Security companies that claim they went under after not being paid by Cloudseed, lacked the necessary resources and skills to provide services at the required service levels, says Cloudseed legal and regulatory director Candice Schultz.
This comes after reports surfaced yesterday that Laphinda Cleaning and Security, Moshe Cleaning and Security, and Mabuza Security went under, after not being paid for security services rendered to Cloudseed.
Cloudseed was contracted by the Gauteng Department of Finance in 2007 to provide computers for the Gauteng Online project. After its original contract expired on 31 March, the contract was extended for a further three months, at a cost of R126 million.
Cloudseed appointed the aforementioned companies to provide security to schools in the area in which they mainly operate, says Schultz. "Unfortunately, these security providers lacked the necessary resources and skills... and this had serious implications for us as an organisation, as the computer laboratories at the schools were targeted by crime syndicates and our security providers at the time were not able to respond to or combat the crime at the schools."
According to Schultz, the stolen equipment had to be replaced by Cloudseed from its own budget allocated to the project and not by additional funds provided by government. "Because of the losses we suffered and based on the fact that the security providers did not render the services effectively, or at all, a decision was taken to terminate the security providers' appointment," explains Schultz. "Given that the termination was due to their breach of the agreement, we were advised by our lawyers not to pay them their outstanding invoice."
According to a report by The Star, Laphinda Cleaning and Security is owed R2.1 million by Cloudseed and Moshe Security is owed R1.59 million.
Schultz says Cloudseed also decided to institute legal proceedings against the security companies, as a result of their inability to perform an effective service. She was unable to comment on details surrounding the legal proceedings, but said legal documents can be provided by the company's attorney.
"In the meantime, we have appointed Chubb Security to attend to the armed response and guarding of the computer laboratories for the project," says Schultz.
"Since they have been appointed, the incidence of crime has reduced dramatically and so have our losses for replacement equipment. We feel that the decision to replace the initial security providers with Chubb was a prudent one and is in the best interests of the project."
A spokesperson for Gauteng Online earlier this month confirmed the government still owes Cloudseed R200 million, which he said is "due to outstanding arrears". Schultz, however, refused to comment on this, saying confidentiality agreements are in place relating to the contractual framework.
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