The Auditor-General is widening the scope of its audit of the procurement process for the country’s new smart driving licence cards.

The Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy announced this in a statement yesterday afternoon, after concerns were raised by civic organisations, including the Automobile Association and OUTA, about the appointment of French company IDEMIA to produce the new smart cards.

It had earlier come to light that the contract IDEMIA held with ACSA was cancelled less than a week before it got the green light as the preferred bidder for the driving licence cards.

The AA says there are many red flags, including reports that the budget for the project does not cover IDEMIA’s bid, and questions around why a South African service provider was not selected.

READ MORE: IDEMIA appointed to make new smart driving licence cards

The Auditor General will now investigate the following issues:

• Whether supply chain management prescripts were followed to the letter;
• Whether the specs for the project included adequate measures to protect the safety of personal data given the sensitivity of information and security features involved in this project;
• The implications for this procurement process of the recent cancellation by ACSA of a contract that was awarded to IDEMIA due to a contractual dispute between IDEMIA and its BBBEE partner InfoVerge;
• Whether IDEMIA’s technical capacity and timeous delivery were adequately considered in the tender process following allegations of challenges at three Airports where IDEMIA’s Biometrics system was contracted by the Border Management Authority;
• Whether other South African service providers tendered, including service providers contracted by the Government Printing Works? And why were they not selected?
• Was the chosen bidder the most affordable option?

The AA has welcomed the widened probe.

“This is, naturally, a positive development and highlights the important role organisations such as the AA and others have in holding government departments to account. Huge amounts of public funds are at stake, and it is critical that the public has complete trust in the process and its outcomes. The DoT and other government departments have a duty to justify the selection of specific entities not only in terms of the money being spent, but also in terms of how these entities are better suited than local suppliers to provide products and services.”

The AA also took note of OUTA’s concerns that the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) – the entity of the Department of Transport managing the procurement process for the new smart driving licences – was informed that it’s budget of R468 million for the project was insufficient to cover the IDEMIA bid of R762 million (which has since increased to around R898 million).

According to OUTA, the response by the DLCA to being informed of this was that it had budgeted for the project “without the knowledge of the actual costs of the equipment”.