US IT firm tangled up in Sars probe

US information technology research company Gartner has become embroiled in a management scandal at the South African Revenue Service (Sars) after it emerged that it secured an almost R200 million contract without proper procurement procedures being followed.

Sars hired Gartner to assess its information technology and modernisation programmes, one of several initiatives spearheaded by commissioner Tom Moyane that failed to produce the desired results and coincided with the agency repeatedly missing its collection targets.

President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended Moyane in March and appointed a panel headed by retired Judge Robert Nugent to investigate his conduct in office.

Gartner did not inquire how it had got the contract without bidding for it and relied on Sars to ensure it complied with state procurement rules, Neville Willemse, the company’s senior managing partner in SA, told the commission yesterday. “It is their responsibility to do that. That satisfied us that the correct process had been followed,” he said.

Willemse also said Gartner drew up terms of reference for the project with Rangewave Consulting, which was subcontracted to do part of the work and received about 40% of the fees, without Gartner ever speaking to Sars officials.

Rangewave is owned by a close friend of Moyane’s, Business Day newspaper reported on October 18.

Johnstone Makhubu, Sars’ head of finance, told the commission last week that the process of awarding the contract to Gartner and Rangewave was improper and the tax agency had “thrown out the rule book” in the process.

Nugent and his panel questioned Willemse at length about the contract and indicated they weren’t satisfied with his responses.

Michael Lithgow, a Gartner executive who oversaw the Sars work, said a committee outside SA had been put in place to ensure best practice and that the project didn’t produce value for money because Sars didn’t properly implement it. – Bloomberg

Gartner ... relied on Sars to ensure it complied with state procurement rules.

Neville Willemse Gartner partner in SA