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The Special Investigating Unit stated that R262 million had been saved through the cancellation of SABC and Sita contracts.
Picture: Special Investigating Unit
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has detailed a range of successes relating to state-owned communications.
The Standing Committee of Public Accounts (Scopa) were on Wednesday briefed by SIU officials on matters at the State Information and Technology Agency (Sita) and the South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC).
Both entities fall under the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, with the department due to brief Scopa in the coming weeks.
The SIU’s presentation listed successes stemming from contracts signed as far back as 2012.
From both entities, the SIU stated that they had saved government coffers a combined R262.6 million while recovering R58 million.
Investigations into SABC and Sita contracts have resulted in 11 criminal referrals, 46 disciplinary cases, 11 civil litigations and three administrative actions.
The SIU does not prosecute matters, but where evidence warrants, matters are escalated to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Corruption and mismanagement at state-owned entities, maladministration of state assets and public money and matters of public interest are the SIU’s primary focus.
Under Sita, the SIU’s biggest recent victory came in connection with an R888 million contract signed in 2013.
The SIU report stated that IBM was appointed as a single-source service provider without the required permission to deviate from procurement procedures.
“The contract was intended to enable an integrated government services technology platform between government departments and to ensure more efficient service delivery,” the SIU stated.
The Sita board approved the deal, and the SIU ruled that decision and subsequent expenditure to be irregular, although R774 million had already been spent.
During investigations, the SIU was told by Sita that the deal with IBM was an extension of an existing deal.
“[SITA] indicated that the service that is being rendered by IBM has been rendered for many years, and most of the government platforms are on the IBM infrastructure. As a result, they just kept on renewing and renewing,” stated SIU officials.
The SIU’s intervention resulted in R111 million being saved by terminating the contract, R24.6 million being paid back and four cases being referred to the NPA.
Additional outcomes included 22 disciplinary referrals against Sita for non-disclosure of business interests.
The SIU investigation into SABC contracts stemmed from a 2017 board inquiry and subsequent remedial actions.
The investigation into SABC contracts resulted in 24 disciplinary referrals, leading to the dismissal or resignation of at least 13 officials and executives.
One of those executives was former COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng who has repaid R11 million from his pension benefits, while a further R6.5 million is currently in execution.
ALSO READ: ‘SABC never paid full R11.5m to me’ – Hlaudi Motsoeneng heads to ConCourt
Other matters still pending include a R6.3 million claim relating to the construction of the studio currently being used on the broadcaster’s 24-hour news channel.
Civil litigations still underway include R2.4 million paid to 53 artists as part of a Legends project; however, a further R5.8 million was saved through the cancellation of the payments.
R33.5 million was recovered from contracts set aside, and R151 million was saved due to the cancellation of the contracts.
The SIU recommended that internal discussions be held at the broadcaster to reinstate a culture of ethics and accountability, stressing the areas that were exploited.
“Existing policies and procedures at the SABC were bypassed by the board and senior managers, which led to the financial woes of the corporation,” stated the SIU.
“Controls were repeatedly bypassed through management override, collusion or abuse of power between those in power, or inaction and passiveness from other officials,” it concluded.
NOW READ: ‘Challenges around salaries’: Auditor-General says Sita can’t afford ICT staff
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