An investigation will be launched into the allegations regarding government CIO Michelle Williams, who is at the centre of the controversial resignation of State IT Agency (SITA) CEO Llewellyn Jones.
But government has moved to downplay any alleged wrongdoing on the part of its officials.
ITWeb this week broke the story that IT industry veteran Jones tendered his resignation, some nine months after taking on the position, following a rift between himself and Williams, who also serves as SITA's deputy-chairman.
A fed-up Jones is expected to leave the agency soon after SITA's annual GovTech conference, which wrapped up in Durban today. His resignation was partly caused by Williams "interfering with the running of SITA", say sources close to the agency.
Jones himself confirmed the fall-out with Williams, but would not be drawn on specific details. He also confirmed that an SMS instruction, sent by Williams, allegedly interfered with due process in terms of the awarding of SITA's e-government tender.
The SMS, sent on 2 July, instructed the CEO to award the tender not to winning bidder, GijimaAST, chosen by the SITA Bid Evaluation Committee, but the fourth company on the list, Praxis Computing.
The SMS reads: "CONFIDENTIAL: Hi llew, I hav had so many different versions on which company won bus process & why. I hav decided not to use gijima & wud like to award to praxis. Let me know what needs to b done & when to expedite. Rgds michelle"
However, it appears that government is attempting to downplay the issue, saying there currently appears to be no wrongdoing on the part of Williams.
Flawed process
Ramona Baijnath, spokeswoman for public services and administration minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, confirmed that the investigation would be launched, but said it would not necessarily focus on Williams specifically.
Rather, it would focus on the initial adjudication of the tender. She explained that a probe is already under way by National Treasury and the Auditor-General, who are looking into "inappropriate criteria that was used to award the tender to GijimaAST".
"SITA changed the criteria for evaluating the bid, and the government CIO's office brought this to the attention of Treasury and the Auditor-General," said Baijnath, adding that this prompted the instruction from Williams not to award the tender to GijimaAST.
But, when asked whether Williams acted correctly in choosing Praxis Computing as the new winner, Baijnath responded: "Not necessarily."
She added: "The investigation will uncover if there is any wrongdoing. At the moment, we can't see any wrongdoing by Williams."
Baijnath also distanced the minister from the issue, saying that Fraser-Moleketi is not involved in the procurement matters of SITA.
She would not be drawn on whether Fraser-Moleketi condoned Williams' actions, or whether it is common practice for government officials to interfere with the due process of a parastatal. The Department of Public Service and Administration would also not reveal how many other SITA tenders may have been awarded in such a way.
"You must also realise that the SMS you have is one in a series of correspondence, so it is slightly out of context," Baijnath said this morning.
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Services and Administration chairman Richard Baloyi stated that, on the face of it, Jones's departure "is not a normal resignation", but would not comment at this stage. He said he would only be willing to make a statement once he is briefed through the proper channels.
SITA spokesman Elton Fortuin would also not comment on any of the allegations, saying SITA is not yet ready to make a statement.
Blatant interference
Meanwhile, South African Institute of Corporate Fraud Management president Bart Henderson this morning reacted with outrage at the situation.
"What is the PFMA (Public Finance Management Act, which governs parastatals) and who does it apply to? For Williams to get involved in such a way is ludicrous. SITA has a mandate and there is a proper process to follow.
"Even if the initial criteria for evaluation were flawed, it should have been brought to the attention of the minister, who should have then called for an investigation. How did Williams decide that the first three bidders did not qualify under the flawed process, but the fourth company was acceptable?"
Henderson stated that the evaluation should have been restarted. "The PFMA rules must apply. This is blatant interference. We are starting to sink to the levels of Kenya and Nigeria, in terms of fraud," he said.
"This has the stench, no more or less, of a de facto coup by government over SITA."
Baijnath said an announcement regarding a new SITA head will be made shortly by Cabinet, which has the legislative authority to deal with such an appointment. It is rumoured that SITA chief of regulatory affairs and procurement Peter Pedlar would take on the acting CEO role for the time being.
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