Ex-top cop scores R10m deal to find three laptops
FORMER Gauteng police commissioner Mzwandile Petros’s company was awarded a R10-million deal to investigate the theft of three laptops at the State Information and Technology Agency (Sita) — even though it had neither a track record nor was it listed on the government database.
Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who oversaw the agency during her tenure at public service and administration, Sita CEO Freeman Nomvalo and the board chairman, Jerry Vilakazi, hand-picked Petros’s company, The iFirm, in March, even though state law enforcement agencies were investigating the crime.
The Sunday Times has confirmed that the police, Hawks and Special Investigation Unit are probing the burglary, which occurred at the Sita offices in Centurion, Pretoria, on February 28.
The agency, which is responsible for all government information tech- nology, paid The iFirm R3-million soon after it was appointed even though the company did not have a VAT number at the time.
A senior government official said he could not rule out the possibility that the information on the laptops ended up with foreign intelligence.
“The laptops have sensitive state information and we can’t rule out the possibilities that it might have been sold to foreign intelligence,” said the official.
He said the thieves were highly professional: “These people were familiar with Sita offices and appeared to be highly trained.”
Ndivhuwo Mabaya, Sisulu’s