Chief justice office’s ‘veil of secrecy’ over R225m IT contract frustrates MPs

An investigation into how three senior officials in the office of the chief justice could have been involved in the awarding of a R225m IT contract — and then formed a company that benefited from the deal — has been completed.

But the office is mum on the findings for now.

Secretary-general of the office Memme Sejosengwe told parliament’s portfolio committee on justice that the findings and recommendations of the report are interim, and that the audi alteram partem rule still has to be complied with. Those implicated or mentioned in the report have not yet had a right of reply, she said.

The internal forensic investigation was completed with the assistance of Special Investigating Unit officials who were seconded to the office because of the complexity of the case. Sejosengwe asked MPs to give her office six weeks to report back about the process.

Tuesday’s briefing was the second time the committee had met, hoping to get detailed information about the matter. 

Sejosengwe confirmed the office had consulted Thomson Reuters over the contract and business continuity and that the system is being implemented at the Gauteng division of the high court.

In addition, the office’s lawyers are drafting papers on the review of the subcontract with ZA Square Consulting, a company started by former chief financial officer Casper Coetzer, former spokesperson and chief director of court administration Nathi Mncube and former case management director Yvonne van Niekerk.

DA MP Werner Horn expressed concern that the committee had twice set a date for the office to brief it on the matter, but there was “a veil of secrecy” on both occasions. “From an oversight perspective, it is unacceptable,” he said.

In August, Sejosengwe confirmed to the same committee that Coetzer, Mncube and Van Niekerk had played a role in awarding the contract to Thomson Reuters, from bid specifications to bid evaluation, as well as in the bid adjudication committee, as it was part of their official duties.

She said their “fingerprints were all over the Thomson Reuters deal”, including the negotiations over pricing, she said. As the procurement processes required members to declare their interests, the three officials had declared they had no interest in the company (Thomson Reuters) and in anything related to the process.

Sejosengwe told the committee that in December 2021, the office awarded a contract to Thomson Reuters to provide software, licences, resources and support and maintenance for five years, from April 1 2022. Thomson Reuters was required to subcontract at least 30% of the services to a qualifying small enterprise (QSE) or exempt micro-enterprise registered in SA.

In May, Thompson Reuters formally provided the office with the details of the QSE it had subcontracted to provide support and maintenance. The company stood to earn 30% of the deal’s value, or at least R67.5m.

“The OCJ [office of the chief justice] noted at that stage that the three directors of the company were employees of the OCJ.”

By then, the three directors, still employed by the office, had already tendered their resignation letters and were serving their May notice month, she said.