Press statement by Athol Trollip Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay
Approximately R141 million could be saved in total over the next 5 years after a telecommunications audit was conducted by MMC for Corporate Services, Cllr Dean Biddulph, and his team of officials. This audit has revealed room for massive cost-cutting in telecommunications across all Directorates, some interventions and solutions for which have already been implemented.
Hundreds of Telkom municipal landlines, each of which incur line rental fees, have been identified as having not made a single call in the last year and have thus been flagged for review. Total savings of approximately R36 million are possible over the term for the reconciliation and rationalisation of these lines.
R105 million of the total saving hinges on whether the Proof of Concept for the implementation of a Voice Over Internet Protocol network is successful. This VOIP network would see all internal phone calls made via an internet connection using the most cost-effective call routing system, removing the need for a third party telecommunications service provider.
The Municipality estimates that this Proof of Concept and resultant testing will take a period of 3 months, beginning after the installation of all necessary fibre links. Should the aforementioned steps motivate for the establishment of VOIP in our Metro, a tendering process will be facilitated by Budget & Treasury.
This government is setting in motion an evaluation system to monitor cost drivers within the institution. Our approach to spending allocates each Directorate, through the respective MMC, the mandate to ensure that no money is being spent inefficiently. It is crucial that we account for every cent of public money and the way in which it was spent.
This initiative is geared towards ensuring the Administration’s long term efficiency in terms of communications, operations and expenditure.