The budget for the new machine was set at just over R486m, yet a tender worth R898m was awarded. Picture: AdobeStock The Department of Transport (DoT) has been given permission by the High Court in Pretoria to outsource the printing and issuing of driving licences to the Government Printing Works (GPW). This follows the same court declaring a tender, in terms of which Idemia South Africa (Pty) Ltd was appointed as service provider, invalid, irregular, unlawful and unenforceable and setting it aside.
In a judgment handed down on Tuesday, Acting Judge M Smit ordered the DoT to readvertise the tender for the provision, installation, maintenance of equipment with related infrastructure and raw materials for the personalisation of the smart driving licence card within 30 days of her order. Smit further ordered that pending the appointment of a service provider under the readvertised tender, the DoT is permitted to outsource the service of printing and issuing of drivers’ licences to its sister department, the Department of Home Affairs. The GPW reports to the Department of Home Affairs.
It specialises in security printing of important national documents such as passports, visas, birth certificates, green ID books, smart card IDs, examination materials, and general government printing such as stationery and publications, including Government Gazettes. Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy instructed the DoT to approach the High Court in Pretoria for a declaratory order on how to proceed with the driving licence card machine tender, given that the Auditor-General (AG) found the award of the tender was irregular. Creecy asked the AG to investigate the award process after the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) provided her with new evidence of alleged serious irregularities in the tender decision.
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The tender, worth R898 million, was awarded by the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) to Idemia Identity and Security South Africa, part of French multinational technology company Idemia. The budget set by the DLCA for the purchase of the machine was just over R486 million. Creecy and DoT Deputy Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa on Wednesday welcomed the high court’s declaratory order setting aside the appointment of Idemia as the preferred bidder.
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