Parliamentary committee questions eNatis

Johannesburg, 17 May 2007

The chairman of Parliament's Transport Portfolio Committee, Jeremy Cronin, has agreed to a request from the Democratic Alliance that transport minister Jeff Radebe appear before the committee.

Yesterday, member of Parliament and DA spokesman on transport, Stuart Farrow, said he had written to Cronin to request that Radebe account for the state of chaos that has marked the implementation of the electronic National Traffic Information System (eNatis).

"The minister needs urgently to step up to his responsibilities and explain to the public what went wrong and who is being held accountable," he said.

In the request to Cronin, Farrow noted that thousands of people have been, and continue to be, negatively affected by the intermittent operations of the system.

"Continued reports of an improperly functioning system, delays and shutdowns are regularly reported in the press and, as a consequence, the public deserves an explanation. The DA would like to request that you call Radebe to appear before the committee to explain to the committee and the public what went wrong, who is being held accountable and how, and by when the problems will be resolved," he said.

Later in the day, Farrow revealed Cronin had responded, indicating he agreed with the DA and would act to call the minister to account.

Tasima too

The DA also asked that contractor Tasima appear before the committee. This would help the committee establish what exactly went wrong in the process; what is being done to rectify it; what guarantees were given with regard to the proper functioning of the system and whether there will be any repercussions following this chaotic month for SA's transport sector, said the DA.

"Following on from the broad failure to manage the system's implementation properly are questions about the contractors and the tender process. How much responsibility the contractors should take for the debacle and, if they failed to do their job, why were they selected in the first place and what action is being taken against them?" asked Farrow.

Shortly before the DA revealed Cronin had responded positively to its request, the Transport Ministry said it would await correspondence from the portfolio committee and respond to that accordingly. No further comment was forthcoming

The DA says it will also be submitting Parliamentary questions to the minister on the matter. The text of the Parliamentary questions reads as follows:

1. Whether any penalties will be imposed on the eNatis contractor for failure to deliver a fully-operational service in accordance with the contract. If so, what will these penalties entail?

2. Whether the contract included the payment of R30 per transaction as announced by the minister. If so, how was this transaction fee determined and what will this fee realise in terms of revenue for a) the Department and b) the contractor, over the next 12 months?

3. Whether [Radebe] is satisfied that the Tasima contract was competently managed in regard to the a) bidding process; b) development process; c) project management process; d) implementation process; and e) financing process. If not, will he consider instituting an independent audit of the contract?

4. Whether [Radebe] will consider leniency in regard to members of the public who, due to reasons beyond their control, were not able to renew their driver's licences timeously as a result of the failure of the eNatis system since its launch on 12 March 2007. If so, how will his Department deal with these cases and what compensation, if any, will he consider for loss of earnings resulting in the failure of the system? Will he make a statement on this matter?