Pretoria – French company IDEMA, whose contract with the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) was recently cancelled, has come under the spotlight after its subsidiary IDEMA Identity scored a big deal to produce SA’s new smart driver’s licence cards.
Last month, on 26 August, ACSA cancelled the contract with IDEMA, which involved a R115 million establishment of a biometric and digital identity technology system across airports in South Africa.
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Hardly a week later, on Monday, (3 September 2024), the Department of Transport (DOT) announced the driver’s licence deal with IDEMA Identity and Security South Africa.
IDEMIA Identity is a subsidiary of French multinational technology company IDEMIA.
The deal has raised eyebrows and on Thursday the Department of Transport issued a statement saying Transport Minister Barbara Creecy, “has requested the Auditor-General, who is currently undertaking an audit of the procurement process for the new driving license card, to widen the scope of the audit process and include an investigation into key issues”.
These issues include:
- 1. Whether supply chain management prescripts were followed to the letter;
- 2. 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;
- 3. 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;
- 4. Whether IDEMEIA’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;
- 5. Whether other South African service providers tendered, including service providers contracted by the Government Printing Works? And why were they not selected?
- 6. Was the chosen bidder the most affordable option?
“The Auditor-General has been requested to prioritise this audit process given the current backlog for driving license card applications and the parlous state of the current printing machine,” the department said.
When the department announced the appointment of IDEMIA Identity and Security – South Africa as the preferred bidder to produce new smart driving licence cards, they were yet to enter a service level agreement.
The appointment was approved on 8 August 2024.
“IDEMIA is expected to enter into a service level agreement with the department in due course before commencing with its work to put in place the infrastructure and systems,” the department said at the time.
The new licence card will incorporate new security features aimed at eliminating the ever-increasing risks of fraudulent and counterfeit driving licenses.
