Given how Covid-19 has forced a focus on health infrastructure, the provincial broadband project has for this financial year connected three major hospitals in the province — Nelson Mandela Academic, Livingstone and Cecilia Makiwane hospitals — to the government virtual private network (VPN).
Mvoko said work was under way to design a provincial VPN and to ensure all centres were migrated to it.
An amount of R228.5m was allocated to the Office of the Premier (OTP) for the rollout of broadband infrastructure.
Township and rural economies will benefit from a R186.1m allocation for the small town revitalisation programme, which is located within the OTP.
The network of Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency game reserves spread across the province will get upgrades worth R31.6m.
The manner in which government procures services makes a significant contribution to local economic development and Mvoku said that by the third quarter of this financial year, the province had spent R7.6bn — representing 61% of its procurement budget — on Eastern Cape-based suppliers, across different commodities.
Pandemic pushes need to invest in digital infrastructure
Image: 123RF.COM
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative effect on all aspects of life, but has also given impetus to the Eastern Cape government’s vision to invest in digital infrastructure to connect the province to the world.
Finance MEC Mlungisi Mvoko said the pandemic had reaffirmed “our long conceived position to digitalise” as a key imperative “to network and connect us with the international community”.
The province was also concerned with preserving business continuity in its operations and using technology to maximise efficiencies in business processes.
Disappointing budget will make few happy
Given how Covid-19 has forced a focus on health infrastructure, the provincial broadband project has for this financial year connected three major hospitals in the province — Nelson Mandela Academic, Livingstone and Cecilia Makiwane hospitals — to the government virtual private network (VPN).
Mvoko said work was under way to design a provincial VPN and to ensure all centres were migrated to it.
An amount of R228.5m was allocated to the Office of the Premier (OTP) for the rollout of broadband infrastructure.
Township and rural economies will benefit from a R186.1m allocation for the small town revitalisation programme, which is located within the OTP.
The network of Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency game reserves spread across the province will get upgrades worth R31.6m.
The manner in which government procures services makes a significant contribution to local economic development and Mvoku said that by the third quarter of this financial year, the province had spent R7.6bn — representing 61% of its procurement budget — on Eastern Cape-based suppliers, across different commodities.
Government warns on rising debt: Budget 2021 spending goes to learning, grants and health
Some 95,718 jobs would be created under the expanded public works programme in the department of public works, at a cost of R153.3m, across provincial departments, municipalities and other public bodies.
The Isiqalo Youth Fund has been allocated R34m over the medium-term to provide targeted support to youth businesses, from start-up to expansion phases, and R25m has been set aside to support the development of the film sector in the province.
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