Red flags for South Africa’s R898-million driver’s licence card tender

The South African Department of Transport (DoT) is facing public scrutiny following the recent announcement that it awarded an R898-million tender to the French company Idemia Identity and Security.

Idemia was selected as the preferred bidder for the production of South Africa’s new smart driver’s licence cards, which have been in the pipeline for over two years.

The announcement has been met with skepticism by groups like the Automobile Association (AA), which is calling for greater transparency regarding the decision process behind Idemia’s appointment.

In response, the new Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, has asked the Auditor-General of South Africa (AG) to widen its audit investigation into the DoT’s tender, including the procurement process for its selected bidder.

Mounting scrutiny

The AA has raised concerns over Idemia’s appointment as the provider for South Africa’s new smart cards, claiming that it has raised more questions than answers as to why it was picked to carry out such an important local service.

The company was chosen out of a list of five prospective bidders, including:

1. Ren-form Corporate Print Media
2. Nec Xon Systems (Pty) Ltd
3. Muehlbauer ID Services
4. Gemalto Altron Fintech Southern Africa
5. Idemia Identity and Security — South Africa

The AA claims there has been a lack of clarity regarding why Idemia was nominated for the position and that the public has a right to know how the DoT came to its decision.

The group has called on the DoT to clarify the reason why Idemia was selected, as well as the timeframes for the roll-out of the new smart driver’s licence cards.

Similarly, AfriFourm has submitted two Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) applications to the DoT to obtain information relevant to the procurement process.

The other reason why the tender allocation has been criticized has to do with Idemia itself, as the company was already involved with another state entity – Airports Company South Africa (ACSA).

The French security firm had a Biometrics and Automated Border Control services contract with ACSA, but the company terminated this agreement on 27 August 2024 before launching an investigation into Idemia for alleged maladministration.

Only four days later, the DoT named Idemia as the preferred bidder for South Africa’s new driver’s licence cards, which sounded alarm bells for groups like the AA.

A spokesperson for the DoT, Collen Msibi, said that the decision followed all the prescribed procedures set out by the government for choosing a service provider.

He also said that Idemia was appointed on 8 August, whereas ACSA only terminated its contract with the company at the end of the month, meaning that the cancellation had no bearing on the DoT’s approval.

An assurance was also provided that Idemia could still lose the R898-million tender should any irregularities be found by the AG.

The transport minister has asked the AG to determine whether:

• Idemia was the most affordable option
• The supply chain management prescripts were done according to procedure
• Idemia’s technical capacity and ability to meet deadlines were adequately considered during the tender process
• Measures have been taken to secure personal data, given the information and security features involved with the new driver’s cards
• Local services providers, including ones contracted by the Government Printing Works, were considered, and why they weren’t selected

The AG has been instructed to prioritize this audit given the country’s growing driver’s licence renewal backlog.

Licence procedure

Msibi has yet to provide a finalized date for the introduction of South Africa’s new driver’s licence cards.

A service-level agreement between the DoT and Idemia has yet to be signed by both parties, which also requires approval from the National Treasury.

Idemia must also set up the infrastructure and systems needed to produce the more technologically advanced new smart cards.

Once these requirements have been fulfilled, the Dot will launch a pilot programme for the licences that will run for between six and eight months to iron out any issues in the system.

It will only be once all of these steps have been followed that citizens can expect the new cards to be rolled out in a phased manner.

If Idemia is rejected for the tender process, the release date for the updated driver’s licences will be pushed back even further.