Minister orders inquiry into 'departmental flawed' tendering processes

Announcing the launch of the inquiry, Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said that, as a result of departmental flawed processes, "an innocent company, Sekunjalo, has been portrayed as the culprit in this saga and its reputation has been [tarnished]."

The department has been under scrutiny around alleged irregular processes and procedures it followed in the awarding of tenders since November last year, when it awarded Sekunjalo a contract to for the management and maintenance of the department's fleet of research and fisheries patrol vessels. The tender was withdrawn recently by the department. "The reality is that, based on our own legal advice, it was our processes and procedures that failed," Joemat-Pietterssen said.

The Minister has set up an independent inquiry - whose terms of reference for the inquiry are still being determined - to scrutinise fisheries tender-processes and determine whether there is any maladministration or fraud or both. She said she hoped a retired judge would head the committee, which could sit as soon as the beginning of next month. It is likely that the department's inquiry may go further back than the time since Joemat-Pietterssen took office as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

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