DTI DG in firing line over Cipro tender

Johannesburg - The tender debacle at the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro) could lead to a call for the head of Tshediso Matona, the director-general of the department of trade and industry, following his approval of bonus payments to Cipro's head for awarding the tender.
 
Two top Cipro executives have already been suspended and they could be criminally prosecuted following the awarding of a R152.7m tender for a new electronic content-management system to the unknown empowerment group ValorIT.

Matona and Zodwa Ntuli, the deputy director-general (DG) responsible for Cipro, apparently strongly objected to a forensic investigation into the awarding of the tender, and insisted on reducing the investigating team's mandate.
 
The forensic investigation had been ordered by Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies following various disclosures about the awarding of the tender and the roles that Cipro CEO Keith Sendwe and head of information Michael Twum Darko, among others, had had in it. Sendwe and Twum Darko were eventually suspended and their dealings are under investigation.

Although Davies is the political head of the department, Matona controls the finances and both Ntuli and he apparently insisted on a narrower mandate for the investigation.

On Friday Davies told Sake24 that he did not believe there had been any attempt on the part of the DG or deputy DG to limit the scope of the investigation.
 
Other law-enforcement agencies are still busy with investigations, he noted.

Matona's future will depend on the report that the parliamentary standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) puts together after the week's hearings, Davies said.

In the past week various sources working closely with the department said there were rumours that Matona's head could roll, while others reckon his contract, which ends in July 2011, simply will not be renewed.

In the past week Matona was under fire from Scopa for approving Cipro's strategic plan without it having targets or measurable objectives.

Serious questions therefore arise about Matona's approval of a R105 228 cash bonus to Sendwe in 2008, for which a special concession had been made.

Sendwe had apparently produced exceptional performance, but was not clear what his performance could be measured against if no strategic targets had been established.

Matona also ignored a statement by Melanie Bernard Fryer, the former operating officer, about possible irregularities.

In January 2009 she had registered an objection to the awarding of the tender and eventually made a protected disclosure under the Protected Disclosures Act.

She claimed that she subsequently received no protection before resigning earlier this year.

 - Sake24.com