Public Interest SA has written to the public protector requesting an independent probe to establish whether public procurement prescripts were breached during the procurement of IT services by the office of the chief justice (OCJ).
This comes after a Sunday Times exclusive revealed that three former top officials from the OCJ, who were crucial in arranging a R225m IT tender to multinational media and technology organisation Thomson Reuters, benefited from the deal.
The three were named as former CFO Casper Coetzer, former spokesperson Nathi Mncube and former case management director Yvonne van Niekerk.
The three are alleged to have started ZA Square, which is subcontracted to Thomson Reuters regarding the same deal.
Through their subcontract they are set to earn 30% of the value of the deal, or at least R67.5m. It is unclear what work they have to perform on the contract.
The OCJ issued a statement on Sunday saying it is “gathering all relevant information relating to the matter and seeking legal advice. At the appropriate time, the OCJ will inform the public on the matter. We can assure the public that the state funds relating to this matter are safe,” it said.
However, Public benefit organisation Public Interest SA said this was not enough.
In a letter addressed to the public protector, the organisation said the OCJ had failed to commit to anything.
The said officials, who have since left the employ of the OCJ, were directly responsible for the planning, adjudication and oversight of the project before their exit from the OCJ.
— Public Interest SA
“While we take cognisance of a statement issued by the OCJ, in which the OCJ undertakes to investigate the matter, it is important to note that the OCJ does not commit to a return date for issuance of a statement regarding outcomes of said investigations,” the letter read.
The organisation also said it was of the view that an independent investigation by the public protector would not only help further strengthen trust in public institutions, but also vindicate and safeguard inherent public interests in the matter.
Public Interest SA said it has since established prima facie evidence of transgression of public procurement laws and applicable regulations. It argues that the OCJ did not have lawful justification to embark on a “single-source” procurement process in its procurement of CaseLines — a cloud-based digital evidence collection and case management platform that allows for court documents to be filed from multiple repositories and disseminated digitally, primarily to officers of the courts — in that requirements for deviation from prescribed procurement processes were never fulfilled.
The organisation said the OCJ violated sections of the constitution and the National Treasury practice note.
It also said the three implicated senior officials at the OCJ benefited from the procurement in that they were appointed subcontractors to Thomson Reuters — proprietors of the CaseLines platform — in circumstances that raise serious conflict of interest concerns.
“The said officials, who have since left the employ of the OCJ, were directly responsible for the planning, adjudication and oversight of the project before their exit from the OCJ. Section 9(2) of the preferential procurement policy, which regulates subcontracting by prospective bidders, was transgressed,” reads the letter.
Commenting on the matter, Thomson Reuters said it was “looking into this matter with the utmost seriousness and have launched a formal investigation to understand the facts. During this investigation, all work with the subcontractor, ZA Square, has been put on hold.
“CaseLines plays a significant role in improving access to justice and reducing court backlog in South Africa. Our immediate priority is to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.”
