Dept faces fresh security lawsuit

KARIBUNI Security Services is claiming R24 million in a fresh lawsuit against the Northern Cape Department of Health over non-payment.

The services of Karibuni Security were terminated in October last year, where it sent letters of demand for an outstanding account of R47 million dating back to 2011.

Defensor Security Services has in the meanwhile been paid over R32 million since the time it was appointed - November 2017 up until February 2018.

A R224 million contract was entered into with Defensor by the Department of Health for the provision of security at health facilities in the Province over the next three years.

The only details specified in the department’s records for payments made to Defensor are for “goods received”.

In November last year an amount of R4.8 million was paid over to Defensor, after the company was awarded the contract during the second half of the month.

In December 2017 over 200 separate payments amounting to over R9 million were recorded on five different invoice numbers.

In January this year multiple payments, amounting to R8.2 million, were paid over, while in February five different batches of payments, amounting to R9.8 million, were made to the security service provider.

The chairman of the Northern Cape Civics Organisation, Ross Henderson, questioned the “suspicious” payments as well as why payments were being split multiple times on the same date and on the same purchase order number.

“This is while complaints are still coming in from staff to say that they are struggling with receiving their salaries. Even an untrained eye can detect that these payments are extremely suspicious or that attempts are being made to conceal information,” said Henderson.

“It also raises eyebrows as to why the company is being paid different amounts each month, while no attempts are being made to settle the debts owed to Karibuni Security Services, which now stands at R71 million.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health, Lulu Mxekezo, did not want to elaborate on the matter.

“The matter of the security service provider was responded to at length earlier this year,” she said.