The Department of Transport's (DOT's) extension of Tasima's contract, to work on the controversial electronic National Traffic Information System (eNatis), may be “irregular” and “unlawful”.
Democratic Alliance (DA) shadow transport minister Stuart Farrow says leaked correspondence between eNatis manager, Tasima, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and the DOT shows the extension of the contract is questionable.
The main concern is that a public tender did not go out before the contract was renewed.
Tasima's contract began in December 2001 and expired in May 2008. The company has since been working with the department on a month-to-month maintenance contract, until the beginning of 2010. The contract was then renewed in May this year, for a further five years.
Questionable extension
“The correspondence does not suggest wrongdoing on the part of Tasima, but shows that the Department of Transport renewed their contract, in spite of a serious breakdown in services being offered, and warnings from the Road Traffic Management Corporation's acting chief executive officer that the contract renewal would be 'irregular' and 'unlawful',” says Farrow.
Copies of the leaked letters show that RTMC acting CEO Collins Letsoalo requested that a tender be advertised publicly before the contract was renewed.
“The Tasima contract is long due for re-advertisement to give other service providers a chance to participate.”
He added that the rates charged by Tasima were very high for a maintenance contract and noted that the department could not afford it. “More than R200 million a year for maintenance of a system cannot be sustainable.”
However, this request for a public tender process was turned down and transport director-general George Mahlalela awarded Tasima the five-year extension.
“A further reply to a DA parliamentary question reveals that the contract was also awarded without going to tender - even though Tasima's previous contract had expired in 2008, and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) had raised concerns about the contract not being re-advertised,” says Farrow.
Tasima previously said the extension of the contract provides continuity and stability to eNatis, with vital new enhancements and functions scheduled to be rolled out in coming months.
Despite several requests by ITWeb, the DOT had not commented on the matter by the time of publication.
Conflicting interests?
The department's deputy director of Transport Regulation Accident and Incident Investigations, Zakhele Thwala, provided a few reasons for the contract not going out on tender.
He argues that, as it is a running contract, it cannot be put out on tender, since Tasima was still on a month-to-month maintenance agreement. However, Letsoalo says the point is that the contract had expired.
Thwala also said: “The company, Tasima, has recently bought shares from arivia at cost and attracting and retaining staff is essential for the service guarantee.”
His final reason is that a new contractor would only maintain the current system so there is no need to advertise.
“It is in the best interest of eNatis and new shareholders to renew the current contract,” he added.
But Letsoalo says he is “puzzled” by Thwala's concern for the interests of Tasima shareholders.
Farrow also voiced concerns in this regard: “Why were the shareholders of a private company apparently a matter of concern to the Department of Transport?”
Accountability
“I have asked Scopa to investigate this matter thoroughly to see if the extension is legal,” says Farrow, adding that the investigation will be an inquiry into a violation of the Public Finance Management Act.
“The DA has already submitted further parliamentary questions to probe this matter, and we will call the director-general of the Department of Transport to appear before the portfolio committee on transport.”
Farrow adds that someone needs to be held accountable for the matter if the Scopa investigation shows irregularity. “Someone needs to be made responsible and in this case it's the DG. This cannot continue.”
He says details on the investigation should be ready by the time of Scopa's annual report.
Problematic system
The eNatis system has been problematic, experiencing a number of issues - from staff losses to technical glitches.
The traffic system had a troubled start when it first got off the ground in 2007, with developers underestimating the server requirements and connectivity needs. A few weeks after it officially got off the ground, Tasima had to double the system's server capacity.
The system has since had a bad reputation, with downtime at licensing centres blamed on the solution. In August, 70 000 people were erroneously listed as “dead” on the system and, earlier this month, undecipherable fines were sent to motorists.
However, eNatis CEO Tebogo Mphuthi says that is now a thing of the past. He adds that the system is one of the most sophisticated technology networks in SA.
According to Mphuthi, the earlier downtime troubles are now “virtually non-existent” and all maintenance on the system is completed after office hours. “Total uptime is 99.99% and, during office hours, it is up practically 100% of the time,” he explains.
At a cursory level, eNatis essentially handles the registration of cars and bookings of learners' and drivers' tests at various licensing and testing stations across the country. Mphuthi says the service is in the process of being extended and may well handle other transport-related services, like online fine payment and the ability to renew drivers' licences online.
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