The Automobile Association (AA) is pleased that the audit of the procurement process for the country’s new smart driving licence cards by the Auditor-General (AG) will now include an investigation into several important issues raised by the Association and other civic organisations.

Earlier this week the Department of Transport (DoT) announced it had appointed French multi-national technology company IDEMIA Identity and Security as the preferred bidder to produce the new smart driving cards. However, this appointment raised several concerns about IDEMIA’s involvement, especially given that the contract it held with the Airports Company of South Africa was cancelled less than a week before the DoT announcement. Other questions raised by the DoT announcement included the involvement, if any, of the of the Government Printing Works (GPW) in the process, and the reason why other bidders were not selected.

In response to the concerns the DoT this afternoon released a statement noting that Transport Minister Barabra Creecy has requested the AG – who is currently conducting an audit of the procurement process – “… to widen the scope of the audit process and include an investigation into key issues”.

The issues to be investigated by the AG include:

1.     Whether supply chain management prescripts were followed to the letter;

2.     Whether the specs for the project included adequate measures to protect the safety of personal data given the sensitivity of information and security features involved in this project;

3.     The implications for this procurement process of the recent cancellation by ACSA of a contract that was awarded to IDEMIA due to a contractual dispute between IDEMIA and its BBBEE partner InfoVerge;

4.     Whether IDEMIA's technical capacity and timeous delivery were adequately considered in the tender process following allegations of challenges at three Airports where IDEMIA's Biometrics system was contracted by the Border Management Authority;

5.     Whether other South African service providers tendered, including service providers contracted by the Government Printing Works? And why were they not selected?

6.     Was the chosen bidder the most affordable option?

“This is, naturally, a positive development and highlights the important role that organisations such as the AA and others have in holding government departments to account. Huge amounts of public funds are at stake, and it is critical that the public has complete trust in the process and its outcomes. The DoT and other government departments have a duty to justify the selection of specific entities not only in terms of the money being spent, but also in terms of how these entities are better suited than local suppliers to provide products and services,” the AA notes.

The AA also takes note of concerns by OUTA that the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) – the entity of the DoT managing the procurement process for the new smart driving licences – was informed that it’s budget of R468 million for the project was insufficient to cover the IDEMIA bid of R762 million (which has since increased to around R898 million). According to OUTA, the response by the DLCA to being informed of this was that it had budgeted for the project “without the knowledge of the actual costs of the equipment”.

“This is yet another red flag in a growing list of problems with this process and we therefore welcome the request by the Minister for the AG to prioritise its audit and investigation and await with keen interest the AG’s findings,” the AA concludes.