The Department of Social Development has cleared the air following this week’s difference of opinion between the minister, Lindiwe Zulu and her deputy, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu over the awarding of the contract to manage the GBV command centre.
This comes after Bogopane-Zulu indicated that she was not made aware of the appointment of a new service provider to manage the command centre after Vodacom’s contract came to an end. This resulted in the appointment of Brilliant Telecommunications as its replacement.
According to the deputy minister, the minister had a hand in the appointment of the new service provider, an assertion that the minister denied during an interview with eNCA.
Yesterday, following a countrywide outcry suggesting that the command centre had collapsed, the department through its spokesperson, Lumka Oliphant, said it would like to clarify matters in order to ensure an accurate account is given.
“Firstly, it is factually incorrect and misleading to state that the GBVCC has ‘completely collapsed’. It is indeed operating and functional, albeit with some technical challenges which are typical of operations of this nature, and to which the department has been engaging with the relevant government departments and the service provider,“ Oliphant said.
When the command centre was launched over three years ago, its headquarters was in Salvokop in Pretoria and has since been relocated to another headquarters, also in Pretoria. Oliphant said this was due to ensure that the call centre was closer to the department’s offices.
She added that the centre was still functional and able to process calls that come from either the victims, or those reporting known cases of abuse, as well as Social Service Professions, which direct these calls to the relevant bodies for intervention in line with established protocols.
Oliphant said it was also not true that social workers were dismissed from the command centre.
“Secondly, the department refutes allegations that social workers were dismissed from the command centre, or were deliberately reduced. (It is) factually untrue.
“The command centre originally employed 56 social work professionals and six officials providing technical support, who were distributed into four shifts. The current count of officials is 48, due to natural attrition, resignations, and retirements, and not as a result of any deliberate action by the department.
“In fact, the department had actually doubled its capacity when migrating to Salvokop,” the deputy minister added.
On the reports that the new service provider offered fewer services than Vodacom, the previous service provider and operator of the call centre, the department rejected claims of having to foot a monthly bill of R43 million to manage the call centre.
“Furthermore, the department strongly rejects any claims that it pays the service provider R45 million per month for this contract. This assertion is once again entirely false and baseless.
“Finally, it is important to state that the department has diligently followed due process as prescribed by the Public Financial Management Act and the National Treasury Regulations, in appointing the service provider.
“It is equally important to underline that the minister of social development has never interfered with or sought to interfere in any procurement related matter of the department,“ Oliphant added.
The Star