Note to Broadcasters: Please find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by CJ Steyl MPL
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Chairperson of the North West Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Education, Priscilla Williams, requesting that she inform the MEC for Education, Viola Motsumi, be called to brief the committee in detail on the five-year, R500 million contract awarded to Lebone Altron DSV Consortium for the printing of examination papers, and its secure storage and distribution. (See letter here.)
The committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow, 05 June 2025, at 10:00 am in Committee Room 1, at the North West Provincial Legislature in Mahikeng.
The brief should include:
- A detailed cost analysis per line item of the Lebone Altron DSV Consortium contract
- Company registration, directorship, and owners report (CIPC), including tax clearance certificates
- The submission to provincial and national Treasury for the deviation of the PFMA for entering a 5-year multi-million contract and the respective responses and approvals
- Full disclosure of the bid adjudication process, names of individuals serving on the bid adjudication committee, and its recommendations
- A report on all bids received and the scope and cost of each submission
- A comparative analysis of the printing, security, and distribution contracts for the previous three financial years
- A copy of the contract must be table
Considering the severe fiscal constraints negatively affecting frontline departments like Education, the R500 million financial obligation under this multi-year contract appear to be obscene, especially in a department that still does not have an appointed substantive accounting officer and considering the numerous material findings by the Auditor-General over several financial years in contravention of supply chain management regulations.
MEC Motsumi must account for this contract.