323 Mr H B Groenewald (DA-NW) to ask the Minister of Labour:
1) What (a) are the relevant details with regard to the Auditor-
Generalâs findings of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure
regarding the extension of an Information Technology contract without
a signed agreement by the Compensation Fund for R7.6 million and (b)
steps have been taken in this regard;
The above matter relates to a contract between the Compensation Fund
and Computron Pty Ltd which gave support on Axs-one i.e. the
Financial System used by the Fund over the years. At the end of
March 2009 the Fund attempted to renew the old contract which was
about to expire. The Fund requested Computron to provide the
following details:
a) Tax clearance certificate;
b) Proof of registration with the Compensation Fund;
c) The Company banking details;
d) Proof of registration with the then CIPRO now CIPC.
Computron could not provide the Fund with the valid tax clearance
certificate as their tax applications were not up to date with SARS.
The Managing Director confessed that he was aware of this anomaly and
he alleged that the Financial Manager of Computron was not paying
taxes but rather defrauding the company.
The Fund could not terminate the contract as Computron was the sole
accredited provider of Axs-one in South Africa. The Compensation
Fund had to continue to utilise Computron despite their non-
compliance.
2) whether due process was followed in this regard; if not, why not; if
so, what are the relevant details;
The Compensation Fund wrote a letter to both National Treasury and
the Auditor-General on the 31st August 2009 informing both parties
about the dilemma the Fund found itself in. The amount incurred for
the 2008/09 financial year was R3, 7 million which was disclosed as
regular expenditure in the annual report of 2008/09.
In 2009/10 financial year the Fund further incurred the R7, 6 million
of irregular expenditure as stated above in the parliamentary
question.
Computron did however; on 07 July 2011 provide the Fund with a valid
tax clearance certificate proving that they settled their debts with
SARS. After meeting both SARS and National Treasury the Compensation
Commissioner then wrote a letter to the Director-General of
Department of Labour requesting condonation of the irregular
expenditures. The Director-General responded positively on 2nd
December 2011 by condoning those irregular expenditure on condition
this kind of mistake should be avoided in future.
(3) whether an internal investigation has been launched regarding this
matter; if not, why not; if so, (a) who is responsible and (b) what
steps have been taken against those responsible? CW425E
An internal investigation identified that Computron did not have a
valid tax clearance certificate. The matter was raised with SARS
which pronounced very clearly that they donât discuss tax matters of
companies with third parties. It was found that nobody in the Fund
was liable nor responsible for this matter.