Court action to overturn R898m licence card deal

The department of transport has filed papers in the Pretoria high court to overturn the controversial R898m contract awarded to Idemia South Africa to supply the new driver’s licence printing card machine.

The department wants the court to set aside the contract, re-advertise the tender and allow the department of home affairs to take over the printing of driving licence cards, pending the appointment of another bidder.

In court papers, the department’s acting director-general, Mathabatha Mokonyama, said the driving licence card account (DLCA), a trading entity within the department, did not have the “skills and capacity to do this type of procurement as the requirement for the new machine were vastly different from the old driver’s licence currently in use”.

He said the supply chain management was inexperienced, with no permanent head in place and the CFO serving in an acting capacity.

“The inadequate capacitation of the committees resulted in noncompliance with adequate supplier due diligence, non-verification of the validity and accuracy of bid documentation submitted by bidders, incorrect site visits and inadequate market assessment of pricing,” Mokonyama said.

The legal challenge comes after the auditor-general flagged several irregularities in the tender process.

Some of the irregularities include instances of noncompliance with the required procurement processes and insufficient application of scoring during the bid evaluation process.

During a site visit, DLCA was supposed to verify that the machine proposed by Idemia had the required capacity and capability.

However, the DLCA officials chose to inspect an unrelated machine and had failed to provide a sufficient explanation for their actions.

The court papers show that while cabinet approved R486m, the money escalated to R898m resulting in a shortfall of R412m.

“It is the applicant’s contention that given the material irregularities in the processes leading up to the award of the tender, it is in the interest of justice that a self-review order should be granted with the result that the award of the tender is set aside.”

He said there was unfairness and irregularity in the process leading up to the appointment.

“It cannot be ignored that failure to adhere to the procurement prescripts amounts to unfair and irregular which renders the process flawed.

“When the award of a tender is found to be irregular and/or unlawful, the general position is to set aside the award.”

Mokonyama added that the bid evaluation committee team was not in a position nor qualified to properly compare the prices as found by the auditor-general.

“This tender faces a disastrous national crisis resulting from the old licence printing machine which breaks down time and time again and costly to repair. This has caused a great backlog in the processing and issuing of driver’s licences to applicants in the entire country.”

The current machine, which has been in use for more than 25 years, has broken down multiple times, leading to significant backlogs.

In February, it was out of operation, causing a huge backlog.

As of July 5, the backlog stood at 602,831 unprinted cards, according to the department.

“As the accounting officer, I am statutorily obliged to protect the public funds and the department against irregular and wasteful expenditure.”

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse CEO Wayne Duvenage welcomed the department’s decisive action and commended transport minister Barbara Creecy for acting on their concerns.

“This is how civil society, oversight institutions and public representatives should work together to tackle maladministration,” he said.

Creecy told Sowetan last week that her department had turned to the department of home affairs for help as it continued to face challenges with driver’s licence printing machine.

Creecy said her department met with home affairs which confirmed that a prototype machine was in development. “We are running that machine day and night. We can be clearing the backlog, but as we are clearing the backlog, [people’s] licences are expiring. So it is a never-ending cycle,” she said.

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