Mpumalanga Department of Education spends R200-million tablets college students can’t use – MyBroadband

The Mpumalanga Department of Education is alleged to have wasted R200-million on defective tablets for pupils throughout the province by a young awarded to Bongani Rainmaker Logistics (BRL).

City Press reports that the scandal issues an R800-million sensible system programme for varsity college students within the area. Allegedly, the programme was rigged from the beginning.

BRL was awarded management over challenge administration and procurement for the tender — BR/MPUICT/2025/RFB030 — designed to provide 80,000 gadgets to varsities within the province.

Anonymous sources alleged that R200 million had already been spent on gadgets, a lot of which had been found to be defective after being delivered to pupils.

Meanwhile, a controversial follow-up tender valued at R600 million is entangled in allegations of tender manipulation and predetermined outcomes.

The most alarming allegation was that roughly 50,000 gadgets valued at lots of of hundreds of thousands of rands had been procured, warehoused, and ready for supply earlier than the tender course of was accomplished.

According to the report, sources alleged that the controversial tender course of implicates senior politicians and authorities officers.

The preliminary R200 million was for the procurement of Packard Bell tablets that allegedly failed obligatory State Information Technology Agency (SITA) compliance necessities.

BRL informed MyBroadband that it’s conscious of the allegations reported within the City Press article and is taking the matter critically. It says the problems are presently underneath assessment.

MyBroadband additionally requested the Mpumalanga Department of Education for touch upon the allegations, but it surely hadn’t responded to our question by the point of publication.

This isn’t the primary time the province’s training division has been within the highlight for its procurement of tech tools.

In April 2025, former Mpumalanga MEC for Education, Landulile Cathrine “Cathy” Dlamini, revealed that the division blew greater than R2 million shopping for new laptops for 22 of its workers members.

She revealed the eyewatering quantity throughout a question-and-answer session within the provincial legislature, revealing that every laptop computer price over R90,000.

Spotty particulars, requires investigation, and punishment for implicated officers

Following the revelation, MPs instantly requested the MEC for particulars concerning the laptop computer, together with the model and put in software program, which may clarify the excessive prices.

However, Dlamini couldn’t reply these questions however mentioned the computer systems had been procured for office-based workers and college principals.

The MEC defined that one motive the machines might have been so costly was that SITA procured them. This got here after allegations that her division had ignored Project Management Unit (PMU) tips.

“The department did not overlook PMU processes. These materials are not classified as LTSM — that is, learner-teacher support material — and thus should be procured through the SITA contract,” mentioned Dlamini.

“The beneficiaries are administrators and school managers, who use these for administration processes and not for teaching and learning.”

Following the revelation, SITA hit again on the division and voiced its assist for an investigation into the procurement course of.

SITA defined that the Mpumalanga training division had a panel of suppliers from which to decide on when procuring the laptops.

It mentioned it was answerable for establishing the transversal panel that allows authorities departments to supply laptops from suppliers, including that it doesn’t financially profit from this.

“We established the transversal procurement panels to build the capacity of the state, and not to destroy it,” mentioned SITA company affairs head, Tlali Tlali.

“We find it extremely concerning that, notwithstanding the existence of this transversal panel, which has both national and provincial reach, the department paid an outrageously exorbitant cost for those laptops.”

In May 2025, Mpumalanga Premier Mandla Ndlovu highlighted a number of irregularities within the course of to obtain the 22 laptops, including that implicated officers would face disciplinary motion.

He additionally revealed that the division had accepted laptops of an inferior high quality to these specified within the tender. The laptops it accepted may have been procured for much much less.

“The department accepted the delivery of laptops that did not match the specifications of the tender,” Ndlovu mentioned.

“Instead, the department procured laptops of similar specifications, which could have been procured for a lesser amount if due diligence had been applied.”

Ndlovu’s spokesperson, George Mthethwa, revealed that the provincial authorities may nonetheless get well the cash paid to the laptop computer provider.

“The government is taking significant steps to recover the money, which could have been used to improve the lives of communities in Mpumalanga,” he mentioned.

“The Premier has said that disciplinary action will be instituted against the implicated officials, including the head of department, in line with the applicable legislation.”