IT firm wants millions for licence info

ENatis hits roadblock as company refuses to give up crucial motor data

A PRIVATE company is refusing to move out of a key government building and to hand over sensitive motorists’ information unless it is paid about R122-million it says is due to it.

The standoff between IT group Tasima and the Road Traffic Management Corporation is threatening to plunge the country’s driver- and vehicle-registration system into chaos, with both parties refusing to give in.

At the centre of the battle is a Constitutional Court ruling in November declaring Tasima’s multibillion-rand contract to manage the Electronic National Traffic Information System (eNatis) invalid.

The court ordered that Tasima hand over services and eNatis information to the RTMC within 30 days.

But, four months later, Tasima has neither vacated the eNatis offices in Waterkloof, Pretoria, nor handed over the information.

Instead the company, run by IT specialists Fannie Mahlangu and Zuko Vabaza, sent legal letters to the RTMC demanding R122-million for management fees and staff payments.

RTMC spokesman Simon Zwane said Tasima was occupying eNatis offices illegally and accused it of being in contempt of the Constitutional Court by refusing to release drivers’ records.

He said Tasima’s continued occupation of the offices posed a security threat because the eNatis head offices were a national key point.

The handover had been delayed “by tactics employed by the other party”, Zwane said.

These included an urgent application to the Constitutional Court which was rejected in February.

“We are ready to take over the system immediately,” said Zwane.

“We are considering all options available to us to enforce the order of the court.”

He said eNatis had not been functioning optimally, affecting the efficiency of vehicle and driver licensing.

“There are 11.9 million vehicles registered on the system and particulars of 12.1 million driver’s licence holders. This information should be safely guarded.”

A report seen by the Sunday Times showed that, under Tasima, there had been system errors, which included eNatis going offline, software errors and a system crash in the licensing offices.

A senior government official said these could rise to crisis levels.

Since January, people have struggled daily to renew driver’s licences or be tested for driver’s licences.

eNatis is used by a variety of institutions, FACING CHARGES: S’bu Ndebele and George Mahlalela manufacturers and owners.

Tasima spokesman Trevor James denied any wrongdoing. He said that it was the RTMC and the government that were at fault.

“These issues may have to be addressed in court proceedings in due course and it is important not to subvert any legal process,” he said.

In legal correspondence sent by Tasima to the RTMC, the company demanded to be paid for services it had provided since the court judgment.

The letter said a handover would have to be agreed to and the R122million paid before any transfer.

An RTMC official said a lot “can go wrong if RTMC doesn’t take over. Can you imagine what would happen to the economy with cars not being registered and people’s personal details being held in the wrong hands?”

The Constitutional Court declared the Tasima contract, awarded by the national Department of Transport in 2010, invalid because it had been awarded irregularly and unlawfully.

Implicated in the unlawful awarding of the contract were former transport minister S’bu Ndebele and his former director-general George Mahlalela.

The two are facing criminal charges along with Tasima and six others.

The contract was awarded by Mahlalela in 2010 for five years without a tender process.

No funds had been budgeted for the contract either.

This, according to the court, forced the Transport Department to shift “money from some of its programmes in order to fund this contract”.

Mahlalela and Ndebele are due to appear in court this month with businessman Sibusiso Ncube, his companies — Mandate Strategy Roadmap and Delivery, Brand Partners and Sinosa Construction — former deputy director-general Zakhele Thwala and Tebogo Mphuti.

The charges include fraud, corruption and money laundering.

Mahlalela, who is alleged to have personally benefited from the extension of the contract, had ignored the advice of parliament’s portfolio committee on finance that the contract be put out on tender.