EOH government contract under forensic probe
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A forensic audit is underway into a R400m irregular contract with JSE-listed software company EOH for the design of an identification system for the department of home affairs.
Auditing firm Nexia SAB&T was appointed in May to investigate the entire tender process for the design and roll out of an automated biometric identification system (Abis).
The contract was intended to replace the current home affairs national identification system (Hanis), which only records photos and fingerprints of SA citizens. Final implementation of Abis, which would provide a single source of identification of citizens across state institutions and private-sector entities, has now been delayed.
Parliament’s portfolio committee on home affairs was told on Tuesday that, during a briefing, EOH wanted to walk away from the contract, which was awarded in 2017, and wanted to hand it over to a subcontractor. However, the government’s IT procurement agency, the State Information Technology Agency (Sita), said it will not accept this.
Sita executive Luvuyo Keyise told MPs that EOH wanted to walk away from a number of contracts it has with government departments and hand them over to subcontractors. He stressed that Sita will not accept this, saying, “That is irregular; it is not allowable.”
The auditor-general found that the R400m contract was irregular not only because the tender master file was missing but also because it appeared that EOH was unfairly favoured as it was selected even though it did not meet the bidding criteria. Auditor-general executive Fhumulani Rabonda noted that there had been non-compliance with regulations. This irregular expenditure was reflected in the financial statements of both Sita and the department.
Keyise said Sita would institute legal action to recover the costs of reconstructing the files from Sita’s head of procurement at the time and the senior manager responsible for the tender process. It would also recover any loss of value. He conceded that the matter had taken an inordinately long time to finalise but gave the assurance that there would be consequences.
MPs were insistent that those responsible for the missing files be held to account.
Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi was also adamant that “nothing will be let to slip through our fingers” with regard to the contract and that the forensic auditors would determine whether EOH had delivered value for money.
Portfolio committee chair Bongani Bongo said it was very unsatisfactory that the department had only appointed forensic auditors in ...
Auditing firm Nexia SAB&T was appointed in May to investigate the entire tender process for the design and roll out of an automated biometric identification system (Abis).
The contract was intended to replace the current home affairs national identification system (Hanis), which only records photos and fingerprints of SA citizens. Final implementation of Abis, which would provide a single source of identification of citizens across state institutions and private-sector entities, has now been delayed.
Parliament’s portfolio committee on home affairs was told on Tuesday that, during a briefing, EOH wanted to walk away from the contract, which was awarded in 2017, and wanted to hand it over to a subcontractor. However, the government’s IT procurement agency, the State Information Technology Agency (Sita), said it will not accept this.
Sita executive Luvuyo Keyise told MPs that EOH wanted to walk away from a number of contracts it has with government departments and hand them over to subcontractors. He stressed that Sita will not accept this, saying, “That is irregular; it is not allowable.”
The auditor-general found that the R400m contract was irregular not only because the tender master file was missing but also because it appeared that EOH was unfairly favoured as it was selected even though it did not meet the bidding criteria. Auditor-general executive Fhumulani Rabonda noted that there had been non-compliance with regulations. This irregular expenditure was reflected in the financial statements of both Sita and the department.
Keyise said Sita would institute legal action to recover the costs of reconstructing the files from Sita’s head of procurement at the time and the senior manager responsible for the tender process. It would also recover any loss of value. He conceded that the matter had taken an inordinately long time to finalise but gave the assurance that there would be consequences.
MPs were insistent that those responsible for the missing files be held to account.
Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi was also adamant that “nothing will be let to slip through our fingers” with regard to the contract and that the forensic auditors would determine whether EOH had delivered value for money.
Portfolio committee chair Bongani Bongo said it was very unsatisfactory that the department had only appointed forensic auditors in ...
