Cape tender probe nears completion

THE Western Cape provincial government will find out early next year whether its awarding of a multimillion-rand communications contract to ad agency TBWA Hunt Lascaris was above board.

Public protector Thuli Madonsela said her investigation into the awarding of the tender was at an advanced stage and that she expected to issue a provisional report on the matter in January.

Western Cape premier Helen Zille's office was in the spotlight in August when the Sunday Times reported that the process it followed in awarding a contract to TBWA Hunt Lascaris to provide comprehensive communications services to the entire provincial government had been found by the province's own treasury to have been procedurally flawed.

The contract, which Zille has estimated at being worth R50-million to R70-million a year, was for the development and implementation of a brand and communication strategy for the DA-run Western Cape.

The provincial treasury found that the procurement process revealed a lack of control measures and good governance principles.

However, the treasury ultimately endorsed the contract, saying the deficiencies amounted to "a learning experience".

Zille's political adviser, Ryan Coetzee, is also being investigated after it emerged he had been part of the tender's bid evaluation committee.

Cape Town-based social justice NGO Ndifuna Ukwazi said the involvement of Coetzee in the procurement process amounted to a special adviser interfering in the administration of a department, contrary to public service rules.

Zille has since admitted that there were a number of problems with regard to the process followed in awarding the tender, but said these were fixed as soon as they were picked up.