Sanchia Temkin
2 October 2003
Johannesburg — A CORRUPTION scandal has forced the South African Revenue Service to abandon a R100m information technology tender and start the process from scratch.
Revenue said yesterday that the panel set up to adjudicate the bids to supply computer equipment had been disbanded after an attempt to influence the outcome.
It warned that it was becoming increasingly vigilant about corruption, and companies involved would face prosecution and would be "immediately blacklisted".
Revenue official Tasneem Carrim said in this instance, one of the bidders was approached by the owner of a small business, who claimed he could arrange the outcome of the tender process in the bidder's favour.
But the offer was brought to the attention of revenue's anticorruption unit, which investigated the case and passed it on to the prosecuting authorities for further investigation.
Revenue would not say which companies were involved in the tender. Spokesman Sechaba Nkosi said revenue had taken steps, including addressing shortcomings among the bidding companies and the receiver's staff, to ensure the integrity of the procurement process was not compromised. This included disbanding the original tender panel, which included six revenue employees, and creating a new panel.
Carrim said the new panel had seven members of which three were technical experts from other organisations to ensure there was no conflict of interest.
He said the object was to award the tender before the end of this month, provided no irregularities were found. In a bid to avert a repetition of the incident, the names of the new panel members would be kept secret.
Bidding companies had been briefed on the probe and were asked to assist in ensuring the highest level of ethical conduct in their interaction with revenue personnel, Nkosi said.
He warned businesses in the information technology sector against trying to influence the outcome of the bidding process unfairly. Those found to be doing so would be pursued by national directorate of public prosecutions.
"Businesses found guilty of this practice will also be immediately blacklisted," Nkosi said.
Revenue's chief information officer, Ken Jarvis, said allegations of corruption would be taken seriously by the receiver.
"Even while the new panel is doing its work, the organisation will continue with the investigation into what transpired."
If any revenue employees were found to be on the "wrong side of the fence", the strongest possible action would be taken against them.
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