‘Outrageous and criminal DA’: EFF slams Western Cape’s R1.2 billion IT tender

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has criticised the  Democratic Alliance (DA) after it emerged that there were irregularities in a costly government tender in the Western Cape.

Focus turned to the DA’s provincial stronghold last week after parliament heard feedback from a forensic investigation into the R1.2 billion tender at the State Information Technology Agency (Sita).

The five-year contract, awarded to the Blue Networks Consortium (BNC), was intended to maintain and expand local area network (LAN) services for schools in the Western Cape.

The investigation, carried out by law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH), revealed multiple flaws in the bidding and evaluation processes.

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DA slammed for tender ‘fraud’

EFF spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys on Monday said the party “strongly condemns the outrageous and criminal behaviour by the Democratic Alliance”.

She said the report’s findings lay bare a web of corruption, collusion, and abuse of power.

“It reveals the direct involvement of DA Western Cape government officials who were part of the adjudicating process at Sita,” she said.

“These officials, in collusion with some members of the Sita board, unlawfully manipulated the tender process to benefit BNC, while sabotaging others.”

Mathys said the excuse for illegally disqualifying Dimension Data from and interfering with documentation of non-compliant bidders, to assist them in becoming compliant by altering their documents is a “flagrant abuse of office and a clear violation of tender laws and regulations”.

“This scandal is yet another example of how the Western Cape government, under the control of the DA, has become a breeding ground for corrupt officials who collude to defraud the state and steal from the people of South Africa.”

She said this “disregard for the law” also shows the extent to which DA officials are willing to go to maintain power and resources.

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DA minister condemned for not taking action yet

Mathys also slammed the DA Minister of Communications, Solly Malatsi for failing to act yet on the report that was launched last year though its findings were revealed now.

“Despite being presented with clear evidence of fraud, Malatsi has refused to offer any meaningful response or even to provide an opinion on what steps the Department of Communications has taken in response to the revelations.

“His silence speaks volumes about his complicity in this corruption and raises serious questions about his ability or willingness to hold his colleagues accountable.”

In this, Mathys said the DA was no different from the African National Congress in that it was corrupt and did not hold leaders accountable who were found guilty of wrongdoing.

The EFF called for an audit of all tenders awarded by Sita in the past 5 years.

“It is critical that we identify the full scale of corruption and stop the looting of public funds that should be going towards the development of our communities,” Mathys concluded.

Additional reporting by Molefe Seeletsa.