Cape Town — Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy has released the Auditor General South Africa (AGSA) Report on the new R400m driving license card machine tender.
Minister Creecy instructed her department to lodge a High Court application for a declaratory order for the Driving License Card Machines tender that was found to be irregular by the AGSA.
Department spokesperson Collen Msibi said Minister Creecy made an undertaking to highlight some of the audit findings which showed instances of non-com-plaice int he procurement process.
This emanated from transgressions of Supply China Management prescripts, including the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and the Driving License Card Account (DCLA) policies, rendering the procurement irregular.
The AG also noted that the bid evaluation committee (BEC) deviated from assessing bids using the criteria set out in the bid specifications. BEC members did not address the DLCA requirements, leading to discrepencies identified by the AGSA.
Minister Creecy releases Auditor-General’s Audit report on the new Driving License Card machines tender
Minister @BarbaraCreecy_ has instructed her department to lodge a high court application for a declaratory order regarding the Driving License Card Machines tender pic.twitter.com/JgLWMZC0jM
— Department of Transport (@Dotransport) March 5, 2025
AGSA’s audit revealed irregularities in the tender evaluation and the review showed that the other bidders we not unfiarly disqualified as their bids also did not meet the technical specifications.
Msibi said all bids exceeded the budget of R486 million and indicated inadequate market analysis and budgeting. The DLCA used outdated, pre-COVID prices, which were submitted to Cabinet for approval and did not include all costs for the contract, meaning Cabinet approved a memo that did not include all the costs.
“Through this report, the AGSA indicated it aimed to provide pertinent audit insights to the minister in response to her request,” Msibi said.
Minister Creecy releases Auditor-General’s Audit report on the new Driving License Card machines tender
Minister @BarbaraCreecy_ has instructed her department to lodge a high court application for a declaratory order regarding the Driving License Card Machines tender https://t.co/31P6dp1Vur pic.twitter.com/v4HGjnugDF
— Department of Transport (@Dotransport) March 5, 2025
In September 2024, Minister Creecy requested the AGSA to widen the audit process and include whether the following happened:
- Supply chain management prescripts were followed.
- The specs included adequate measures to protect the safety of personal data.
- Why other service providers were not selected,
- Was the chosen bidder the most affordable option?
Msibi said the department would now explore interim solutions to sustain the operations of the current machine, and it would be announced in due course.
Minister Creecy releases Auditor-General’s Audit report on the new Driving License Card machines tender.
Minister @BarbaraCreecy_ has instructed her department to lodge a high court application for a declaratory order regarding the Driving License Card Machines tender https://t.co/5IOWMle5zx pic.twitter.com/sKFdUG4gle
— Department of Transport (@Dotransport) March 5, 2025
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Picture: X/@BarbaraCreecy
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
