The Black IT Forum has gone on the attack, sending out a damning anonymous e-mail, claiming that three well-known IT firms have been improperly awarded a deal to install cabling for the police service.
The e-mail, which has apparently been circulating in the ICT sector for about a week, claims the multimillion-rand deal was awarded to four companies, including Xon, Sizwe and Pinnacle subsidiary Infrasol, which are not black empowered, and do not have sufficient cabling expertise.
However, the basis for the e-mail seems to be that black companies are not benefiting enough from SITA tenders. A fourth company was also named, but ITWeb could not locate contact details for comment, so it will not be revealed.
ITWeb has a copy of the e-mail, which has been rubbished by the three companies. However, the sender of the mail - a Black IT Forum member - will neither publicly back up his claims, nor be named, as the forum has not approved an interview with ITWeb.
The BITF is up in arms over the allegations, and wants the State IT Agency (SITA) to can the deal, or it will start lobbying politicians. BITF treasurer Morena Ntsika says “there's no proper monitoring or audit system that verifies whether these companies are really BEE or not”.
In addition, the mail calls for the tender, which it says is worth R400 million, to be scrapped and for the work to be channelled through a list of previously pre-approved black companies. It says this would be an effective way of redistributing wealth.
Rubbish
However, SITA has also denied the allegations. GM for corporate communications Anthea Summers says SITA used 34 areas of criteria when awarding the deal, including technical ability, and made a recommendation based on compliance within these areas.
Xon CEO Carel Coetzee says the company is not fronting, and is a level three broad-based black-economic empowerment contributor. “Our BEE status is very important to Xon and our continued commitment to empowerment is something that we take very seriously,” he says.
In addition, Coetzee says, the company aims to empower small black companies wherever possible, and often subcontracts to do so.
However, in order to fulfil the requirements of the deal, there is no need to do so as the company has in-house expertise, he adds. “In the circumstances, Xon can unequivocally state that it possesses more than sufficient cabling experience and expertise.”
Pinnacle Technology Holdings CFO Hano Coetzee says the tender was issued in compliance with SITA's rules and regulations. He adds Pinnacle, Infrasol's holding company, is 30% BEE-owned and is a level four BEE contributor.
“Infrasol has sufficient capacity to fulfil its obligations under the tender in each of the regions where it was successful in the quote,” says Coetzee. “Our track record in supplying equipment and services remains beyond reproach and we are currently rolling out a number of projects in the government, corporate and private sectors.”
He adds the company will give smaller black firms the opportunity to subcontract, “which we envisage will allow them to develop into sustainable business units”.
Sizwe CEO Tim Modise points out that the company's empowerment credentials are well known, and before the company was bought out by ConvergeNet, its empowerment holding was just above 60%.
Modise adds Sizwe has done a lot of work in the cabling sector. “It's not like we are a company that started last week, or last month.” He says the industry is competitive, and Sizwe will win some contracts, and lose out on others. “We don't point fingers when we lose contracts.”
Not impressed
Ntsika says small and medium black companies “don't get work from these tenders that are advertised by SITA”. He argues that SITA's specifications are “really difficult” for smaller black companies to meet.
This is an issue that the BITF has previously brought up, he says, and despite the agency's requests for comment from the sector, “SITA went ahead without acknowledging those comments or engaging”, argues Ntsika.
“We intend to engage going forward, but if we are not winning we will further engage with the politicians on the matter and also lobby other structures that are superior,” says Ntsika. He says the BITF is “tired of being undermined all the time” and SITA does not take its views into account.
Ntsika says the companies are being attacked through an apparently anonymous e-mail, because “some of our members cannot disclose themselves, because they are still at the mercy of getting work from the same companies”.
Summers says the forum has not previously raised these concerns with SITA, but it will engage with the BITF to try and resolve the issues, as the forum is an important entity.
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