NIA staffer faces disciplinary action

Johannesburg, 04 Jul 2006

The investigation into the actions of a National Intelligence Agency (NIA) employee, who was also a shareholder in Cyberconn, the company that won an NIA tender in 2002, has been completed and he is facing an internal disciplinary inquiry, says NIA communications head, Lorna Daniels.

The investigation revealed the systems engineer had "knowingly and unlawfully" held back certain information about his interests in Cyberconn. The company was awarded a tender for the supply of a data transfer line.

"The internal disciplinary inquiry [which began on Friday] is in order to give the individual a chance to defend himself," she says, adding that minister for intelligence services Ronnie Kasrils was briefed before the hearing commenced.

The five-year data transfer line contract, awarded in 2002 by the NIA`s national communications centre (NCC), is understood to be worth R22 000 per month - amounting to R1.3 million over the term of the contract.

However, Cyberconn technical director Deon Stoltz says when Cyberconn began doing work for the NIA, the systems engineer in question was deregistered from the close corporation, in order to ensure there would be no conflict of interests.

Stoltz adds the NIA employee did continue supplying hardware on a small scale to the NIA, though not as part of Cyberconn, but in his personal capacity.

Court case

Another source at the NIA, who declined to be named, says a court case related to the tender will start in August.

"The NIA is alleging that the service provider [Cyberconn] has been overpaid, but the service provider claims it has not been paid enough," says the source.

Stoltz claims the NCC failed to pay on time. "We gave them a couple of warnings that we would cut the service... and then eventually we did suspend the service."

The NIA claims this was a breach of the contract, notes Stoltz, adding the contract was for basic Internet connectivity.

Manzini not implicated

The tender was awarded by the director-general of the NIA, Manala Manzini, who headed up the NCC at the time the tender was awarded in 2002.

Though sources inside the NIA said Manzini was also under investigation for his role in the process, an official statement, issued yesterday by the NIA, states: "The minister commends the director-general for the swift action taken when he detected a problem with the awarding of this contract.

"We wish to make it clear that there was no wrongdoing on the part of Mr Manala Manzini, as alleged in the Sunday newspapers," the statement said.

Manzini was appointed to his position in March, following the departure of former NIA head Billy Masetlha in the midst of the e-mail hoax scandal that rocked the NIA earlier this year.