Two top Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro) executives will find out what fate awaits them today, as the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI's) legal advisors are due to wrap up the charges they face.
Trade and industry minister Rob Davies earlier this month said criminal and internal charges would be laid against Cipro CEO Keith Sendwe and CIO Michael Twum-Darko. His comments followed the completion of a forensic probe into the awarding of a R153.7 million contract.
Cipro's head of communications, Elsabie Conradie, says the two - who have been suspended - should know soon what charges they face, as today is the last day for the DTI's legal advisors to finalise the charges.
She says Cipro is now waiting for feedback from the DTI as to what the next steps will be.
It is also the last day for Valor IT to explain why it should keep the controversial R153.7 million contract to install an enterprise content management (ECM) system for Cipro.
Valor IT chairman Josias Molele refused to comment this morning and would not say whether the company would defend why it should retain the contract. He told ITWeb he would not talk over the phone. “If you want an interview, make the proper arrangements... Stop to print lies [sic].”
Concerns
Five bids were submitted to Cipro for the tender, and Valor IT won the work despite the company putting in an offer that was at least twice as high as the cheapest offer.
A forensic investigation into the awarding of the deal revealed there was a pattern of relationships between Cipro's suspended CEO and CIO, Valor IT and sub-contractor Mantra Consulting.
Davies suspended Sendwe and Twum-Darko after a forensic investigation by independent investigation firm Specialised Security Group, but the report will not be made public.
However, among the report's findings was that Valor IT had been paid R56 million in February last year, 10 days after having been awarded the entire contract, when it had dropped off a box of CDs and an invoice at Cipro's offices.
The CDs were meant to have contained software that was needed to develop the ECM system.
In May, Davies commented this on its own should have raised a red flag. He said steps had been taken to ensure any monies paid would remain in the country. “This was a system that was going to deal with white-collar crime. Its integrity is absolutely fundamental.”
The minister also told the parliamentary committee that he had noticed things were wrong at Cipro late last year, when he noted a pattern of enquiries coming to his office about the Cipro tender and was not getting satisfactory answers.
An auditor-general's (AG's) report into the awarding of the deal found that information in Cipro's business case and details contained in the successful bid were “almost exactly the same”.
The AG also found procurement processes had not been followed by either Cipro or the State IT Agency in awarding the contract. The report added that the financial viability of the bidding companies was not taken into account.
“Due to inconsistencies/inaccuracies highlighted above and the lack of sufficient documentation and information to determine the effect thereof, the AGSA is not in a position to conclude that the process followed in appointing the successful bidder was fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective,” it says.
Forging ahead
Conradie says, in the meantime, work is continuing on the ECM system, although in an offline environment. She explains that Cipro must have the system live by October, because it needs to cater for changes in the Companies Act that will come into effect then.
The new system is critical to Cipro's ability to operate as most of its interaction with companies is done through its Web site, Conradie explains. “We can't go back on our word; we've made promises to the business community.”
At the moment, companies can still access Cipro through its current Web site, she says.
Conradie adds that Cipro has biweekly meetings with Valor IT to track its progress, and has appointed Lungile Dukwana as acting CEO in the interim.
Mantra recently won a High Court order against Valor IT when the Gauteng South High Court ordered Valor IT to immediately pay Mantra Consulting R3 million. It also ordered it to say why another R7 million should not be paid for work done on the IT system.
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