DA aides in contract row
Western Cape premier Helen Zille's office has awarded a communications tender worth a potential R1-billion to an advertising agency without following proper procedures and regulations.
The agency, TBWA Hunt Lascaris, was awarded a contract to take over all the communication needs of the 10 government departments in the Western Cape.
But the tender was not publicly advertised or placed on the government tender bulletin, as required by Treasury regulations.
A scathing review compiled by the province's own treasury found that the process to appoint TBWA "revealed a lack of control measures and good governance principles".
But the same department endorsed the tender process anyway, saying the flaws amounted to a "learning experience".
The two-year contract is now so broad that it includes:
- Organising name tags and access cards for the provincial government's 77000 employees;
- Taking care of business cards, all signage for the provincial government, including name plaques, and branding of provincial government vehicles; and
- Designing banners, corporate gift wrapping, exhibition stands, leisure-wear for business units, corporate uniforms and protective clothing.
TBWA has also secured the province's multimillion-rand advertising campaign, including print, TV, radio and digital.
Among those on the committee that decided on the tender were top Zille advisers, including DA chief strategist Ryan Coetzee; Gavin Davis; Paul Boughey, now special adviser to Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille; and Zille's communications director, Nick Clelland-Stokes. The four are known in Western Cape government circles as the "supreme group", the brains behind the strategies of the DA-led government.
"It is well known in DA circles that nothing moves or no decision is taken without Ryan and the supreme group," said a whistle-blower who said he would lodge a complaint with the public protector over the tender.
The tender was initially described as a R1.5-million contract for the premier's office when the agency was appointed in November 2010.
But, in June this year, the province's director-general, Brent Gerber, told all provincial departments that the province had chosen TBWA to develop a common brand, effectively ordering them to use the agency.
This meant the agency mandate would be expanded to cover all provincial departments, effectively boosting the amount initially agreed from R1.5-million to anything up to R500-million a year.
For such a step to be taken, a new tender process should have been started, with the bid being publicly advertised and companies being invited to apply for the tender.
Gerber told the Sunday Times that Treasury regulations permit departments to participate in a contract arranged by another department.
But he could not say why the departments were not invited to be part of the process to select TBWA and why they were made to sign retrospective contracts with the company nine months after the contract was concluded.
He denied that the contract was now worth up to R500-million a year, saying the figure was between R20- and R50-million. But the provincial budget shows that the Department of Health alone has an annual communications and advertising budget of R90-million.
The Treasury also raised questions about the role played by Yardstick, a Cape Town marketing and communications consultancy, to run the entire selection process.
"The manner in which the (supply chain management) process has been followed, for all intents and purposes, revealed a lack of control measures and good governance principles."
Gerber, however, rubbished the Treasury report, saying its views were "incorrect".
"This was the view of the provincial treasury at the time. It was incorrect. I have studied the details of this process and am satisfied that this bid was appropriately managed."
Robin Mailer, a senior consultant at Yardstick, said there was nothing untoward about his company's involvement in selecting the winning bidder.
SHARE YOUR OPINION
If you have an opinion you would like to share on this article, please send us an e-mail to the Times LIVE iLIVE team. In the mean time, click here to view the Times LIVE iLIVE section.Reliable
Posted 644 days agoafx303
Media Statement by Helen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape
...
"I have asked the Director-General to request that the Auditor-General conduct a tender process audit."
...
"The Sunday Times reported that the tender was not advertised. Not only did we confirm to the journalist that the tender was advertised in Die Burger and the Cape Argus, we sent the journalist a scan of the actual advert that appeared in print."
"It was made clear to the journalist that the bid was not for the Premier's office. It was advertised by the Department of the Premier on behalf of the entire Provincial Government."
"The R1 billion price tag is an absolute fabrication. It was made clear to the journalist that the estimated total communications spend of the Provincial Government is between R50 million and R70 million per year. Using the average extraction rate of 18%, this means that the agency could earn between R9 million and R12 million per year for their professional services. This cost would most certainly be reduced as a single agency will allow the Provincial Government to leverage economies of scale and bulk discounts from the industry."
...
"Secondly, the article cherry picks from an assessment document compiled by the Provincial Treasury and makes no reference to the formal Treasury Circular (no 25/2011) that states categorically:
It must be noted that the Provincial Treasury assessed the procurement process followed by the Department of the Premier and found certain discrepancies, but these are not regarded as critical."
She must indeed get the AG in. *All* the parties must throw stones - we need to take a zero tolerance attitude to corruption, wherever it comes from and it must be investigated and rooted out everywhere.
afx303
"... the bid process:
- was assisted by Yardstick, the industry experts whose services were procured on the recommendation of the Association for Communication and Advertising;
- was assessed by an independent and separate Bid Adjudication Committee consisting of officials from various units including Legal Services, who found it in order;
- received no disputes from participating bidders; and
- was assessed by Legal Services who found no irregularities.
***It is important to understand that nobody involved in either the Bid Specification or Bid Evaluation Committees were members of the Bid Adjudication Committee that made the final decision to award the contract.***"
The press release gets at least one thing wrong though - it refers to "the journalist", whereas the byline for this article refers to two.
disillusionedstill
The spin money is for DA propoganda - the province's official notices require zero agency input.
It may sound over the top but Zille is modeling the DA on textbook N@zi propoganda - her pre-election electricity ad was straight out of Theresienstadt.
Are the townships being moulded into state of the art ghettos while the 'wh1tes only'' land kept for this mob?
Yes, 'mob'.
Those in the DA who perceive the party to have any link with the principles of Suzman, et al should get a reality check - it is the National Party with a less 'in your face' version of discrimination.
Heil Zille!
acsteyn1652
Posted 644 days agoIf this is true, I will be very dissapointed and hurt. You will join the ranks of Malema and Co.
eight32
Beelzebub
Posted 644 days agogksa
Posted 644 days agoBanana_Republic
Posted 644 days agopan
Posted 644 days agoRicReturns
Posted 644 days agoIf not,well,then we can keep faith in the anc to ensure some tender fraud,keep our blood pressure up.
Mzungu
Posted 644 days agoM4G
Posted 644 days agogksa
M4G
Posted 644 days agoBenMarema
gksa
BenMarema
gksa
NaidooA
Posted 644 days agoM4G
gksa
afx303
mcritic
Posted 644 days agorobocop
Posted 644 days agohow racism thrives in SA!!
Got ya, i have always maintained that this DA is corrupt to the core. watch the space this is the begining of the end for Godzilla and her tea girls!!
MrMarket
No point I guess, when the PP finds people guilty of corruption it gets covered up anyway.
M4G
gksa
Where do you get racism from? Oh, wait... that must mean the ANC is all-black, instead of being non-racial, right? You said it, not me.
brianvic
Posted 644 days agoMrMarket
Maybe the whistleblower can show how TBWA Hunt Lascaris paid some millions into HZ's account for her new R16 million house that she is not building.
M4G
gksa
Reliable
Posted 644 days agoMrMarket
RicReturns
With the anc it's expected,because it's almost always true,allegations being made by people of all colours.
Try be fair,stop looking at everything in terms of black and white
Halfbaked
Posted 644 days agoM4G
MrMarket
It's not like we have a signed and sealed document like a lease to the value of R1,7 billion to bandy about.
LOL
gksa
But then, there is little indication that this is, in fact, a single contract. Then again, if you're going to be giving all that business to a single company, it would be best practice to treat it as a single contract for tender purposes...
MrMarket
Posted 644 days agoYou may cut and paste my post to prove this.
M4G
Posted 644 days agodreamtrader
Posted 644 days agoIf Helen and her team deal with this issue decisively and speedily all well and good, if they deal with it as do the ANC, then we are in BIG trouble.
I am sure that I speak on behalf of many other South Africans when calling on the DA to deal swiftly and effectively with this issue and stop wasting time dodging the issue – we need effective leadership and we know that this will not come from the ANC – so show how it should be done Helen!
M4G
MrMarket
You also a profit?
Chantalde_Pierres
Posted 644 days agoM4G
MrMarket
Posted 644 days agoLOL
M4G
MrMarket
gksa
M4G
M4G
gksa
While I'm sure that the roads do not belong to any company - on paper, at least - it does seem a shame to contract out something as simple as road maintenance... especially to foreign companies. If they're allowed to make excessive profit on it too, then that's just another form of corruption, I think... what other motivation than a monetary one could there be on the part of the person handing out such contracts?
meep
Posted 644 days agoMrMarket
Posted 644 days agoThus the mines will be privatized. So you are wrong with that point.
DanitaRenecle
Posted 644 days agogksa
ST story. There will be no cover up. DG asking AG for tender process audit. I am confident process right. See my next newsletter this week.
ewn.co.za/Story.aspx?Id=72022
helenzille Helen Zille
@HansErikIken If there was any corruption, I will resign. If there was maladministration there will be consequences.
____________
Well, that's what we call a good response time. On a Sunday too. No "deliberating" for a month before responding...
Right, we'll wait for the newsletter, then.
SuiGeneris
Posted 644 days agoAninaMinnaar
Posted 644 days agoeight32
Posted 644 days agoDon't believe *anything* you read in the Sunday Times! This is misrepresentation at its worst!
logicIQ
Posted 644 days agoHi-Jack
Posted 644 days agoI do not know if that is better hough.
Anyway, regardless of your candidacy for a MAT diploma you guys got more hits than Malema's article.
LOL
Hi-Jack
Posted 644 days agoyou tsotsis got that SMS yet ?
hahahaha
whazai
Posted 644 days ago"Questions must be asked why the Sunday Times chose deliberately not to present the facts as presented to them. We will be laying a formal complaint with the Press Ombudsman."
...
"Not only did we confirm to the journalist that the tender was advertised in Die Burger and the Cape Argus, we sent the journalist a scan of the actual advert that appeared in print," Zille said.
if this turns out to be true, and the sunday times deliberately deceived us, I for one will never buy another one of their news papers again
pan
Posted 643 days agoI will NEVER doubt the Da again. EVER.
@M4G, BWAahahahahahahahahaahaha. How does humble pie taste.
___________________________________________________________________________
Media Statement by Helen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape
Firstly, there is absolutely no truth in the suggestion that there was anything improper or unprocedural in awarding this tender.
The Sunday Times reported that the tender was not advertised. Not only did we confirm to the journalist that the tender was advertised in Die Burger and the Cape Argus, we sent the journalist a scan of the actual advert that appeared in print.
It was made clear to the journalist that the bid was not for the Premier's office. It was advertised by the Department of the Premier on behalf of the entire Provincial Government.
The R1 billion price tag is an absolute fabrication. It was made clear to the journalist that the estimated total communications spend of the Provincial Government is between R50 million and R70 million per year. Using the average extraction rate of 18%, this means that the agency could earn between R9 million and R12 million per year for their professional services. This cost would most certainly be reduced as a single agency will allow the Provincial Government to leverage economies of scale and bulk discounts from the industry.
Questions must be asked why the Sunday Times chose deliberately not to present the facts as presented to them. We will be laying a formal complaint with the Press Ombudsman.
Secondly, the article cherry picks from an assessment document compiled by the Provincial Treasury and makes no reference to the formal Treasury Circular (no 25/2011) that states categorically:
It must be noted that the Provincial Treasury assessed the procurement process followed by the Department of the Premier and found certain discrepancies, but these are not regarded as critical.
There was absolutely no extension of mandate as alleged in the story. The journalist was told that the scope of the bid specifically included a one-off fee for the development of a brand strategy, corporate identity manual and the communications strategy for the Provincial Government as well as for the ongoing communications services for every department.
Treasury Regulations permit departments to participate in a contract arranged by another department. Accordingly, and on the advice of Provincial Treasury, this was the process that was followed by all departments. This information was provided to the journalist and also ignored.
In addition, the bid process:
was assisted by Yardstick, the industry experts whose services were procured on the recommendation of the Association for Communication and Advertising;
was assessed by an independent and separate Bid Adjudication Committee consisting of officials from various units including Legal Services, who found it in order;
received no disputes from participating bidders; and
was assessed by Legal Services who found no irregularities.
It is important to understand that nobody involved in either the Bid Specification or Bid Evaluation Committees were members of the Bid Adjudication Committee that made the final decision to award the contract.
I am confident that the bidding process was transparent, fair, equitable, competitive and cost effective. This notwithstanding, I have asked the Director-General to request that the Auditor-General conduct a tender process audit.
The Western Cape Government has nothing to hide and will give the Auditor-General full access to any documentation or officials required for his investigation.
pan
Posted 643 days agoGlass houses and stones.
pan
Posted 643 days agoMmmm, are these two 30 year old plus "youths" trying to get into the grave train next year?
Come boys, what was your agenda? Besmirch the DA and hope it sticks? Welll, right now I'm guessing you two smell like a toilet after a chilli evening.
pan
Posted 643 days agopan
Posted 643 days agoIs the Malema tail wagging the Sunday Crimes dog?
pan
But I would expect someone who thinks these two journos did a good job would comprehend that.