Allegations that the City of Ekurhuleni EMPD’s internal traffic fines system has been non-functional since October last year have induced intense scrutiny and lively discussions.
This came after information recently leaked to the media suggested that the EMPD had since the expiration of the road safety and fine management service provider’s contract been unable to issue and process traffic fines.
However, during a media briefing held on February 3 to address the controversy over the reported serious issues affecting road safety and law enforcement in the city, the metro rejected this claim – saying the city has since the contract expired on September 30 been able to use its internal resources to capture and process fines.
The metro said it considers the claims to be part of a smear campaign by individuals who are hell-bent on derailing the city from realising its smart city vision.
Here is how it all unfolded
Addressing the media, the city’s chief information officer, Moloko Monyepao, said the city had over the years been informing Syntell that it was working on introducing a new digital system that would then see the city taking over from Syntell, a service provider which had for a long time been awarded the contract back to back.
The last contract with Syntell initially expired on June 30, but, following negotiations among the involved parties saw the contract being extended for three months.
The city said when it was time for the metro to take over and transition to its new system, it encountered a lot of resistance from the incumbent.
Monyepao said the service provider became reluctant to do the handover and hogged the space, and there followed a long tussle that saw the takeover mired in disruptions that made it difficult for the city to immediately introduce a fully functioning system.
“When we were ready to go live, we before June requested Syntell to do a handover but they told us that they have a contract so we can’t just go live. Then the contract ended in June still they were unforthcoming. They withheld the data and we only received it in December after bringing our legal department on board to issue them with notices to leave our environment so that we could take over.”
Launched
The city claimed that despite all the challenges, it eventually occupied the space towards the end of December and in January launched the city’s Integrated Law Enforcement Management System (ILEMS), a digital platform expected to streamline fine management and other operations within the EMPD.
The city explained that the new system involves the adoption of digital technologies that have the potential to bolster service delivery and save taxpayers billions of rand.
The city decided about six years ago that it was digitalizing the city as part of its vision to become a smart city.
Management said one of the things that they noticed initially when they decided to take this route was the high cost of using service providers or consultants for some of its services that can be better managed using internal resources. These included the EMPD traffic fines system.
According to the city, the process suffered delays due to alleged collusion between internal staff and service providers to derail the transition.
“We have engaged the department seeking its support, but it was not coming to the party. And we escalated the matter to the city manager to force the department to support the process of digitalising the system using internal resources,” said Monyepao.
Responding to questions about what happened to the fines issued by offices during the period between October 1 and December 30, Monyepao said the city believes that they form part of the data received from Syntell because the contractor was during the period in question still occupying the space and processing fines.
“We are still analysing the data and we expect to get all the fines issued in this period and the old fines that are still not paid.”
City manager Dr Imogen Mashazi and EMPD acting chief Julius Mkhwanazi assured residents that despite all the setbacks, the city is committed to digitalise the department and see to it that it’s fully equipped with modern tools such as body-worn cameras, surveillance cameras, biometric systems, and license plate recognition systems.
Without giving much details, the city’s legal department confirmed that it is investigating possible collusion, and is looking into the Syntell contract and the internal processes that were followed.
Lack of resources
This department has for many years been rocked by a lack of resources including protective clothing and vehicles.
In an interview with this publication, the acting chief of police Mkhwanazi said the department is addressing these challenges.
He said the EMPD has recently procured 300 bulletproof vests, and with the new tender coming soon it will prioritise the protective gear officers need.
As part of the ongoing work to address the shortages of vehicles, the EMPD is taking about 50 of the unused vehicles that were previously used by the city’s emergency services and coveting them into police vehicles.
He added that the EMPD has recently bought 16 new vehicles.
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