usaasa’s processes, saying it appears to be conducting a thorough and careful assessment of potential manufacturers.

    But Usaasa’s project may now be scuppered, with Mokoetle saying that new specifications for the tender will be issued by the department of communications.

    Usaasa CEO Zami Nkosi tells TechCentral that he can’t comment on the developments, telling the publication to speak to telecommunications & postal services minister Siyabonga Cwele. The telecoms department has oversight of Usaasa. “You will have to speak to Cwele. I don’t report to Muthambi,” Nkosi says when asked about Mokoetle’s comments about the set-top box tender.  — © 2015 NewsCentral Media

    CZ Electronics Faith Muthambi Keith Thabo MultiChoice Rob Bruggeman Sicelo Mtsali Siyabonga Cwele Solly Mokoetle Usaasa Vijay Panday Zami Nkosi
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleMohapi still at helm of Sentech
    Next Article Eskom board wants its chairman gone

    Related Posts

    African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

    11 August 2022

    The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

    7 August 2022

    MultiChoice fined R200 000 by Nigerian regulator

    4 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    5G your life for faster, more reliable home or mobile connectivity

    15 August 2022

    World’s fastest compact firewall for hyperscale data centres, 5G networks

    15 August 2022

    Get your brand in front of TechCentral’s amazing audience

    12 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.