A French firm with offices in South Africa, IDEMIA, is facing a R39 million damages claim from INFOVERGE, a local company, following a dispute over a R115 million Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) biometrics tender.
INFOVERGE accuses IDEMIA, the main contractor for the ACSA tender, of sidelining it after the contract was awarded. As part of IDEMIA’s bid, it had agreed that 30% of the work would go to a local Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partner, with INFOVERGE chosen for this role. However, two months after winning the tender, IDEMIA allegedly excluded INFOVERGE from the project.
INFOVERGE claims IDEMIA leveraged its BEE status to secure the tender and later excluded it, contrary to the terms of their agreement. IDEMIA disputes this, citing a pricing disagreement. INFOVERGE has since called for the ACSA contract to be canceled, arguing that the BEE requirements of the tender were not honoured.
Initially, ACSA framed the issue as a private dispute between the two companies, asserting no wrongdoing in its procurement process. IDEMIA echoed this stance, stating the allegations would be addressed in court. However, revelations from an IOL investigation led ACSA to suspend its Chief Information Officer and terminate its contract with IDEMIA, citing “prima facie” evidence of irregularities. ACSA announced plans to restart the tender process.
INFOVERGE withdrew its initial legal case after achieving its goal of exposing irregularities and having the tender set aside. It is now suing IDEMIA for R39 million, representing its 30% share of the terminated contract.
The controversy has drawn the attention of the Department of Transport, which has requested an audit of the tender by the Auditor-General. This development underscores growing concerns about adherence to procurement laws and the exploitation of BEE policies in public tenders.
