Lesufi defends ‘fail’ website

The Gauteng department of education (GDE) fired back at critics of its new e-learning platform yesterday, saying that it did not need security for its website and that their focus was on the quality of the website’s content.

The department launched its new online Content Platform at Soshanguve East Secondary School yesterday, in a step towards the vision of a paperless classroom in the province.

MEC Panyaza Lesufi joined GDE officials as they presented the new platform to eager pupils.

Lesufi also addressed critics and said: “Before I even launched (the website), they said this thing is old, it’s obsolete, it will crash! This morning hackers wanted to hack the system.

“They failed to hack the system but they say the system has failed. We know why they want the system to fail. We have not spent a cent. We have taken the skills of our own officials and skills of young people who are creative to develop this system free of charge. They thought we would use consultants and their white firms to do the work.”

GDE official Vusi Khoza explained that the department had an e-learning unit that dealt with the website and that it had taken the department six years to gather content for the pupils to use and not to develop the website.

On the site’s lack of security, Khoza said: “We started addressing the issue of HTTPS on Tuesday. We’ll make it secure, but what are we securing?”

– jenniffero@citizen.co.za

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