An audit by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) into a controversial tender awarded to Idemia for the procurement of new driving licence card printing machines and technology is under review. The audit, prompted by concerns raised by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), examines the transparency and fairness of the procurement process, including allegations of manipulation and cost overruns.
The Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) has concluded its audit into a controversial transport department tender awarded to Idemia to provide the new cards' printing machines and technology. The AGSA handed over the report to the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, sometime in early January 2025.
On 28 January, Department of Transport (DoT) spokesperson Collen Msibi confirmed to MyBroadband that the report was being studied and a public statement on its findings would be issued at an “appropriate” time. Creecy had suggested the department should have an answer on the way forward for the new licence cards towards mid-January. The preferred bidder for the licence card contract by the Department of Transport’s (DoT’s) Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) division was announced on 8 August 2024. Only a few days after the announcement, Creecy released a statement confirming she had asked that the AGSA widen an audit into the procurement and consider certain issues, including whether: the specifications for the project included adequate measures to protect the safety of personal data given the sensitivity of information and security features involved in this project; the implications for this procurement process in light of the recent cancellation by Airports Company South Africa of a contract that was awarded to Idemia due to a contractual dispute between Idemia and its BBBEE partner InfoVerge; Idemia’s technical capacity and timeous delivery were adequately considered in the tender process following allegations of challenges at three airports where Idemia’s biometrics system was contracted by the Border Management Authority; other South African service providers tendered, including service providers contracted by the Government Printing Works, and why were they not selected; Creecy’s request came after a meeting with the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), in which it highlighted a number of serious concerns about the process through which Idemia was chosen. Outa has alleged that the tender for the card machine was deliberately manipulated to ensure that a specific bidder was awarded the contract. “This included repeatedly issuing, withdrawing and reissuing the tender, along with three extensions of the price validity period, which is highly irregular and discouraged by Treasury’s procurement guidelines,” Outa said. Outa’s statement also welcomed the minister’s request that the AGSA widen its audit to look into the procurement. Outa accused the DLCA and the department of poor transparency in the procurement process, including its actual cost. “The DLCA and department have refused to specify the contract price, but Outa received evidence indicating this ballooned from the DLCA’s budgeted R468 million to as much as R899 million,” Outa said. Creecy subsequently told Parliament that each new card printing machine would cost R334 million, which means the total cost would be over R1 billion. It is unclear whether that will include associated items, such as software and other supporting equipment. Outa called on the minister to instruct the DLCA to desist from awarding the tender or signing a service-level agreement with Idemia until the matter was thoroughly investigated. “This tender should be cancelled and reopened, with extremely robust oversight mechanisms in place,” Outa said. If Outa’s information on the matter turns out to be accurate or the AGSA finds other major irregularities, the new licence cards will likely be further delayed. The current document has been used since 1998 and is widely considered outdated in terms of security features. The decades-old machine used to print the card has also become prone to repeated and lengthy breakdowns, including one that added to a significant backlog in licence card issuing in 2020 and 2021. The new licence cards will feature enhanced security features to make them more robust against counterfeiting and fraud and be aligned with international standards, making them more suited for use by South Africans visiting other countries
Technology SOUTH AFRICA TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT IDEMIA AUDIT DRIVING LICENCE CARDS ORGANISATION UNDOING TAX ABUSE TENDER PROCESS PROCUREMENT
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