Transparency: the final frontier

Somewhere out there is an auditor general's report about the 'Who Am I' contract, which has been mired in controversy since it was first mooted about four years ago.

Exactly where this document is, though, is anyone's guess. Apparently, it was handed over to the previous home affairs minister, last February. But she was swapped out and traded in for a “better” model when Jacob Zuma took over the reins.

So, although the department has the report, which dates back to 2008, it may well be sitting in a pile of dust on Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's desk, and she may be totally honest when she denies ever having seen the report.

I doubt it. I suspect there is very little dust at all in her office, and a report as important as this one, considering it deals with billions of rands, should have made it to her, regardless of whether it runs to hundreds of pages or not.

The report is vitally important, as it could shed light on what exactly was wrong with the awarding of the deal. It may also shed light on why the contract has escalated in cost, from R1.9 billion to more than R4 billion. It could also answer the question of why the department decided to can the contract.

The entire matter has been shrouded in secrecy.

On 13 April, the department sent a “surprising” letter to GijimaAst cancelling the contract, after declaring that it was “invalid”.

Dlamini-Zuma's budget speech the very next day alluded to the cancellation, referring to the fact that the service provider for the implementation of an enhanced movement control system at airports had been changed.

However, it was only on Thursday, 15 April, that SA found out the project had been pulled, and that GijimaAst wants to fight the issue out in court. The only reason GijimaAst made an announcement to shareholders is because the cancellation has become material. The deal is worth 15% of this year's revenue for the company - and that amount is now under threat.

The report is vitally important, as it could shed light on what exactly was wrong with the awarding of the deal.

Nicola Mawson, senior journalist, ITWeb

Home affairs immediately went on the defensive. “We believe that it is only fair that, since GijimaAst issued the statement and not the department, they and they alone are in the best position to respond to media queries regarding the contents of their statement. Accordingly, the department will not engage in any public discourse regarding this matter,” said spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa, in a statement.

This is nothing more than political spin doctoring, according to opposition parties; it was home affairs that first said the supplier had been changed. When this was pointed out to Mamoepa, he changed his tune. Now the department is not commenting, because of an impending legal fight.

Home affairs did, however, see fit to lock GijimaAst staff out of the project - despite the impending legal fight. As GijimaAst wants the contract declared valid, it is rather silly of the department to lock people out until that battle has gone through the courts and been awarded in its favour.

The state attorney seems to understand this logic, and stepped in to force home affairs to open its doors to GijimaAst staff.

In the midst of all of this, South Africans are none the wiser as to why the rug was pulled and neither is the market. Not surprisingly, GijimaAst's shares lost ground, and the company moved into damage control mode - issuing sanitised updates to the media that explained, but lacked clarity.

This resulted, of course, in speculation. Publications started asking whether GijimaAst boss Jonas Bogoshi had used some of his old State IT Agency (SITA) contacts to pull in some favours. Market commentators pondered why Mavuso Msimang would leave his seat as DG at home affairs just before the proverbial hit the fan. Msimang is a former SITA CEO.

Two and two can sometimes be made to equal five, especially when the exact variable for two is not known. And that is exactly what is happening in this case.

The truth, I'm sure, is somewhere in between all the gossip and speculation. However, until we have actually seen the two-year-old AG's report - we have to guess. Guessing is dangerous. It's like betting that the traffic light won't turn green before you make it there - with your eyes closed.

By the time the actual facts make it out, irreparable damage could have been done to the economy, government, and a listed company. No one will believe government's statements that it is clamping down on corruption when it won't spill the beans on what it has found out, never mind going after other aspects of government that are rotten.

GijimaAst is now tinged with scandal - no one knows whether the deal was won under suspicious circumstances. No one knows if there is a suspicious reason Msimang left home affairs when he did, and whether he and Bogoshi were the best of buds.

Worst of all, how can we ask foreign investors to put money into the bourse if companies can just have deals pulled out from under them without any explanation? We can't expect foreigners to believe in us when there are so many unanswered questions around a vitally important contract.

Publish the report, table it in Parliament, and stop telling porky pies. It will come out in the wash - and then someone will be left with egg on his/her face.

To keep the report hidden shows scant regard for SA's taxpayers - it is their money that funded what looks like another example of wasteful expenditure.

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