Tag Archives: #digitise

– #Digitise

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On 26 November 2020, several media houses published a story of Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) having frozen R111m from the bank account of one Thabo Simbini, a businessman from Hammanskraal, for his alleged fraudulent claims from the scheme designed to provide financial relief to employers and employees adversely impacted by covid-19.

Simbini is alleged to have claimed for more than six thousand employees from the Temporary Employer/ Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) when he was the only employee in his business, Impossible Services (Pty) Ltd. We take comfort in the knowledge that AFU’s action shows Simbini will be held accountable for his deeds, but such fraudulent submissions should not have initially succeeded.

We know government is inefficient, but basic reference checks could have flagged the claim as fraudulent even when using antiquated technological solutions. Lesson for us all, even small businesses, is to never relent in keeping records even if on a simple spreadsheet. Of all man-made innovations, spreadsheets should count among the best things since sliced bread. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 30 November 2020. Continue reading →

– South Africa Grossly Underutilises Technology

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I had the pleasure of serving as a mentor to some participants in the recently held 2030 NDP Hackathon organised by the State Information Technology Agency. The creativity of participants further showed that we do not lack ideas to solve problems in this country, but opportunities to do so. It also reminded me of my biggest bugbear, of government and many large companies failing to take advantage of technology to not only improve their offerings, but deliver services.

I do, however, understand the reluctance by government and some private companies in automating functions traditionally performed by people. In my professional career spanning more than two decades, I have seen how IT functions in many organisations I had been exposed to, struggling to deliver on promises made to business. Common among those problems were budget and timelines overruns. IT leaders responsible for jointly directing those initiatives with business leaders would often cite unforeseen circumstances as one of many reasons for failure to deliver.

I am thus not surprised seeing many organisations reluctant or failing to introduce more technology in automating some functions and digitising their environment. The increasing notoriety of IT functions in overpromising and underdelivering is, but one of the reasons we still see government departments and other companies still relying on solutions causing significant inconvenience to consumers and beneficiaries of their services. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 30 November 2018. Continue reading →