The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) is embroiled in fresh controversy after it withdrew a R3.4 million tender offer from cyber security firm SS-Consulting.
In December last year, SITA awarded SS-Consulting a contract to provide Check Point firewall support, maintenance and training to the South African Police Service (SAPS) for 17 months.
However, last week SITA rescinded its decision to offer the multimillion-rand contract to the Midrand-based company.
In a letter to SS-Consulting, seen by ITWeb, the agency says: “It has since come to SITA’s attention that there was a duplication of bids for the same requirements with RFQ5381-2494-2023, which was awarded in November 2024.
“Based on the above, it is with regret that SITA is hereby to withdraw the letter of award issued to SS-Consulting on 3 December 2024 and to subsequently cancel RFQ 5380-2494-2023.”
SITA acknowledged the blunder to ITWeb, saying it is working to ensure such mishaps do not occur in future.
However, Simphiwe Mayisela, managing director of SS-Consulting, says the company has referred this matter to National Treasury for investigation.
“The reason for the withdrawal given was that a duplication had occurred. If this were indeed the case, it is perplexing that SITA has chosen to cancel only our contract, while allowing the other to remain in force,” he comments.
“Principles of fair procurement dictate that, in the event of such a duplication, both contracts ought to have been cancelled, thereby affording both service providers an equal opportunity to re-bid and be awarded the contracts through a transparent and equitable process.
“It is deeply disappointing that SITA’s procurement processes continue to be marred by such irregularities.”
Duplication error
Tlali Tlali, spokesperson for SITA, explains that there were two separate bids for the tender – one for licences and another for support and maintenance requirements.
He points out that an error occurred when an incorrect pricing schedule was published with the bid specification document for licences — it mistakenly included the pricing schedule for support and maintenance.
“Two bidders responded to both tenders. One of the bidders expanded the scope of their submission, which resulted in duplication. This error was identified at the time when the Blanket Purchase Order was created on 5 December 2024,” he says.
According to Tlali, when the error was discovered, an internal cross-functional team was set up to advise the business on the best way possible to attend to the matter.
He says the team entailed personnel from the legal, supply chain, audit, risk and finance departments, with diverse competencies, to enable SITA to have a broader perspective and determine the course of action to follow informed by appreciation of the implications that could flow from options at its disposal.
Any option SITA chose had to be legally sound, pragmatic and compliant with procurement regulations, noting the interests of the parties affected, he adds.
“As the contract for the licences had already been signed with the selected service provider in November 2024, and the licences had already been deployed within the operational environment in the same month of November 2024, SITA resolved to proceed with the licence contract.
“To mitigate further risks and avoid duplication of services that could result in fruitless expenditure, SITA withdrew the letter of award issued to the SS-Consulting bid, as no contract had yet been concluded. In addition, there was appreciation that no work or services had been rendered at the time when the withdrawal letter was issued.”
‘Tough decisions’
SS-Consulting alleges this is not the first instance of such conduct, saying on 16 November 2021, the company was awarded tender RFB 2409-2020 (INC000020894845) for the renewal of Symantec anti-virus software for the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal.
Mayisela says despite the contract being duly signed by both parties on 6 December 2021 (with final conclusion on 21 December 2021), an official from SITA subsequently requested its cancellation after the company had already commenced work with the end-user.
In response, Tlali says: “Our records reflect that the contract was awarded on 17 November 2021 and the full contract value of R975 922 was disbursed to the service provider, as reflected in the remittance advice dated 23 March 2022.”
He points out that the SS-Consulting contract period ran from 24 February 2022 to 23 February 2025, confirming that the anti-virus licence renewal was completed and fully implemented.
“At no point was the contract terminated prematurely, nor was SS-Consulting informed of any such intent. We do not know what the basis is for the claim SS-Consulting is making.”
Tlali says to avoid contract duplications in future, SITA is in the process of customising and automating its supply chain environment and this will go live in September.
The automation will bring necessary enhancements and efficiencies with capabilities to detect such duplications early in the system and eliminate them, he notes.
“SITA regrets the incident, including the withdrawal of the award letter. Hard choices and tough decisions had to be made as continuing with duplication of services would have resulted in fruitless and wasteful expenditure that could have been avoided,” he concludes.
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