Following an outcry over a R153 million tender, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has authorised an independent investigation into the awarding of the controversial bid by the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro).
While trade and industry minister Rob Davies has come out in support of the tender, saying correct tender procedures were followed, he has also consented to a forensic report by the auditor-general on the enterprise content management (ECM) tender.
The DTI confirms Davies has authorised the investigation. Once the final report is available, it will be assessed and a decision on the tender will be taken, says the minister.
Valor IT was awarded the bid to implement an end-to-end ECM solution at Cipro. But the awarding of the 24-month tender to Valor IT was met with suspicion.
Cipro CEO Keith Sendwe and Valor IT chairman Josias Molele have both previously lashed out against allegations that procedures were not followed during the bid.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) and Mantra Consulting - which worked on the bid with Valor IT - have called on Cipro to voluntarily suspend the ECM bid. The DA called for urgent action to be taken and requested Davies to initiate an independent investigation.
“A decision to set aside the award of this tender will be premature without due process to determine if any irregularities occurred. If there were any irregularities in the awarding of the tender, appropriate action will be taken,” says Davies.
No audit
Cipro previously claimed the auditor-general audited the tender process. However, the office of the auditor-general, which has said it was incorrect to state there were no problems with the tender process, has disputed this.
According to Cipro, the evaluation report was submitted in December 2008 to the bid adjudication committee, consisting of Cipro's CEO, CFO, CIO and chief internal auditor, for consideration. The director-general approved the report on 23 January 2009. A week was allowed for objections. The final contract and service level agreement with Valor IT was signed off on 27 March 2009.
The DA says the process was rigged and has accused Cipro of “gross mismanagement and corruption due to a complete lack of leadership”.
The DTI, however, says it is satisfied with the tender process and the reasons given by Cipro. The department says it accepts that Valor IT was awarded the tender as it “offered best value for money”.
The DTI says Cipro showed Valor IT has extensive experience in ECM solution implementations and this was also reflected in the scoring. Valor IT has a track-record to deliver on the contract, says Davies. He adds the decision was reached following evaluation and adjudication processes, which were in line with the supply chain management policy.
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