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The Democratic Alliance has submitted applications, in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000, for copies of two reports on investigations into the Department of Home Affairs’ controversial “Who Am I Online” project.

Both reports detail investigations commissioned in 2008 by former Minister of Home Affairs, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, into the awarding of a multibillion rand tender for electronic systems to GijimaAst.

The first report, by the Office of the Auditor-General, was apparently delivered to the Ministry of Home Affairs in February 2009, but has never been made public. This is despite calls for disclosure of the contents of the report by the DA, the ID and by the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs.

The second report is by academic Harvey Wainer, and was, we are told, delivered to Minister Dlamini-Zuma in 2009. It, too, has never been made public.

In 2008, the Department of Home Affairs signed a contract with GijimaAst, valued at R1.9 billion, to implement the “Who Am I Online” system. GijimaAst is owned by billionaire Robert Gumede, a known friend and backer of President Zuma. The project was aimed at replacing the department's outdated systems with electronic processing, and formed part of modernising the Department by, inter alia, eliminating manual and paper-based systems used to issue visas, passports and identity documents.

Costs for the project spiralled exponentially during its short life, eventually reaching a total of R4.5 billion.

The Department has already paid GijimaAst R391 million. The company thus contends that it is still owed approximately R4.1 billion.

On 13 April 2010, Home Affairs sent a letter to GijimaAst cancelling the deal, telling parliament, at the time, that "the supplier for the 'Who am I Online' project had failed to perform and deliver in accordance with the contract". However, Home Affairs informed the company that the contract had never been valid and was unenforceable. This implies that the Department paid the company hundreds of millions of rand without a valid or legally binding contract being in place.
GijimaAst is threatening legal action to recover these costs. Taking into account that the entire budget for the Department’s functioning for 2010/11 is R5.7 billion, a successful court challenge could well bring the Department to a standstill. (It is rather alarming to note that the pending legal claims against the Department total R6.8 billion – well in excess of the total annual budget.)

The South Africa state has already paid almost R400 million and will potentially fund an additional R4.1 billion for a project that:

(a) was awarded under circumstances that have been the subject of two forensic audits, the results of which have never been made known; and
(b) has not delivered any measurable results.

The DA will continue to utilise all tools at its disposal, including the current applications for information, and, in the new year, requesting a presentation by the Minister on the subject, to uncover the true facts behind the awarding of this contract and its subsequent cancellation, not to mention who will be held responsible for the expenditure, over 18 months, on a contract that was never considered valid.