Johannesburg – Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) on Tuesday announced that it has terminated the contract for Automated Border Control (ABC), e-Gates, and the single token project awarded to a French technology company, IDEMIA.
“The contract termination is in line with the conditions of the Service Level Agreement which allows for a 60-day notice period, that will allow IDEMIA to conclude the work currently underway,” said ACSA in a terse statement.
“The biometric and digital identity technology project remains key to ACSA’s short-to-medium-term strategy to ensure a seamless and efficient customer experience connecting passengers to their next destinations, opportunities, and goals.
“As such, the company intends to pursue the project in the near future. ACSA remains committed to the best interests of good corporate governance, transparency, and fairness as we continue with an independent investigation.”
Earlier this month ACSA suspended Chief Information Officer Mthokozisi Mncwabe for “wrongdoing” regarding its biometric and digital identity technology project.
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itweb previously reported that French multinational corporation IDEMIA is mired in a second tender dispute after being accused of holding dual status as “referee and player” in the contract with ACSA.
The multi-million rand biometric system contract awarded to IDEMIA is being challenged in court by InfoVerge, a local back-owned company, which says it was used as a BEE partner to secure the tender before being unfairly discarded.
So far the system has failed to offer a more seamless process for passengers.
