The decision to start an official probe into allegations of conflict of interest against communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda will be taken at the end of July. Public protector Thuli Madonsela is currently compiling reports based on her investigations into the complaints received against the minister, according to her spokesperson, Kgalalelo Masibi. Masibi says the reports will be ready at the end of the month and the findings will guide the public protector in deciding whether an official probe is necessary.
Masibi explains that the first complaint was about the minister's alleged breach of the Executive Members Ethics Code by receiving benefits from an allegedly irregular tender from Transnet. Julie Killian, of COPE, laid this complaint on 19 March. Nyanda's company, General Nyanda Security (GNS) Risk Advisory Services, was awarded a R55 million contract by the now-dismissed Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama. Nyanda has come out in support of Gama in his ongoing legal battles.
The second complaint was laid by the Democratic Alliance (DA). “It relates to a tender that was allegedly irregularly issued by the Gauteng Department of Transport to a company linked to Minister Nyanda (Abalozi Security Risk Advisory Services), before he became a minister, and his continued benefit from the contract now that he is a minister and has a duty to protect government interests,” says Masibi. The DA has also asked that the Public Protector investigate any other tenders that may have been irregularly issued to the company in question, she adds. DA Gauteng member of the Provincial Legislature Jack Bloom says the main issue is to discover why the contracts were awarded without tender and then not reviewed. “I think there should be a probe separate from the Ethics Act investigation and it could be done in co-operation with the director-general or the Special Investigations Unit or Hawks, whichever is the relevant body.”
National spokesman for the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Patrick Craven, says the union welcomes an investigation. “It's important in all these cases where the media has been publishing allegations. We're not in any way saying we agree that the people involved are guilty, but it's important because if they are guilty, then the matter can be dealt with, and if they're not, then they can be exonerated.”
Bloom says if the conclusion is that there was irregular lobbying for the tenders on behalf of the minister, and he is benefiting from them, then he could possibly be charged and there could be investigations into him as a sitting Cabinet minister.
Nyanda has previously not responded to requests for comment over the deal, which landed Gama in hot water. Department of Communications spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso says the minister has no comment to make at this point in the matter. “For now these are just mere complaints taken to the Public Protector and the minister has nothing to say about this, because these complaints were not brought to him.”
Source: IT Web
Showing posts with label GNS Risk Advisory Services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GNS Risk Advisory Services. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
DA queries second tender for Nyanda firm
FOR the second time this week, a company associated with Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda has been named as benefiting from state tenders without an open process. GNS Risk Advisory Services, a company 50% owned by Nyanda, was awarded a contract in 2007 by Gauteng’s transport department.
The cost of the work was originally estimated at R12m by Impophoma Infrastructure Support, a business entity of the department set up to improve service delivery. But yesterday, a written reply from roads and transport MEC Bheki Nkosi in response to a Democratic Alliance (DA) question in the Gauteng legislature revealed that R67,87m had been spent on the contract so far, and that the costs had not been determined and fixed in advance. The disclosure came a day after Transnet announced it had sacked two senior managers for manipulating an R18,9m security tender in favour of GNS.
Discrepancies in the Transnet security tender had also led to the suspension of — and disciplinary action against — Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama. Nkosi confirmed that a tender process had not been followed in awarding the Gauteng contract. “The accounting officer appointed GNS Risk Advisory Services through a deviation as provided for in terms of treasury regulation 16A6.4,” he said. A deviation allows for the procurement of goods or services by means other than competitive bids, only if a bid is impractical.
DA spokesman Jack Bloom said the problem was that the contract was open-ended. “ So far nearly R68m has been paid to GNS and more payments could still be made, unless the contract is urgently reviewed,” he said. Bloom said he had referred the matter to the auditor-general.
Nyanda’s spokesman, Tiyani Rikhotso, said there was no conflict of interest as the contract in question was awarded 18 months before Nyanda joined the Cabinet.
Source: Business Day
The cost of the work was originally estimated at R12m by Impophoma Infrastructure Support, a business entity of the department set up to improve service delivery. But yesterday, a written reply from roads and transport MEC Bheki Nkosi in response to a Democratic Alliance (DA) question in the Gauteng legislature revealed that R67,87m had been spent on the contract so far, and that the costs had not been determined and fixed in advance. The disclosure came a day after Transnet announced it had sacked two senior managers for manipulating an R18,9m security tender in favour of GNS.
Discrepancies in the Transnet security tender had also led to the suspension of — and disciplinary action against — Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama. Nkosi confirmed that a tender process had not been followed in awarding the Gauteng contract. “The accounting officer appointed GNS Risk Advisory Services through a deviation as provided for in terms of treasury regulation 16A6.4,” he said. A deviation allows for the procurement of goods or services by means other than competitive bids, only if a bid is impractical.
DA spokesman Jack Bloom said the problem was that the contract was open-ended. “ So far nearly R68m has been paid to GNS and more payments could still be made, unless the contract is urgently reviewed,” he said. Bloom said he had referred the matter to the auditor-general.
Nyanda’s spokesman, Tiyani Rikhotso, said there was no conflict of interest as the contract in question was awarded 18 months before Nyanda joined the Cabinet.
Source: Business Day
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Nyanda under fire
Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda is again in the spotlight after two senior Transnet staff members were axed for awarding his company a multimillion-rand deal. Nyanda's company, General Nyanda Security Risk Advisory Services (GNS), was irregularly awarded a contract to provide specialised security services.
However, the limit on such tenders was R10 million, and Transnet has now fired two senior managers for awarding a deal worth more than that. The minister owns half of GNS, which had been paid R55 million between December 2007 and late last year, Barbara Hogan, minister of public enterprises, said in reply to questions in Parliament. The initial value of the deal was R18.9 million and was awarded by suspended Transnet Freight Rail chief executive Siyabonga Gama. Gama was suspended last September for his role in awarding contracts, including the security deal, without following the proper procedures.
Transnet spokesman John Dludlu this morning told ITWeb that the security contract with GNS has since been terminated. The state-owned enterprise has dismissed two senior managers in charge of security at Transnet Freight Rail, after wrapping up an internal disciplinary process. The managers were found guilty of dishonesty and misconduct by an independent investigation. The unnamed managers had awarded the GNS contract without opening a tender process, and without following the required governance processes. Their dismissal follows their suspension late last year, after the irregularities came to light. Tiyani Rikhotso, Nyanda's spokesman, was not available this morning to comment on the matter. The minister has, however, previously denied being involved in the day-to-day running of the security company.
The Parliamentary register of interests lists Nyanda as a 50% shareholder in GNS, but there is no value attached to his stake. His only listed benefit from GNS is a driver for general household tasks, the register indicates.
Nyanda previously come under fire from opposition party Congress of the People over the contracts between GNS and Transnet Freight Rail, as well as other government departments. He has also been called to task over his lavish spending at Cape Town hotels, instead of staying in his official residence, and for splashing out on luxury cars.
Source: IT Web
However, the limit on such tenders was R10 million, and Transnet has now fired two senior managers for awarding a deal worth more than that. The minister owns half of GNS, which had been paid R55 million between December 2007 and late last year, Barbara Hogan, minister of public enterprises, said in reply to questions in Parliament. The initial value of the deal was R18.9 million and was awarded by suspended Transnet Freight Rail chief executive Siyabonga Gama. Gama was suspended last September for his role in awarding contracts, including the security deal, without following the proper procedures.
Transnet spokesman John Dludlu this morning told ITWeb that the security contract with GNS has since been terminated. The state-owned enterprise has dismissed two senior managers in charge of security at Transnet Freight Rail, after wrapping up an internal disciplinary process. The managers were found guilty of dishonesty and misconduct by an independent investigation. The unnamed managers had awarded the GNS contract without opening a tender process, and without following the required governance processes. Their dismissal follows their suspension late last year, after the irregularities came to light. Tiyani Rikhotso, Nyanda's spokesman, was not available this morning to comment on the matter. The minister has, however, previously denied being involved in the day-to-day running of the security company.
The Parliamentary register of interests lists Nyanda as a 50% shareholder in GNS, but there is no value attached to his stake. His only listed benefit from GNS is a driver for general household tasks, the register indicates.
Nyanda previously come under fire from opposition party Congress of the People over the contracts between GNS and Transnet Freight Rail, as well as other government departments. He has also been called to task over his lavish spending at Cape Town hotels, instead of staying in his official residence, and for splashing out on luxury cars.
Source: IT Web
Friday, January 29, 2010
Nyanda Inc makes millions from govt
Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda -- South Africa’s former defence force chief -- owns a 50% stake in a company that has at least five contracts with government agencies, bringing it millions of rands in government business, the Mail & Guardian has established.GNS [General Nyanda Security] Risk Advisory Services (Pty) Ltd, Nyanda’s company, has been in the news since last year when it was revealed that Transnet Freight Rail, on suspended chief executive Siyabonga Gama’s watch, had awarded GNS a R55-million tender without proper tender processes being followed. However, an M&G investigation has established that GNS has also benefited from security contracts with at least four other government entities. The M&G has also learnt that Nyanda’s business partner and chief executive of GNS is embattled Johannesburg lawyer Sylvester Sithole, fingered for alleged fraudulent dealings with the SABC in a 2007 draft forensic report. After Nyanda was appointed a minister in May last year, he told the M&G that his interest in GNS posed no conflict of interest with his official duties and that the company’s area of business was “security risk”. What he failed to declare was GNS’s clients -- Transnet Freight Rail; passenger train company Metrorail; state bus company Autopax; and two contracts with the Gauteng provincial government. At least three of these entities fall under the political leadership of two of his Cabinet colleagues -- Transport Minister S’bu Ndebele (Metrorail and Autopax) and Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan (Transnet Freight Rail).
This week Nyanda defended himself by saying he had declared his interest in GNS to Parliament and “has not been active in the affairs of the entity”. He declined to clarify his role in the company’s affairs, his involvement in obtaining government business or his relationship with Sithole.
Nyanda, the country’s defence force chief from June 1998 to June 2005, was appointed a director of GNS on June 29 1998. He resigned from the board on August 13 last year but keeps his shares. In the 2009 register of members’ interests, he told Parliament that GNS provides him with a “driver for household and children transportation”. GNS, which is based in an office park in Rosebank, Johannesburg, also refused to answer the M&G’s questions about its business with government, requesting through its lawyers a copy of the article before publication to “properly comment”. The M&G declined to provide them with the unpublished story.
It was revealed last year that GNS was awarded a R19-million contract in December 2007 on Gama’s watch to provide surveillance and investigation services for the parastatal’s goods trains. Gama is currently facing a disciplinary hearing for allegedly signing off the tender, worth more than the R10-million he was allowed to award. In response to a parliamentary question last year, Hogan revealed that GNS “has been paid approximately R55-million in a 20-month period since the conclusion of the contract in December 2007”.
The M&G this week established that the contract was jointly awarded to GNS and Johannesburg-based Nayle Outsourcing, which provided investigation services to Transnet. According to Nayle’s Jaco van Wyk, the tender was up for renewal last year and advertised by Transnet three times. “Every time something went wrong with the advert.” GNS and Nayle’s contract finally comes to an end on Sunday -- 25 months after signing a 20-month contract with Transnet. Nyanda has publicly come out in support of Gama and likened his case to President Jacob Zuma’s graft trial. “The challenge is that some people out there are really bent on ensuring that he is destroyed. What happened to JZ is happening in this case. People vilify and cast aspersions on you,” Nyanda told Business Times in September.
According to Tiro Holele, spokesperson for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), Metrorail awarded GNS a contract to provide “various security risk-related functions” in October 2008 for two years. Metrorail and Autopax, which manages the Translux and City-to-City buses, were incorporated into Prasa last year. According to a former GNS employee, the company was contracted to do surveillance on Metrorail’s passenger trains and on Translux and City-to-City buses. “We had to ride on them and write reports on what we saw.” According to Holele, Metrorail has paid GNS R15,1-million to date, or little more than R1-million a month.
The M&G has established from two inside sources that the Gauteng government paid GNS to investigate and protect the provincial government garage, with a fleet of more than 5 000 vehicles. Nyanda’s company was also contracted by Impophoma, a provincial entity that manages Gauteng’s construction equipment, to provide security services. It is not clear whether these contracts have expired and how much GNS was paid. Gauteng failed to respond to questions.
Nyanda’s office gave the following response to the Mail & Guardian’s questions: Upon accepting appointment to public office, the Minister of Communications General (Ret) Siphiwe Nyanda made a declaration to Parliament with regard to his interests in the entity in question, GNS, as required by law. It is worth noting as well that the minister has not been active in the affairs of the entity in question since his appointment to public office. Any other question regarding GNS should therefore be directed to GNS itself and not to the office of the minister of communications. The minister has no other protection services other than those provided by the South African Police Service as prescribed by law.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Transnet confirms chief executive's suspension
Siyabonga Gama, the chief executive at Transnet Freight Rail, has been suspended, pending the outcome of an internal disciplinary process, Transnet said on Wednesday. This followed earlier reports in the Business Day and the Business Report that Gama had been suspended. "Mr Gama has been requested to attend a disciplinary hearing relating to an alleged serious breach of governance requirements in respect of two procurement contracts," the parastatal said in a statement.
It said it was committed to ensuring that due process in relation to the disciplinary matter was followed, and the process, which enjoyed the board's unanimous support, would be adjudicated by an independent and external arbitrator. "We have provided a commitment to all our stakeholders that this process will not impact on our service delivery in any way. Our clients deserve an efficient, reliable, cost-effective and safe service from all our operations," Transnet said.
During the disciplinary hearings it said it would not be commenting on the matter "to enable due process to take its course" and to preserve the reputation of those involved. Business Report said the breach of governance requirements allegedly made by Gama related to a tender awarded to General Nyanda Security Advisory Services and another to buy 50 locomotives.
Source: Mail & Guardian
It said it was committed to ensuring that due process in relation to the disciplinary matter was followed, and the process, which enjoyed the board's unanimous support, would be adjudicated by an independent and external arbitrator. "We have provided a commitment to all our stakeholders that this process will not impact on our service delivery in any way. Our clients deserve an efficient, reliable, cost-effective and safe service from all our operations," Transnet said.
During the disciplinary hearings it said it would not be commenting on the matter "to enable due process to take its course" and to preserve the reputation of those involved. Business Report said the breach of governance requirements allegedly made by Gama related to a tender awarded to General Nyanda Security Advisory Services and another to buy 50 locomotives.
Source: Mail & Guardian
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