OUTA questions awarding of tender for smart driving licences
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse has called on Transport Minister Barbara Creecy to suspend the department’s contract with French multinational technology company IDEMIA.
The department announced on Monday that IDEMIA Identity and Security will be the service provider for the new smart driving licence cards.
IDEMIA is implicated in allegations of wrongdoing in Airports Company South Africa’s biometric and digital identity technology tender.
ACSA awarded the French technology company a R115 million biometric contract, which has since been terminated.
OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage said the Transport Ministry needed to be more transparent about the details of the tender.
“We see that the request for the funds to be spent on this tender has gone up significantly, and there has been a lack of transparency as we have been given no indication and information regarding the bid adjudication and evaluation process.
“We know that IDEMIA is implicated in tenders related to ACSA. Our view is that the minister needs to put a hold on the appointment of IDEMIA as the service provider for driving licences,” said Duvenhage.
The department’s Collen Msibi said the new licence cards will incorporate new security features aimed at eliminating the ever-increasing risks of fraudulent and counterfeit driving licenses.
“IDEMIA is expected to enter into a service agreement with the department in due course before commencing with its work to put in place the infrastructure and systems. More information in terms of the time frames will be made available once the agreement has been signed.
“Considering the cost drivers of producing the driving licence and the risk of fraud and corruption, the new driving licence will continue to be manufactured centrally.”
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