T-Systems immediately suspended a contractor caught allegedly trying to defraud the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) of more than R12 million last year, says the outsourcing company.
This week, ITWeb reported that a contractor, seconded to the department by T-Systems, had appeared in court on charges of fraud after allegedly stealing R2.8 million from the DWA.
The contractor, Pono Senokwane, appeared in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court earlier this month and is scheduled to appear again on 28 July.
According to DWA spokesman Linda Page, Senokwane had been seconded to the DWA by T-Systems to work on the department's payment system.
The DWA first reported the alleged incident to T-Systems on 8 June 2010, says the IT company. “The individual concerned was immediately removed from site, and then suspended on 9 June 2010 for the period up to 31 July 2010 when his contract came to an end.”
T-Systems did not renew Senokwane's contract and the company has “cooperated fully with the Department of Water Affairs and offered our full assistance, resources and support in order to bring this matter to a close”.
The IT company, a local division of German-based Deutsche Telekom, says Senokwane was under contract with T-Systems SA and was not an employee.
Senokwane was originally contracted by CSIPER Consulting, a subsidiary of arivia.kom, in March 2009, with a contract extension until July 2010, says T-Systems. T-Systems SA bought arivia.kom in January 2010.
The company says the incident has been handled through its formal compliance management procedures.
“As part of the Deutsche Telekom group, T-Systems SA subscribes to a stringent ethical code of conduct, supported by internal control and compliance management systems,” it says in a statement.
Page says the DWA is trying to recoup the stolen money from T-Systems and will enter into negotiations to get the money back, and if that fails, it will follow the legal route. However, the department does not have a time frame for when it will start the process.
T-Systems is unaware of any pending action against it.
Share