Wasteful expenditure? This is what a R91 000 laptop gets you [VIDEO]

Mpumalanga premier Mandla Ndlovu has launched an investigation into the provincial education department after it emerged that 22 laptops were purchased for a staggering R2 million.

The 22 laptops, each costing close to R91 500, were bought for a select group of employees in December 2024.

Expensive laptop

So, what does a R91 500 laptop get you? The Citizen checked online and found the Dell XPS 16s laptop, the brand that was apparently purchased by the department.

Online retailer Takelot sells the Dell XPS 16s laptop for R91 161.

The Dell XPS 16 features a 16.3-inch display with a futuristic seamless touchpad and an LED touch strip replacing the top row of function keys.

An upgrade from the base model gets you 32GB of RAM, RTX 4070 graphics, a 1TB SSD and a 4K OLED display. For the case, there is a choice between a creamy silver that Dell calls platinum or a matte black that the company dubs graphite.

WATCH Cathy Dlamini answering questions about the laptops

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The MEC for Education in Mpumalanga Province Ms Cathy Dlamini confirmed during a seating in the legislature, when asked a question by MPL Fighter Hon Ntsako Mkhabela, that the department bought 22 laptops for an amount of R2,020,883.45 meaning each laptop costed… pic.twitter.com/yx6cBKQu0e

— @Mpumalanga _EFF (@MpumalangaEff) April 21, 2025

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Striking features

You can also opt for vPro, which delivers remote-management features for IT departments in charge of a fleet of XPS 16 machines.

It’s a versatile performer, offering strong application performance as well as graphics performance.

Dell outfits the XPS 16 9640 with a robust six-cell, 99.5-watt-hour battery. It lasted more than 11.5 hours on our online streaming battery drain test, which is a positive result for any laptop.

The most striking part of the XPS 16 design is its apparent lack of a touchpad. It lacks borders and blends seamlessly into the wide wrist rest. The invisible touchpad is centred below the display and is large enough.

The haptic feedback is excellent and customisable, so you can dial in how lively you’d like the click response to be.

Along with strong visuals, the XPS 16 9630 boasts impressive audio output. Another upgrade the XPS 16 received from the previous XPS 17 is a 1080p webcam.

‘High performance machines’

The laptops, described by the department as “high-performance machines”, were acquired for use by the Education Management Information Systems and Information and Communication Technology teams. These units are responsible for managing tech infrastructure, troubleshooting and maintaining digital support for schools across the province.

Ndlovu’s spokesperson, George Mthethwa, told The Citizen that the make of the laptops will be disclosed after the investigation.

“The premier has instituted an investigation into this matter. That investigation will then assist us in determining the types of laptops that were procured, because there are a lot of others who are saying it’s a Dell, and it’s this kind of program loaded on it. Others are referring to other brands of laptops.

“So our position is that the investigation can be concluded, and then it will give us all those answers,” Mthethwa said.

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Investigations

Mthethwa said the investigation is being expedited.

“By the end of next week, the investigation will have been concluded. In fact, the premier is going to even address the public around the outcome of the investigation.”

Last week education MEC Cathy Dlamini revealed the details of the laptops when responding to questions from EFF lawmaker Ntsako Mkhabela in the provincial legislature.

Procurement specifications

Mkhabela demanded to know why the laptops were acquired despite failing to meet procurement specifications.

“Our preliminary report from our internal investigation does indicate that the service provider did not deliver as per the specifications provided. The matter is currently being investigated through the integrity management unit in the Office of the Premier.”

Total cost

Answering the question about how much the laptops cost the department, Dlamini revealed the amount.

“The department was charged R91 482.50 each for the managers’ laptops. The honourable MEC is not one of the beneficiaries of these laptops, and she continues to use the second-hand laptop that was provided to her in July 2024 when she joined the department.”

Dlamini added that the laptops were for office-based officials in the department.

“The total amount paid for the 22 laptops was R2 020 883.45.”

Unimpressed

Mkhabela was unimpressed and questioned the hefty price tag.

“I am just shattered by the number of laptops that were purchased. We want to know what type of laptop this is. I want to ask the MEC to at least give us the name of this laptop so that we know we are talking about a R91 000 laptop because we have never seen such a laptop in all the shops,” said Mkhabela.

Dlamini asked that she be allowed to respond in writing, as the answer was technical.

Dlamini told the sitting that the procurement followed national protocols and used a panel of suppliers approved by the State Information Technology Agency (Sita).

Sita is a public entity under the department of communications and digital technologies led by Minister Solly Malatsi.

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