AG probes transport department digital contract allegations

A whistle-blower’s allegations about a dodgy digital contract, has led to the Auditor-General of South Africa (AG) probing irregularities and governance failures at the department of transport.

This comes weeks after The Citizen reported on allegations surrounding the awarding of a multimillion-rand digital communications and streaming services contract without going out to tender.

Auditor-General confirms audit falls within mandate

The department has allegedly paid more than R10 million to Tigere Media, owned by a Zimbabwean-born businessman, through successive requests for quotations (RFQs) since 2023.

These payments were each deliberately kept below the R500 000 threshold that would ordinarily trigger an open tender process.

In a letter dated 25 June, AG business unit leader Corné Myburgh confirmed the allegations had been assessed and procurement-related matters fall squarely within the AG’s constitutional audit mandate.

The protected disclosure, by a department’s senior official, exposed alleged procurement irregularities, value-for-money issues relating to digital content and live-streaming services, supplier integrity risks, legal expenditure, expenditure classification and consequence management following internal findings.

“Based on the assessment performed, the allegations fall within the AG’s audit mandate,” Myburgh wrote.

Audit to assess governance and procurement

Although she requested a forensic investigation, Myburgh said a separate investigation was not warranted at this stage.

Myburgh said a regularity audit differs significantly from a forensic investigation.

While a regularity audit assesses whether financial statements fairly present an institution’s financial position, a forensic investigation is designed to establish facts, identify responsible individuals, quantify losses and determine whether fraud or misconduct occurred.

“On this basis, a separate forensic investigation is not recommended at this stage,” she said.

Multidisciplinary team to conduct audit

The audit will be conducted by a multidisciplinary team comprising both regularity audit and investigation specialists.

Should material findings emerge, they will first be communicated to departmental management for response.

If unresolved, the issues could ultimately feature in the department’s published audit report when it tables its annual report in parliament.

Myburgh also drew a distinction between procurement-related allegations and complaints relating to employment matters.

She said allegations involving occupational detriment, retaliation against whistle-blowers, reporting line changes and labour disputes fall outside its statutory mandate.

However, governance concerns arising from those allegations could still inform its assessment of the department’s internal control environment and ethics management.

Tigere Media rejects procurement allegations

Tigere Media director Archie Tigere confirmed that his company has rendered the services to the department since 2023, through procurement processes.

He, however, disputed that the company received R10 million but said he did not have a cumulative value immediately available.

Tigere said they received between R1.2 million and R1.5 million per annum.

“Tigere Creatives responds to RFQs received from clients by submitting quotations and technical proposals where applicable. We are occasionally successful and occasionally unsuccessful in those submissions.

“The evaluation and award of quotations is the responsibility of the relevant procurement and supply chain management structures within the client organisation. We are not involved in those internal processes,” he said.

Tigere denied any alleged splitting of contracts or procurement processes referred to in the affidavit.

He said they respond to individual RFQs as and when they are issued to them and are not involved in determining the client’s procurement method.