EFF statement on irregular R1.2 billion tender by the DA in the Western Cape for network services in public schools

14 October 2024

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) calls for the immediate reversal of the R1.2 billion IT tender in the Western Cape, which was irregularly awarded to Blue Network Consortium, in order to provide local area network services to public schools in the Western Cape.

The five-year tender, which was awarded irregularly to Blue Network Consortium in 2023, was exposed to have numerous discrepancies after a forensic report revealed that there were material irregularities with the bidding, adjudication and awarding process of the tender, wherein the company that received the tender did not receive it on the basis of merit.

The discrepancies on the awarding of the tender included that the tender advertisement did not allow for multiple pricing proposals, yet the company that ultimately received the tender participated in this behavior, meaning they had an unfair advantage over other bidders. Further to this, there were issues as it related to the meeting of local content requirements by numerous bidders, including the company that eventually got awarded the tender.

Non-compliance with local regulations is not foreign practice to the DA, as they are currently exploring the scrapping of South African legislation which promotes inclusion, diversity and competition, in order to allow the aggressive takeover of South Africa's ICT and telecommunications sphere by Donald Trump supporter Elon Musk and his company, Starlink.

Of even more concern, is that the DA-led Westem Cape Department of Education was advised by the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) to withdraw the tender and provided them with a deadline of 08 December 2023 to do so. To date, there is no withdrawal that has occurred, and at the time both SITA and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies had intended to take the matter to court for review.

It is therefore curious that now that the DA presides over the Ministry of Communications and Digital Technologies, the pursuing of the court case has been abandoned and the reversal of the irregularly awarded tender is shrouded by silence and secrecy.

The EFF therefore will call for transparency through the Portfolio Committee on Communications, and seek clarity on whether the tender was withdrawn, and if not, whether any payments have been made to the service provider to date. The EFF will never allow corruption by the DA to go unchallenged and will continue to expose how the claim that DA governance is synonymous with clean governance is a myth.

Issued by Leigh-Ann Mathys, National Spokesperson, EFF, 14 October 2024