BHISHO ’ S PLAGIARISM SHAME
33-page document signed off by Mabuyane, cabinet, lifted from Australian presentation
33-page ‘ Provincial Digital Transformation Framework and Strategy Plan 2020 - 2025 ’ is almost a carbon copy of one signed by Brendan Howlin, the former leader of Australia s Labour Party, five years ago
A strategy document signed by Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane and approved by the provincial cabinet was copied almost word-for-word from a presentation made by the Australian government in 2015.
The 33-page “Provincial Digital Transformation Framework and Strategy Plan 2020 - 2025” is almost a carbon copy of one signed by Brendan Howlin, the former leader of Australia ’ s Labour Party, five years ago.
The barefaced plagiarism has embarrassed Bhisho’s elite, who have apologised profusely to the provincial executive.
The document has since been withdrawn by the provincial government.
The identity of the document’s author is known to the Daily Dispatch, but at the time of writing it could not be independently verified.
The Dispatch first spoke to Mabuyane’s spokesperson, Mvusiwekhaya Sicwetsha, about the plagiarism on Thursday night.
He said he would come to the Dispatch offices on Friday to address the queries.
For most of Friday, he was in a meeting, but was in contact with the Dispatch.
Sicwethsa said he would respond to the queries, but then, just before 4pm, released a general statement to media houses across the country.
Sicwetsha said the only part of the document that was not plagiarised was the implementation plan, projects to be implemented, and location of the projects to be implemented as part of the strategy.
He said when Mabuyane became aware of the plagiarism he had sanctioned an investigation, and when it was proved that the province ’ s ICT strategy was nothing but a duplicate of a 2015 Australian document, he went to his cabinet and withdrew the document “from all government institutions where it was submitted as required by the operational and reporting systems of government”.
“At the last meeting of the executive council, a decision was taken by the [provincial cabinet] to withdraw the ICT strategy from the records of the executive council, its committees, forums, structures and from other government institutions,” he said.
A new ICT strategy would have to be developed, Sicwetsha said, “to avoid a repeat of this embarrassing situation”.
He said disciplinary action will be taken against those responsible for the copied document, “because plagiarism is an act of misconduct, dishonesty” which has brought the provincial government “into disrepute”.
Without the Dispatch’s queries, the matter would not have been made public — at least not on Friday — via the country’s media.
The presentation document was signed both by provincial cabinet director-general Mbulelo Sogoni, on August 28, and
Mabuyane, three days later on August 31.
In his official sign-off, Sogoni said the document “accurately reflects the strategic objectives which the OTP [office of the premier] will endeavour to achieve with provincial departments”.
But these objectives were remarkably similar to those laid out in the 2015 Australian department of public expenditure and reform’s ICT strategy — so similar that the wording was almost exactly the same in about 80% of the document.
The Dispatch has seen and analysed both documents side by side. The Eastern Cape presentation is 33 pages and the Australian document 18 pages.
An analysis of Mabuyane and Howlin’s forewords is telling.
In his signed foreword, Mabuyane said: “We live in a rapidly changing world. Shifts in technology together with shifts in people’s expectations for Government services require new approaches to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Public Service.
“I welcome this Provincial Digital Transformation Framework and Strategy Plan, which sets out how the Public Service can meet these expectations. Building on the successful delivery of many existing services, the Strategy sets out how we can operate in a more efficient, shared and integrated manner across all of Government while delivering new and innovative digital services to citizens and business. ”
Now compare Howlin’s foreword from 2015.
“We live in a rapidly changing world. Shifts in technology together with shifts in people’s expectations for Government services require new approaches to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Public Service.
“I welcome this Public Service ICT Strategy, which sets out how the Public Service can meet these expectations. Building on the successful delivery of many existing services, the Strategy sets out how we can operate in a more efficient, shared and integrated manner across all of Government while delivering new and innovative digital services to citizens and businesses.”
In the section signed off by Sogoni, he wrote the certified the framework and strategic plan was developed by the management of the OTP in conjunction with the provincial GITO (Government Information Technology Officer) Council, which consulted with provincial management and was approved by the executive council.
He said the document was prepared “in line with the provincial development plan, the P-MTSF and the OTP Strategic Plan”.
“It accurately reflects the strategic objectives which the OTP will endeavour to achieve in collaboration with provincial departments over the period 2020-25,” Sogoni’s statement read.
Other information that is duplicated from the Australian document includes illustrations and graphics.
Disciplinary action will be taken against those responsible for the copied document, ‘ because plagiarism is an act of misconduct, dishonesty ’ which has brought the provincial government ‘ into disrepute