Almost six months after the DA submitted a Public Access to Information application (PAIA) to the Office of the Premier in KwaZulu-Natal, the province’s Finance portfolio committee has finally received a briefing on the forensic report (view here) centred around the controversial acquisition of an e-procurement tool.

The report was presented by Premier Sihle Zikalala and the provincial Treasury earlier this week. This despite the forensic report having been handed to the Premier in 2019 and with no concrete steps taken against any of the officials implicated to date.

This report is yet another indication of a failed state left vulnerable and exposed to corruption with both Treasury and the Premier unable to answer specific questions from the DA. It is also further evidence that the ANC under the Premier is not sincere about corruption – it’s all talk and zero action.

To say that KZN’s e-procurement tool programme has been disastrous from beginning to end is an under-statement. The DA’s long-held concerns around this programme appear to be well-founded, with the report recommending that some of the province’s top officials be subjected to disciplinary proceedings as a result of their alleged involvement.

For years, former KZN Finance MEC Belinda Scott waxed lyrically about the e-procurement tool that was going to solve provincial government’s procurement and Supply Chain Management (SCM) challenges. This process commenced in 2011 with the original tender amount ballooning from R14 million to more than R29.8 million – an increase of 112%

The report also indicates that all payments for the e-procurement tool be deemed as irregular expenditure. This means that the province has spent R29.8 million irregularly with nothing to show for it.

Due process and permission for this system was also never obtained from National Treasury. Even after National Treasury intervened and instructed Provincial Treasury to cease with the procurement, the matter proceeded.

The forensic report further reveals that the bid process for the e-procurement tool, appointed to a company Adapt IT, was flawed and that Adapt IT should never have been awarded the tender.

In addition, the investigation has found that the programme was shut down due to a lack of proper project governance and security controls. This while three provincial Departments where the system was initially commissioned also had to be closed, further exposing the Departments to security breaches.

Treasury HOD at the time, Sifiso Magagula, who is fingered in the report, left Treasury and now enjoys employment within KZN’s Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA).

That the forensic report was done on his watch is a further concern and raises the possibility that officials implicated in the procurement may have had influence over this process. The question must therefore be asked: is this report a true reflection of events?

The DA expects the Premier to act without delay in terms of the recommendations of this report. This must include disciplinary action against those identified within the document. The people of KZN deserve this at the very least.

The DA remains committed to ensuring that government is held accountable at every possible level.

 

Issued by The DA