South African airport biometrics contract with Idemia challenged by former partner

An airport biometrics contract won by Idemia in South Africa is being challenged in court, with a former partner demanding a review of the decision by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA).

Infoverge Solutions, which South African publication Sunday World describes as a “black empowerment company,” has requested the annulment of the contract in a petition to the Pretoria High Court.

The three-phase, 380-million-rand (US$20.8 million) contract was awarded to Idemia South Africa and Infoverge in August of 2023. It was to begin with the rollout of Idemia’s ID2Travel biometric passenger flow facilitation system at South Africa’s three main international airports, before eventually being implemented at six domestic airports.

Idemia South Africa partnered with Infoverge on the contract, and Infoverge claims Idemia needed its status as an exempted, Black-owned micro-enterprise to comply with the requirements of ACSA’s request for proposals. Phase 1 of the project was carried out jointly, but the agreement between Idemia and Infoverge was then cancelled.

The circumstances of the split are related to ballooning project costs, according to Infoverge.

Infoverge CEO Musawenkosi Mahlaba says Idemia cancelled its agreement with his company in April of this year. The company says its subcontract with Idemia entitles it to at least 30 percent of the contract.

Accusations fly

Like other biometrics contracts in South Africa, allegations of impropriety have previously been made regarding Idemia’s contract with ACSA.

A report from February by ITWeb suggests that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between ACSA and Idemia in 2021 “raised questions” among “insiders” about whether the company had unfairly influenced the specifications of the contract it was about to bid on.

Both ACSA and Idemia refuted the allegations. ACSA says the MoU was signed to gain an understanding of how tokenization would work in the biometric system, and pointed to IATA standards and a proof-of-concept in Cape Town as the sources of the contract specifications.

The vague accusations are reminiscent of an ABIS contract that was originally awarded to NEC XON, before being re-tendered and awarded to Idemia. That dispute included lawsuits over alleged corruption and an accusation by the government that an opposition lawmaker was lying.

Article Topics

airports  |  Airports Company South Africa (ACSA).  |  biometrics  |  government purchasing  |  IDEMIA  |  Infoverge Solutions  |  South Africa