South Africa airports authority investigating biometrics contract allegations

A major airport biometrics contract is in jeopardy after Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) suspended its chief information officer to further investigate the procurement process.

Idemia won the 115-million-rand (approximately US$6.3 million) contract to upgrade the biometric system at South Africa’s biggest airports, along with local Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partner InfoVerge. A legal dispute between the parties scuttled the partnership, but Idemia told Biometric Update this week that the project is on track.

ACSA confirmed that its August 3 statement that no evidence of irregularities in the procurement had been presented, but said that since then it had found during a preliminary investigation “that there is prima facie evidence of wrongdoing in relation to the biometric and digital identity technology project,” the agency announced in a social media post. This evidence led to a “precautionary suspension” of the CIO.

InfoVerge has taken its complaint to the High Court Gauteng Local Division, asking it to set aside the contract.

“ACSA is currently considering options in relation to the contract for the provision of the ABC project, e-Gates and single token that has been entered into with IDEMIA,” according to the post.

Speaking with Biometric Update on Monday, Idemia VP of Global Corporate Relations Lisa Shoemaker said that the company already has another local partner in place to meet the contract’s BEE requirements.

Article Topics

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