Suspended Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro) CEO Keith Sendwe died last Wednesday, before he could face charges related to tender irregularities.
Sendwe's death leaves suspended CIO Michael Twum-Darko on his own to answer allegations around the alleged irregularities, but no one can shed any light on the process or when it will be completed.
Sendwe went on sick leave last November and was then suspended as CEO, along with Twum-Darko, by Trade and Industry minister Rob Davies, in March. He lost his battle with cancer last week.
The pair suspensions followed a forensic investigation, which was completed in March, that revealed tender irregularities in the awarding of a R153 million contract to Valor IT to overhaul Cipro's legacy IT systems and install a new enterprise content management system.
The forensic investigation also resulted in Valor IT's contract being cancelled; however, the empowered IT company wants the court to declare the deal valid, and reinstate it as the service provider.
However, despite Davies' public announcement in May that Sendwe and Twum-Darko were to face charges over the awarding of the deal, Davies' inaction has now left only Twum-Darko to face the music, which has raised concerns that Twum-Darko may shift the blame to his former colleague.
Failed promises
In May, Davies also said both Sendwe and Twum-Darko could also face criminal sanction. However, despite his promises to charge the pair and clean up the dysfunctional Cipro, the department cannot shed any light on the process.
“We don't want to trial [sic] our people in the media,” says Medupe. He says the department will only communicate what is happening around the disciplinary process once it has been completed.
Medupe says Sendwe's death will not derail the disciplinary process, although only Twum-Darko will face a hearing. “You cannot take to court a dead man [sic].”
In the dark
However, despite Medupe's assertion that the pair were charged, Twum-Darko has previously said he has not received written charges, although charges were e-mailed to him. He claimed these do not count as official charges, as his service conditions require charges to be delivered to him physically.
This morning, Twum-Darko told ITWeb that he was “in the dark” around the disciplinary process and had not been given any information around what was expected to happen. “No one is telling us anything.”
Cipro's head of communications, Elsabie Conradie, says the office has not been officially informed by the department about what is happening. She believes Twum-Darko's case will continue. “There is no reason why it should stop.”
DA shadow deputy trade and industry minister Andricus van der Westhuizen says he is concerned that Sendwe's death may result in Twum-Darko shifting the blame for everything that went wrong onto Sendwe, as he is not able to defend himself.
In the meantime, the fate of the ECM implementation hangs in the balance, as Valor IT and the department are heading to court over the validity of the contract. The department says it will only comment on implementation of the system, which is needed for when the new Companies Act comes into force in a few weeks, after the court rules.
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