National Treasury's multibillion-rand Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) failed to attract a single qualifying submission for the original tender for the bespoke development of its payroll module.
Earlier this month, the State IT Agency (SITA) cancelled the payroll portion of the four-part software development tender RFB 882/2011, originally advertised in August. The remaining modules - financial management, inventory management and the data exchange - were unaffected and are still undergoing evaluation.
SITA simultaneously issued a new advertisement for the payroll module, under tender number RFB 925/2011, which is materially unchanged from its predecessor.
At the time, SITA corporate communications executive Anthea Summers attributed the re-advertisement of the tender to a governance issue, as the original tender had not met its minimum requirements. A SITA roadshow involving the agency's leadership delayed further clarification.
No choice
SITA COO Khumbudzo Ntshavheni reveals the organisation had to reissue the tender, as none of the bids submitted in October qualified to enter the technical assessment portion of the bid process. “There was no one to evaluate,” she says.
Despite the new tender's material replication, Ntshavheni says SITA is not concerned about a repeat of the qualification shortfalls.
“The problems were in the responses to the tender's mandatory requirements. We needed to provide clarification on our exact substantiation requirements as these weren't clear enough. So where we need a certificate, for instance, we need to specify this as some respondents may interpret the need as being sufficiently met by a letter.
“And while both options may technically provide adequate substantiation when considered independently, our bid evaluation process requires that all bids be compared on a like-by-like basis in line with good governance principles,” she explains.
In addition to including the clarifications in the tender documentation, Ntshavheni says the IFMS project team focused on highlighting these issues during last week's compulsory briefing.
The deadline for submissions is 5 December.
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