AfriForum reports Free State Provincial Government website to Public Protector

As part of an investigation into alleged irregularities pertaining to the allocation of a tender to Cherry Ikamva Jugganaut Joint Venture (CIJ) to redesign the website of the Free State Provincial Government, civil rights organisation AfriForum submitted a report to the Public Protector on 29 April 2014.    

AfriForum did an evaluation of the website in order to determine whether its development and pricing comply with industry standards. According to Johan Nortjé, a Researcher at AfriForum, documentation was obtained from the Free State Provincial Government in terms of Section 18 (1) of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (see link below).     

The investigation aimed to determine the following: (i) Whether the services provided by CIJ were compliant with tender specifications; (ii) whether the Free State Provincial Government, and per implication the Treasurer, were aware of the benefit as proposed in the tender; and (iii) whether the cost was compliant with industry standards.

According to CW Els, AfriForum Provincial Coordinator for the Free State, it is highly improbable thatCIJ had spent much time on the design, as an off-the-shelf template was used for the site. It appears as if CIJ had used a prefabricated template to present the information rather than to design a website from scratch.

Els said that the PP is regarding the matter as serious and that AfriForum will stay in contact with the office of the PP in order to resolve the matter to the benefit of the taxpayer.

Statement issued by CW Els, Provincial Coordinator: Free State, AfriForum, May 5 2014

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