The Competition Commission has decided not to refer the complaint of one of the losing bidders for the smart ID card system to the Competition Tribunal after it completed its investigation into the claims yesterday.
The commission investigated a complaint by Grant Son, CEO of Batho Phahameng Consulting, who claims his company was unfairly disqualified from the tender process.
The commission says it does not have the jurisdiction to investigate complaints relating to the fraudulent and/or biased awarding of tenders, nor the jurisdiction to investigate complaints relating to the fraudulent submission of false or misleading information in tender documents.
Son also laid a complaint with the auditor-general (AG) and the presidency after his firm was disqualified from the R40 million tender to provide printing equipment for the new smart IDs, even though Son's company scored the same number of points as the winning bidder.
Son says he agrees with the Competition Commission's response that the complaint does not fall under its jurisdiction, and will now continue to pursue the matter with the AG and the presidency. According to him, he received a letter from president Jacob Zuma promising to personally look into the matter, but is still waiting for feedback. He also says the AG is busy investigating the tender process.
In May, the Department of Home Affairs awarded a contract to Altech Card Solutions, a division of listed communications giant Altech, to provide the Government Printing Works with card personalisation equipment. Meanwhile, a contract estimated to be worth R199 million was awarded to Gemalto Southern Africa to supply pre-printed polycarbonate cards, containing a contactless microchip.
Bid documents show Altech and Batho Phahameng both scored 98 during the tender process - 90 for price points and eight for BEE points. However, the scorecard notes that Batho Phahameng's documents "were not completed in full".
Son is unhappy that Altech scored the same BEE points as his company and says the calibration used to qualify and score the two companies the same is "worrisome". He is also questioning how Altech's technical documents were accepted, as he claims it was exactly the same as Batho Phahameng's technical bid. Batho Phahameng was using Altech as its technical partner for the supply of the card personalisation equipment, and Son says the department and bid adjudicators were aware of this agreement.
Share